Story Profiles

Both profiles were delivered by Julie Erickson, VP of Individual and Family Support Services at the 2009 Annual Meeting

Jerri W.

“Did you know that Abraham Lincoln, Orville Wright, Thomas Edison and Albert Einstein were all shy at one time in their lives? How about Lucille Ball or Tom Hanks? I’ve always felt that Abraham Lincoln had a mysterious quality about him, as many shy people do. And Thomas Edison and Albert Einstein---well, as you know they were scientists. I think we expect scientists to be more reserved because their work demands a high degree of concentration that often isolates them from others. But Lucille Ball---the woman we watched stomping grapes in a large wooden vat with sidekick Ethel Mertz on I Love Lucy---somehow that's harder to believe. And Tom Hanks---that multi-talented actor we've grown to know and love? “ So… as you can see – shyness does not necessarily have to dictate the path of one’s life. I’d like to share with you the story of Jerri Wolfe – a bit shy and reserved but someone who has made her mark at CCARC. Jerri was born in New Britain and has a younger sister, Heidi. She spent the first three years of her life in Hawaii, as her father was stationed there. Upon her return to CT, she attended the New Britain Public Schools. By the time she was 16 years old, Jerri had traveled to Germany with her mother and sister on four different occasions to visit her grandparents. Hildegard, Jerri’s mother, describes her as a loving daughter and good sister. She is a caring and gentle person. Together Jerri and her mother watch American Idol and care for their cat, Peekaboo, otherwise known as Boo, Boo. On Thursdays, Jerri and her mom go bowling. Her nephew, Michael, who she thinks of as a brother, will join them at the bowling alley. Jerri fondly calls her mother “Shilinskin”. I’m not sure what “Shilinskin” means but you might say that they are two peas in a pod. Following her graduation from the New Britain Public Schools, Jerri began in the CCARC Day Services in 1979. Back in those days most of the activities that were offered took place within the walls of CCARC’s Day Services located on Franklin Square in New Britain. Jerri learned the art of sewing and would produce items such as aprons, pillows, quilts and doll clothes. In turn, these would then be sold at CCARC’s Annual Christmas Bazaar and at the New Britain Main Street USA Festival. In 1986, CCARC expanded it’s location to Farmington Avenue in Kensington – known as the John P. McIntosh Work Services Center. There Jerri worked in an Office Training Program where she learned how to type, answer the phone, package energy kits and complete mailing jobs for various companies. In 1994, CCARC left the Franklin Square location and leased out space at Hartford Square in New Britain. Shy and reserved, Jerri was still hesitant to “spread her wings” and take on opportunities that would take her away from the comfort of her structured routine. She declined to participate in community activities. However, all of that changed when Jerri agreed to pilot the concept of running a concession type store within the CCARC facility in 2001. June May, CCARC Day Services Instructor, spearheaded the idea of opening up a concession type store within the CCARC facility. June’s idea was that the store would be managed by individuals from what was then called our “Work Services Center”. She identified two individuals – Florence and Denise who eagerly agreed to get involved. Although June recognized that Jerri had the skills to be the third partner in this venture, she suspected that Jerri might shy away from this opportunity. Without requesting a commitment from Jerri, June asked Jerri if she would help to market the store by designing a poster that would advertise the opening of the store and its hours of operation. Because this did not involve any customer contact, Jerri willingly took on the challenge and with the help of the Print Artist software program for the computer she designed the first poster for the store. Although Jerri was not yet a partner with Florence and Denise, she continued to design flyers that advertised weekly specials. As her interest peaked; she began to help distribute the flyers throughout the building. Within six months, Jerri gained the confidence to join Florence and Denise as an official partner at the store. Although Jerri took on the responsibility of keeping inventory and coming up with the list of supplies that needed to be purchased, she did not want to go to the stores to pick up those supplies. She also kept a separate list of items that customers were requesting to purchase that were not yet available at the store. Then a year after the opening of the store, Jerri was encouraged to go shopping for the purchases since she knew exactly what the customers were asking for. Before long, Jerri was out and about purchasing the supplies from her inventory list and requested items. She initiated cutting out coupons and looked in the store flyers for the best bargains. As a team, Florence, Denise and Jerri each play their part in the success of the store. Florence is the head cashier, Denise is head of security and Jerri is the head secretary and ensures customer satisfaction. They also discussed what they were going to name the store and after a few ideas were tossed around they settled on the name “Our Store”. Fast forward to today. Jerri continues to prepare and distribute all of the literature for “Our Store, she helps to set-up the items, keeps inventory, takes customer request for new items, develops the shopping list, clips the coupons and goes shopping for the items, interacts with customers and trouble shoots any issues that occur while the store is open. Jerri is that friendly face that we all look forward to seeing when we shop at “Our Store”. As one of the founders of “Our Store”, Jerri is dedicated to operational excellence, one of a kind customer care, and the highest level of service possible. Shyness is not who we are, but something we feel while we do the things we do. Shyness does not have to keep us from achieving our goals unless we let it! Certainly Jerri has not let shyness step in the way of achieving her goals and being happy!

William "BJ" H.

Nowadays, much emphasis is placed on accountability and measuring outcomes. We look to quantify that someone has achieved success and happiness. That’s all well and good but the author Chris Hart once said, “All the statistics in the world can't measure the warmth of a smile”. When you ask people who know William Halsdorf to tell you something about him, the first thing that they tell you about is “his smile”. William, or “B.J.” as he likes to be called, has a smile that draws you in and you instantly find yourself under the spell of his charm. You see, although B.J. is non-verbal and spends much of his time in a wheelchair his spirit shines through his smile. And … I can tell you that there isn’t any statistician in the world that can measure the warmth of B.J.’s smile. For most of B.J.’s life he was taken care of by his Grandmother, Persephone, in her home in New Britain. She loved and cared for B.J. and dedicated her life to ensuring his physical and emotional well being. Being very medically fragile, B.J. spent a great deal of time being seen by healthcare professionals – doctors, specialists and short and long term hospitalizations. Persephone was with him each step of the way and was known to set up camp for each of his hospital stays. Each time that he returned home from these hospitalizations, Persephone was there to nurture and care for him. All of that changed in 2003, when Persephone began to experience her own healthcare issues. Unable to provide B.J. with the necessary attention, she had a desire to build a house on an adjacent property to her home. Persephone specially designed the group home around B.J.’s needs. Persephone passed away on January 25, 2004 and was never able to see the fruits of her labor come to fruition; however she did will the home to CCARC upon her passing. In October of 2004 the aptly named group home, “B.J.’s House” opened. Where once B.J.’s whole world revolved around hospitalizations and his grandmother’s house, now B.J.’s whole world is the whole world. B.J. has a large, sunny room decorated with pictures of his family and friends. He shares the home with three roommates – Andre, Katrina and Heidi. The one thing that they all have in common is the love of music. Bi-weekly they have a music therapist come to the home. With B.J. and Heidi jiggling the bells, Andre thumping the drums and Katrina shaking the tambourine, they certainly make their own kind of music. B.J. has developed diversified tastes in music. It used to be all about country music and now he likes soft rock and some of the more popular singers like Dave Matthews and Jessica Simpson. He has even been to a few concerts. His guardian and good friend, Ginny Phillipon, visits him often and is the apple of his eye. She has been a part of B.J.’s life for many years and was asked by B.J.’s grandmother to be a standby guardian for her even prior to her death. Like Persephone, Ginny has made the commitment to be there for B.J. – through the good times and the not so good times. He lights up each time they see each other and he peers up at her as if to say “thank you for being there for me, my friend”. B.J. loves to be around people and his face just glows when he is in a crowd. He truly enjoys the parties that are held at his home and he LOVES to be the center of attention. B.J. spends a good part of his day in his wheel chair; however, there are times when he is mobile. He has been known to take off, without any warning, and runs across a room or down a hallway. He just beams when he can “pull this off”. B.J. has been attending CCARC Day Services since 1996. Between his home life and day program, B.J.’s days are filled with lots of activities. At CCARC’s Slater Road facility, B.J. helps to plant and weed the raised garden beds. This is one guy who doesn’t mind getting his hands dirty. Every Tuesday he joins the group from his day services that plays Bingo at St. Jerome’s Church. It’s not winning that matters so much to B.J., but rather the crowd of people that brings on that smile. He has an uncanny ability to turn on that charisma when in the presence of young females. I can attest to that! Not because I’m a young female, but because when I am talking with B.J. and there is a young female standing next to me, he gazes at that person and not me – even though I’m the one speaking. No offense taken, B.J! B.J. is an outdoors kind of guy – he loves to walk in the park, go apple picking or just sit in the sun. Each year, it is a must that B.J. goes to the Big E. His favorite thing to do there is to pet the animals at the petting zoo. He can be found at car shows and Rock Cat baseball games. He likes to watch televised sports particularly football and basketball. There is one sport that he does participate in and that is bowling. Weekly, as a member of the Kelsey Street Cougars bowling team, B.J. pushes the bowling ball down a ramp aiming for that strike. Last year he was presented with a trophy for his particiaption. As a member of the Greek Orthodox Church, B.J.’s church community continues to support him through prayer and remembrances. Ginny, B.J.’s guardian will receive phone calls from a particular church member asking for a report on how B.J. is doing. A church representative visits B.J. during the Greek Orthodox holidays. Although his hospitalizations have reduced, B.J. continues to battle his medical issues valiantly and always wins. He has many people in his life who care for him and enhance the quality of his life. And although B.J. does not verbally communicate with us, when all is said and done, it’s that sparkle in his eye and the warmth of his smile that tells us all is well.