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All right, all right.

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Episode 147
we're here at Feeney Talks with friends.

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My name is Eric Feeney, founder
and president of Friends of Feeney.

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I use this podcast,
Feeney talks with friends,

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and I talk to a wonderful people in
the community that are doing great things.

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And I'm very excited
to have our guest here.

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How are you doing, Jamey? I'm good.
Thank you.

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Jamie, the executive director of services
for the supporting Living group.

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Yeah, supporting living group.

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That's interesting, I love that. I'm glad.

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So, I teach third grade.

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Okay.

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How would you explain supported
living group to a third grader?

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So we provide support services
to individuals with disabilities.

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We help individuals with disabilities
live in the communities of their choice.

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And we specialize in brain injury support
services, autism support

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services, and eldercare support services
across the entirety of Connecticut.

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Nice. Yeah. Very good. And,

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now, as so was founded by,

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Brian.

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Christopher Brisson
and his wife, Kimberly Brisson.

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I know bristle might be our I got the BRP.

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The be all right.

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And you have offices in Danielson.

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Avon and Bethany, Connecticut.

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Yeah.

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No. It's great.

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I'm so excited to talk with you again.

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Our mission is to help

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children and families that need assistance
after heartbreak or tragedy.

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So our our missions align. Yeah.

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I want to thank you for reaching out.

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I want to thank you
for your generous donation.

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And again, I'm very excited to talk
with the executive director.

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Jamie. Yes.

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So, what you've been up to?

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Working. Working diligently.

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There's always a need for support
services.

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There's always a need for developing,

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supports out for the individuals
that we provide services to.

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Cool. So what kind of supports do you do?

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We do the full range to assist individuals
to live independently in the community.

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So five miles from here
is our Avon office.

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That's a 20,000 square foot location
that sits on 6.3 acres of land.

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So we've just finished out
a whole courtyard

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rebuild there
with, healing by growing farms.

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So there's a big horticultural program
going on.

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Hired an artist to come in to work

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with some of that individual brain
injuries to develop a mural.

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And we're really working on that project
at the moment, and it enhances

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the lives of the individuals.

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We provide support services to.

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It's kind of the ethos of the agency.

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It's not just providing in-home care.

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It's providing a sense of purpose

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and giving a reason
to get up in the morning,

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and especially for the brain injury
survivors, autism spectrum,

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which really trying to change the way
that that's done as well.

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Not just in-home services.

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We've developed our own clinical support
services, and it's holistic

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care, working in conjunction

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with the parents and the individuals
that are on the spectrum.

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Nice, nice.

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And, so personally,
what inspired you to get into this field?

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I actually fell into the field.

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2010, I was in sales and marketing

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for a Swedish antiques
and interior design company.

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Shout out to at least Van Brims.

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I just finished my master's

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degree in community psychology,
but the market crashed,

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so there wasn't many people buying Swedish
antiques and interior design services.

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So I had an option to work for a hedge
fund doing hydro

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or a mom and pop brain
injury organization.

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And I chose the mom and pop brain
injury organization

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because it was in keeping
with what I had gone to school for.

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And the first day I was working

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with the organization,
I sat down with one of their clients

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and noticed they had scars in exactly
the same places that I do.

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Back in, I think it was probably 2019,
wrong place at the wrong time.

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I was visiting England.

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I used to go back every summer, and I was
a victim of a pretty significant assault.

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I got hit with lumps of iron.

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Woke up in hospital.

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Was very, very lucky to be alive.

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They kept
me in hospital for almost a month.

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They wouldn't
let me fly back to start college

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because they were worried
about into cranial pressure and bleeding,

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and nobody had really gone
into the whole brain injury piece.

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And then sitting down with that one
service participant that day

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made me realize this is where
I needed to be and what I needed to do.

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Having that mindset has been successful
for me, from wanting to make sure

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that how I would want services
to be for myself or a family member.

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Wow. Yeah. Wow.

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That's that's serious.

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That's crazy.

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That's that's unfortunate. Yeah. Crazy.

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But you're giving back.

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And you walked in the shoes
and you have empathy

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with the people that you're working
with. Yeah.

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And it makes it makes a big difference.

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To those individuals as well.

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And seeing how people progress
over a period of time.

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Some individuals have followed me
in terms of where I've been professionally

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since that point.

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So I've got to
I've been able to see the growth

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and how they've really,
really developed a sense of purpose

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and rediscovered
who they are after their injuries.

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Yeah.

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Because you have

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you had the degrees in, psychology
from the University of East London?

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Yeah, I've got an undergraduate degree
from the University of East London

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and then a master's degree
from the University of New Haven.

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New Haven?

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Yeah,
I went to southern. Okay. Okay. Very nice.

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So practically brothers.

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Practically. New Haven.
How long were you there?

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University. New Haven, master's degree,
I think.

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I was there for three years
and then went on to get my.

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I had to take some additional classes
for my license.

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Functional counselors qualification
at Central Connecticut state.

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Okay, so I've been around,
a few of the state universities.

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Yeah, I have,

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undergraduate in

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sociology and a major in sociology,
a minor in psychology.

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So very interesting classes.

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And then I got a master's
in elementary ed.

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Nice.

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And then as an educator,
you can get a six year degree in a,

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administrative administration
and supervision to be a principal.

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Okay, I have that, too.

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I did an internship part
as part of my master's degree program

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in the guidance department
at Wilbur Cross.

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Okay.

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So that yes, that was that was eye opening
and definitely

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taught me some things and showed me
the importance of giving back.

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There was a wonderful gentleman there,
nonprofit guy as well, Larry Conway,

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who actually developed the children's,
a family center in New Haven

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who was who was very inspirational
during that period of time for me.

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No. Nice. Yeah. I love New Haven. Yeah.

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So happy that we lived there.
I met my wife.

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Found out we're having twins, so we moved
to West Hartford, and here we are.

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That's great.

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Did you now talk in New Haven?

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Yeah, we had a talk. Pizza. Do you.
Did you have a pizza spot?

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Where was your go to? Well,
that's interesting.

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Now I live in Wallingford.

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Okay. Chris goes is very, very good. Okay.

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I mean, Pepe's in New Haven is always.

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Yeah. Is the go to.

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Yeah, that's that's the spot I got.

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I think I heard good things about this.

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Chris goes yeah, that's it's very,
very good.

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Yeah.

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The guy that the Barstool guy did.

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Yeah. The Barstool guy went there.
There's three Bob brothers.

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They all own different ones.

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Yeah, that's the closest one to me.

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And that's the one that that food goes.
Yeah. In Cheshire. Yeah.

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Luna and Naugatuck.
I think Chris. Crystal's in Wallingford.

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Yeah. Yeah.

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They're known as the three King,
the three Kings.

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And you see that on their pizza boxes?

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All of them are great.

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I really do like all three of them, but.

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But Chris has my heart
because it's it's close.

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And they've got some very, very.

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Good people
there. A picture of them on the bus. Yeah.

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The character tours
with three of the guys.

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Yeah, in black and white.

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Their characters out, their characters.

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Yeah.
They probably make a good podcast guest.

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I think they would get those. Friend.

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Let's get them on the Three Kings.
Talk to him, show him this.

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What minute are we.
We're going to show the Chris go guy

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and then.

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Seven and a half.

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That's great. No, that's so cool.

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And we have a common friend and I want to
thank him for making the connection.

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Do you want to talk about our friend
Jonah Francis?

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Yes. Of pansy home care.

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Jonah, I have to say, he's
probably the nicest guy

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in in the home care field.

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We get we work together a little bit
on the Connecticut Medicaid DSS committee

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for the Home Care Association of,
America and Connecticut chapter.

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So we kind of interact there a little bit.

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And he's he's been great.

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When we moved into the home care market,
we were a little bit concerned

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that we would be
looked at as a major competitor.

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And in the brain injury field
in Connecticut, it's a very competitive

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marketplace. People don't play nicely.

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It's interesting.

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So then to move into the home care market,
Jonah was a so friendly offering advice

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because there were some things that
we were kind of scratching a head around.

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And Jonah was open,
sat down, had a conversation.

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It was it was very
it was a very, very pleasant surprise.

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Yeah. I had a great time
talking with Jonah.

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Episode 112. Yeah. 112.

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Where the players dwell.

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That's a little saying.

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It's a it's a band. 112 is a band.

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So he said that
multiple times on the podcast.

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But thank you for the connection, Jonah.

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So our motto, be a good friend. Yeah.

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Hold the door, pick up trash,
give compliments and be charitable.

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Yeah. What makes Jonah a good friend?

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I think Jonah's always willing
to help with advice.

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If we have questions, he's
willing to be completely transparent.

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And as I said, it could be an environment
where he identified himself

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as a competitor.

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He saw us as a threat.
That wasn't the case.

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Yep. Jonah was very much about

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helping those in need

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and seeing it as a benefit
that we were coming into the spaces,

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the supported living group,
with our resources to benefit

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the elder population in this area
and beyond.

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Very cool.

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So all right, good answer.

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You get a sticker. Perfect.

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And I also love how your name has
a lot of letters after it.

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So I know Emma that's Masters.

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Is. CBS.

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So it's certified brain injury specialist.

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Okay.

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I got that through the Brain
Injury Association of America.

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Now was at a college.
Was that through New Haven?

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No, that's an additional class.

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That's an additional qualification
through the Brain

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Injury Association of America.

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It's it's it's
an intensive course of study.

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And at the end of it, you,

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very well
were versed in brain injury support.

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And then the actual brain
in terms of brain trauma and brain damage.

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Yep. And, LPC.

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Licensed professional counselor.

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So I hold that qualification as well.

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I worked that's

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part that tied into my master's
degree program

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and then 5000 hours of clinical services
that are supervised.

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I specialize in trauma.

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And I've got additional certifications
in eMDR

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and hypnosis,
which I link in to the brain injury pace.

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Okay.

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Yeah, eMDR got it right here.

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I movement desensitization reprocessing.

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Yeah. It's now explain that explain that.

246
00:10:54,620 --> 00:10:56,989
So yeah traditionally

247
00:10:56,989 --> 00:11:00,493
most people when you talk therapy
kind of come up with talk therapy.

248
00:11:00,493 --> 00:11:03,529
Two people sitting in a room
and talking back and forth

249
00:11:03,963 --> 00:11:06,832
with eye movement
desensitization and reprocessing.

250
00:11:06,832 --> 00:11:09,835
It was originally really designed
for PTSD.

251
00:11:09,935 --> 00:11:12,938
And essentially trauma
gets stuck in the limbic system

252
00:11:13,139 --> 00:11:15,808
and you don't process through that trauma.

253
00:11:15,808 --> 00:11:18,811
So if you're a child
and you had trauma growing up,

254
00:11:19,011 --> 00:11:22,248
you go back to those moments in time
when the trauma happens.

255
00:11:22,581 --> 00:11:26,886
As an adult and you attempt to navigate
what's going on in the same,

256
00:11:26,886 --> 00:11:28,988
in the same manner,
you don't even realize it's going on.

257
00:11:30,256 --> 00:11:30,923
Eye movement

258
00:11:30,923 --> 00:11:35,194
desensitization and reprocessing uses
something called bilateral stimulation.

259
00:11:35,594 --> 00:11:39,231
It can be a light bar
like what you see, the easiest thing

260
00:11:39,231 --> 00:11:41,534
to think about is, Kit at a night, right?

261
00:11:41,534 --> 00:11:41,801
Yeah.

262
00:11:41,801 --> 00:11:44,670
That red flashing light
that goes back and forth.

263
00:11:44,670 --> 00:11:46,772
But you can also do it with your finger.

264
00:11:46,772 --> 00:11:50,743
And there's also sensitization
where you can do it with ferrite tappers

265
00:11:50,743 --> 00:11:55,314
or even just tapping on the legs
or the shoulders, and also sound

266
00:11:55,614 --> 00:11:59,585
that opens up that, that processing

267
00:11:59,585 --> 00:12:03,189
center and allows us to work on the
the trauma.

268
00:12:03,589 --> 00:12:06,158
It's not directed by the therapist.

269
00:12:06,158 --> 00:12:09,328
The individual was, is, is reliving
or bringing up

270
00:12:09,328 --> 00:12:12,598
that trauma
and reprocessing through with my guidance.

271
00:12:12,598 --> 00:12:15,901
It works especially
well with the brain injury population.

272
00:12:16,635 --> 00:12:20,806
But anybody who's had any type of trauma,
it's very, very beneficial for.

273
00:12:20,873 --> 00:12:25,711
Okay, I had Jenny LCT, she's a therapist,
and we started the podcast

274
00:12:25,711 --> 00:12:26,545
doing the tapping.

275
00:12:26,545 --> 00:12:27,480
Okay.

276
00:12:27,480 --> 00:12:30,783
And positive self-talk
as you do the tapping CBT.

277
00:12:30,850 --> 00:12:33,652
So that's a little bit different
with the eMDR piece.

278
00:12:33,652 --> 00:12:34,520
Okay.

279
00:12:34,520 --> 00:12:39,024
The the Farah tapping, essentially
it's all about opening up those,

280
00:12:39,024 --> 00:12:43,028
those networks within the brain
and where the trauma is stored.

281
00:12:43,329 --> 00:12:46,565
So as you start to open up those networks,
then you start to

282
00:12:46,832 --> 00:12:50,970
to be able to process through the trauma,
a lot of the stuff isn't even,

283
00:12:51,370 --> 00:12:54,006
in conscious awareness again,
which happens

284
00:12:54,006 --> 00:12:57,176
as a kid or it happens,
you know, it could be a car accident.

285
00:12:57,176 --> 00:13:00,179
It could be multiple things that go on.

286
00:13:00,479 --> 00:13:03,315
It gets stored away
and locked away in our subconscious mind,

287
00:13:03,315 --> 00:13:06,318
because in that moment in time,
the brain couldn't deal with it.

288
00:13:06,452 --> 00:13:07,253
So with the

289
00:13:07,253 --> 00:13:11,624
with this therapeutic approach,
what ends up happening is it gets released

290
00:13:11,824 --> 00:13:16,262
and the therapist is there to assist you
to work through it and then move forward.

291
00:13:16,262 --> 00:13:20,800
Some of the most horrendous things
can get worked for you very, very quickly.

292
00:13:21,567 --> 00:13:23,969
Far quicker than it would be under,

293
00:13:23,969 --> 00:13:26,772
you know,
the more traditional talk therapy buys.

294
00:13:26,772 --> 00:13:27,373
Interesting.

295
00:13:27,373 --> 00:13:30,209
And and you host counseling sessions.

296
00:13:30,209 --> 00:13:32,478
Yeah, we do a lot of
I do a lot of virtual pieces.

297
00:13:32,478 --> 00:13:34,480
That's that's a second business for me.

298
00:13:34,480 --> 00:13:36,482
I'm a private clinician.

299
00:13:36,482 --> 00:13:40,352
But I do incorporate that into
I have the ability to incorporate elements

300
00:13:40,653 --> 00:13:43,589
of it into my work
with individuals with brain injuries.

301
00:13:43,589 --> 00:13:46,592
Very nice, very nice. And CCH.

302
00:13:46,892 --> 00:13:49,762
Certify
I'm a certified consulting hypnotist

303
00:13:49,762 --> 00:13:51,630
through the National Guild of Hypnotists.

304
00:13:52,898 --> 00:13:57,036
Now, would I dare let you hypnotize me
right now on my show?

305
00:13:57,036 --> 00:13:59,638
I wouldn't do it right now on the show.

306
00:13:59,638 --> 00:14:02,641
That may be for that special episode
you could be doing live.

307
00:14:02,975 --> 00:14:06,011
I, I kind of for myself,
I lean towards more

308
00:14:06,011 --> 00:14:09,748
of the clinical approach
to hypnosis as opposed to the stage show.

309
00:14:09,915 --> 00:14:13,052
That's that's very much a specialization,
which

310
00:14:13,919 --> 00:14:16,388
I let them do that stuff.

311
00:14:16,388 --> 00:14:20,059
I do more of the clinical stuff
and tie it into some of the elements

312
00:14:20,059 --> 00:14:20,926
of the year where they.

313
00:14:20,926 --> 00:14:24,897
Would you have someone that had trauma,
like, I'm an adult, say I had trauma

314
00:14:24,897 --> 00:14:28,767
as a child, would you hypnotize me to
to speak to my younger self.

315
00:14:29,902 --> 00:14:31,470
Or in the process?

316
00:14:31,470 --> 00:14:32,671
That's the interesting piece.

317
00:14:32,671 --> 00:14:36,842
With the overlap between MDI and hypnosis,
what I would say is with hypnosis,

318
00:14:36,842 --> 00:14:38,611
that's the band aid.

319
00:14:38,611 --> 00:14:40,446
With eMDR.

320
00:14:40,446 --> 00:14:41,680
You're actually going in there.

321
00:14:41,680 --> 00:14:44,116
Really? You're sewing closed the wound.

322
00:14:45,317 --> 00:14:47,119
But I've used hypnosis in the

323
00:14:47,119 --> 00:14:50,122
same in that for reputed capacity as well.

324
00:14:51,023 --> 00:14:52,791
Anxiety elements like that.

325
00:14:52,791 --> 00:14:55,794
It's definitely the first steps
in teaching skills

326
00:14:55,861 --> 00:15:00,165
and anchoring points of safety
and then after that,

327
00:15:00,165 --> 00:15:05,137
when the individual feels secure enough,
we can then go and do the eMDR

328
00:15:05,137 --> 00:15:08,173
with that individual
to help them clear out the trauma,

329
00:15:08,173 --> 00:15:11,343
anxiety, problematic memories, etc.

330
00:15:11,610 --> 00:15:12,778
for good.

331
00:15:12,778 --> 00:15:15,180
Wow, this is great.

332
00:15:15,180 --> 00:15:16,081
Did I miss anything?

333
00:15:16,081 --> 00:15:18,450
Anything you want to share
about the Supported Living Group

334
00:15:18,450 --> 00:15:21,020
or some of the programs
that you that you do?

335
00:15:21,020 --> 00:15:24,690
I think we touch base a little bit
on the On the Arts program.

336
00:15:24,690 --> 00:15:27,927
We, it's truly one of a kind arts program.

337
00:15:27,960 --> 00:15:33,565
We hired individuals
from outside of the home care field.

338
00:15:33,933 --> 00:15:36,502
We hired legitimate artists to come in.

339
00:15:36,502 --> 00:15:40,072
We trained them in supporting individuals
with brain injuries

340
00:15:40,506 --> 00:15:42,608
and the amazing work that's gone on.

341
00:15:42,608 --> 00:15:45,911
If you get a chance to look up
inspire Art, CTE,

342
00:15:46,445 --> 00:15:50,783
that's the website for our artists
where they showcase their work.

343
00:15:51,116 --> 00:15:54,219
We have individuals that have amazing,
amazing

344
00:15:54,219 --> 00:15:57,990
creations and, you know, brain injury
and art kind of tie together

345
00:15:57,990 --> 00:16:02,094
because art's all about perspective
and these are the individuals we support

346
00:16:02,528 --> 00:16:05,731
have they experience the world
in a different way to you and I.

347
00:16:05,931 --> 00:16:07,833
So it gives you a window into their world.

348
00:16:07,833 --> 00:16:10,235
We have individuals that have had strokes

349
00:16:10,235 --> 00:16:13,439
who have as a
as a consequence, expressive aphasia.

350
00:16:13,639 --> 00:16:16,241
So they have word finding difficulties.

351
00:16:16,241 --> 00:16:20,713
But you're able to work with them
to create these amazing pieces of artwork

352
00:16:20,713 --> 00:16:22,948
where they find their voice again
within the work.

353
00:16:22,948 --> 00:16:23,215
Yeah.

354
00:16:23,215 --> 00:16:28,821
And also it's a it's an easy access point
for members of the public

355
00:16:28,954 --> 00:16:30,422
to start to get to know

356
00:16:30,422 --> 00:16:33,392
are they start to get to know
the individuals behind the artwork,

357
00:16:33,692 --> 00:16:37,229
and it shows them that individual brain
injuries are not dangerous.

358
00:16:37,496 --> 00:16:40,366
They're they're not aggressive
for the most part.

359
00:16:40,366 --> 00:16:41,633
They're just everyday,

360
00:16:41,633 --> 00:16:44,670
normal people that you wouldn't
even realize have a brain injury.

361
00:16:44,870 --> 00:16:46,972
That's the big piece
with the brain injury component.

362
00:16:46,972 --> 00:16:49,274
It's a hidden injury.

363
00:16:49,274 --> 00:16:52,845
It's a silent epidemic because people
don't realize what's going on.

364
00:16:53,112 --> 00:16:53,579
They don't.

365
00:16:53,579 --> 00:16:56,215
A lot of individuals
don't have the physical disabilities

366
00:16:56,215 --> 00:17:00,586
that are associated
with the standard disability network. Yep.

367
00:17:01,053 --> 00:17:02,888
So that's that's something interesting.

368
00:17:02,888 --> 00:17:06,125
And the art program has been hugely,
hugely successful.

369
00:17:06,392 --> 00:17:07,026
And we have that

370
00:17:07,026 --> 00:17:10,562
both in our Avon program location
and our Bethany program location.

371
00:17:10,863 --> 00:17:11,563
That's great.

372
00:17:11,563 --> 00:17:13,799
You know, so inspire Art CT yeah.

373
00:17:13,799 --> 00:17:15,401
And you said you're working on a mural.

374
00:17:15,401 --> 00:17:18,537
We just finished
a mural in Avon, Connecticut.

375
00:17:18,537 --> 00:17:22,141
We have a courtyard in that
in that building space that we just

376
00:17:22,441 --> 00:17:23,909
completely reconfigured.

377
00:17:25,144 --> 00:17:27,179
We redeveloped it.

378
00:17:27,179 --> 00:17:28,714
It's a healing garden.

379
00:17:28,714 --> 00:17:31,283
There's an art mural there.

380
00:17:31,283 --> 00:17:34,286
Big shout out goes to Aqua Scapes of,

381
00:17:34,319 --> 00:17:37,623
Portland, Connecticut, who came in
and did a wonderful water feature.

382
00:17:37,890 --> 00:17:40,592
And it allows our individuals
to to be somewhere comfortable

383
00:17:40,592 --> 00:17:43,929
where they can be creative,
they can take moments to themselves.

384
00:17:44,863 --> 00:17:48,367
And there's a big, healing garden,
as I said, that we've developed there,

385
00:17:48,634 --> 00:17:52,304
healing by growing Farms is
another amazing nonprofit in Connecticut.

386
00:17:52,704 --> 00:17:54,273
The owner of that organization,

387
00:17:54,273 --> 00:17:58,243
or the founder of that organization,
is a brain injury survivor herself.

388
00:17:58,243 --> 00:18:00,412
She used to work for FEMA.

389
00:18:00,412 --> 00:18:03,415
And what happened was she simply,

390
00:18:04,116 --> 00:18:07,119
went to relax on a hammock
on the hammock, snapped.

391
00:18:07,453 --> 00:18:10,689
She swung back, hit the tree,
and was never the same again.

392
00:18:11,757 --> 00:18:16,261
And after, you know, going through the
rehab and recovery stages of brain injury

393
00:18:16,462 --> 00:18:19,565
she developed at this amazing program
where she's teaching,

394
00:18:20,432 --> 00:18:25,771
horticultural skills and farming skills
to individuals on the disability spectrum.

395
00:18:26,872 --> 00:18:27,706
All great things.

396
00:18:27,706 --> 00:18:30,709
I mean, it's amazing stuff.
I wouldn't mind.

397
00:18:31,310 --> 00:18:32,711
Can you find the picture of the mural?

398
00:18:32,711 --> 00:18:34,113
We'll pull it up right
here. We'll have it.

399
00:18:34,113 --> 00:18:36,014
We're going to show the mural page.

400
00:18:36,014 --> 00:18:36,748
I'll get you there.

401
00:18:36,748 --> 00:18:39,751
If you go onto our Facebook page,
the Supported Living Group Facebook page,

402
00:18:39,885 --> 00:18:41,120
you'll see pictures of the mural.

403
00:18:41,120 --> 00:18:42,721
And I'm gonna put it right here.

404
00:18:42,721 --> 00:18:45,457
Perfect. Beautiful mural. You'll see it.

405
00:18:45,457 --> 00:18:47,392
Stephanie is gonna add it in after she's.

406
00:18:47,392 --> 00:18:49,161
She's a magician.

407
00:18:49,161 --> 00:18:52,164
Wow. That's great.

408
00:18:52,598 --> 00:18:53,966
Oh, I have a follow up question,
but first,

409
00:18:53,966 --> 00:18:55,934
let me shout out some podcast sponsors.

410
00:18:55,934 --> 00:18:57,936
We're here at Maximum Beverage.

411
00:18:57,936 --> 00:18:59,671
Thank you, Matt Whitney.

412
00:18:59,671 --> 00:19:00,739
Maximum beverage.

413
00:19:00,739 --> 00:19:04,743
Thank you Direct Line Media
Stephania and Dave thank you Luna pizza

414
00:19:05,010 --> 00:19:09,848
the fix IV float 41 Parkville management
Brooke Gough law group, Keating

415
00:19:09,848 --> 00:19:15,454
Agency insurance, People's bank, Sally
and Bob's and New England dawn security.

416
00:19:15,754 --> 00:19:19,725
So with New England Dawn security,
what are three keys

417
00:19:20,459 --> 00:19:22,961
that make you a great executive director?

418
00:19:22,961 --> 00:19:27,232
Oh, I think listening
is an important piece.

419
00:19:29,101 --> 00:19:30,736
Not trying to control everything.

420
00:19:30,736 --> 00:19:35,641
Allowing my management team, staff
and I, our clients,

421
00:19:35,641 --> 00:19:39,444
are service participants
to have buy in to the process.

422
00:19:40,112 --> 00:19:42,314
And I think always pushing
to learn new things

423
00:19:42,314 --> 00:19:43,982
and being open to learning new things.

424
00:19:43,982 --> 00:19:45,751
There is no one way of doing business.

425
00:19:45,751 --> 00:19:48,554
There is no one way of providing
support services.

426
00:19:48,554 --> 00:19:51,256
Being able to pivot,
especially in this current environment.

427
00:19:51,256 --> 00:19:52,457
You know, fiscally

428
00:19:52,457 --> 00:19:56,361
it can be challenging, being open
to being able to pivot very quickly

429
00:19:56,662 --> 00:20:00,165
and new ideas and philosophies has been
has been very beneficial.

430
00:20:00,165 --> 00:20:04,203
Sounds like a teacher can pivot,
learn new things, be a good listener.

431
00:20:04,236 --> 00:20:05,103
Yeah.

432
00:20:05,103 --> 00:20:08,106
And what was the middle one for?

433
00:20:08,941 --> 00:20:12,611
Taking, taking,
taking feedback from from the managers

434
00:20:12,611 --> 00:20:15,948
and the individuals that work within
the organization and collaboration is.

435
00:20:15,948 --> 00:20:17,249
Yeah, we hired talent.

436
00:20:17,249 --> 00:20:18,850
Let the talent do what they need to do.

437
00:20:18,850 --> 00:20:20,519
Don't try micromanage.

438
00:20:20,519 --> 00:20:22,588
Mary. Good. Now, do you oversee,

439
00:20:23,855 --> 00:20:26,758
because I saw
on the website you have the south area.

440
00:20:26,758 --> 00:20:28,260
North area, East west?

441
00:20:28,260 --> 00:20:30,996
Yeah. Are you in charge of all of them
or do you have.

442
00:20:30,996 --> 00:20:33,565
So I travel between all the offices.

443
00:20:33,565 --> 00:20:36,668
Typically Mondays
and Wednesdays I'm in Avon.

444
00:20:37,603 --> 00:20:39,705
Tuesdays and Fridays I'm in Bethany

445
00:20:39,705 --> 00:20:42,741
and on Thursdays I am in Danielson.

446
00:20:43,208 --> 00:20:45,310
Kimberly Burson, the vice president.

447
00:20:45,310 --> 00:20:48,313
She sits in,
in, in Danielson, Connecticut.

448
00:20:49,081 --> 00:20:51,683
So she's overseeing that that location.

449
00:20:51,683 --> 00:20:52,017
As I said,

450
00:20:52,017 --> 00:20:56,255
we've got an amazing management team
who make my job really, really easy.

451
00:20:56,822 --> 00:20:59,791
I get to be the nice guy
nine times out of ten.

452
00:20:59,791 --> 00:21:02,127
And everything's going well.

453
00:21:02,127 --> 00:21:05,564
And I get to focus on trying
to grow the business and just handling,

454
00:21:06,798 --> 00:21:07,332
issues.

455
00:21:07,332 --> 00:21:10,769
If they come up that that that saves me
a lot of gray hairs.

456
00:21:10,936 --> 00:21:13,572
Yeah, it's the supporting living group's.
Yeah.

457
00:21:13,572 --> 00:21:14,906
SLG. Yeah.

458
00:21:14,906 --> 00:21:19,645
You can be reached at (860) 774-3400.

459
00:21:19,678 --> 00:21:24,616
Got that info at Sgml hyphen
ktvb.com. Yes.

460
00:21:24,816 --> 00:21:26,485
Get your info email.

461
00:21:26,485 --> 00:21:29,388
Reach out to my guy, Jamie Arbor,

462
00:21:29,388 --> 00:21:32,057
the executive director.

463
00:21:32,057 --> 00:21:33,058
Now, you were the director.

464
00:21:33,058 --> 00:21:35,961
Is that a promotion
or is that just a typo? Or.

465
00:21:35,961 --> 00:21:39,698
When I came in, yeah,
we I came into the business in 2017.

466
00:21:40,299 --> 00:21:42,968
Chris, Chris and Kim hired me.

467
00:21:42,968 --> 00:21:45,904
They didn't really have a presence
in western Connecticut at that point.

468
00:21:45,904 --> 00:21:48,874
So Chris basically said, what do you need?

469
00:21:48,874 --> 00:21:50,042
Sorry, I need a building.

470
00:21:50,042 --> 00:21:52,477
That's what I need.
I can do everything else.

471
00:21:52,477 --> 00:21:55,714
And what I found is the people
that are meant to find you, find you.

472
00:21:55,714 --> 00:21:59,051
So we we started to find really great
staff members really quickly.

473
00:21:59,451 --> 00:22:02,454
And we found a location, actually
in Plainville, Connecticut,

474
00:22:02,487 --> 00:22:04,556
and in under a year
with growing that space.

475
00:22:04,556 --> 00:22:07,292
And we spent a year looking,

476
00:22:07,292 --> 00:22:10,195
and that's where we found the
spot in Avon, Connecticut.

477
00:22:11,163 --> 00:22:12,731
And then the pandemic hit, which was fun.

478
00:22:12,731 --> 00:22:17,102
We just purchased essentially $1 million
building, and then the pandemic hit.

479
00:22:17,569 --> 00:22:21,006
But we were the first agency
social service agency in the state

480
00:22:21,006 --> 00:22:25,110
to have pandemic associated policies
and procedures.

481
00:22:25,811 --> 00:22:27,913
Chris went out.

482
00:22:27,913 --> 00:22:30,482
He had an account with Restaurant Depot.

483
00:22:30,482 --> 00:22:33,819
So put together a food pantry
for all of our participants to ensure

484
00:22:33,819 --> 00:22:37,022
that they weren't going to go without
if that if that issue came up,

485
00:22:37,622 --> 00:22:41,727
and we were able to continue
growing during the pandemic period,

486
00:22:41,727 --> 00:22:44,429
we were very fortunate
there wasn't for that first year

487
00:22:44,429 --> 00:22:47,199
no cases of Covid occurred.

488
00:22:47,199 --> 00:22:50,102
And as I said, the agency
went from strength to strength for other

489
00:22:50,102 --> 00:22:53,105
agencies, were closing their doors.

490
00:22:53,205 --> 00:22:54,339
That's great. That's great.

491
00:22:54,339 --> 00:22:56,007
Where in Avon is it located?

492
00:22:56,007 --> 00:22:58,076
I know it says Simsbury Road, but where?

493
00:22:58,076 --> 00:23:01,546
147 Simsbury Road, right
across the way from the Commons.

494
00:23:01,780 --> 00:23:03,482
Okay, you can't miss the building.

495
00:23:03,482 --> 00:23:06,918
It's up past the new Walmart
and all that or no, no, you're.

496
00:23:06,918 --> 00:23:08,153
Going to take,

497
00:23:08,153 --> 00:23:11,490
as you're going as you're going towards
that, you're going to take a right

498
00:23:11,490 --> 00:23:14,493
where the post office is heading down
towards Simsbury,

499
00:23:14,626 --> 00:23:17,562
and it's right there
opposite where the Commons are.

500
00:23:17,562 --> 00:23:19,164
Beautiful building.

501
00:23:19,164 --> 00:23:20,799
We're very, very fortunate.

502
00:23:20,799 --> 00:23:24,236
We were able also to secure
housing on that on those grounds.

503
00:23:24,469 --> 00:23:26,571
So that's another thing
that we do, this very difference.

504
00:23:26,571 --> 00:23:30,575
A lot of the other companies out there
that we are our individuals

505
00:23:30,575 --> 00:23:33,578
to live as independently as possible
in affordable housing,

506
00:23:33,945 --> 00:23:35,313
especially in the current market,

507
00:23:35,313 --> 00:23:37,849
you know, the affordable
housing is not really there anymore.

508
00:23:37,849 --> 00:23:39,651
So we've gone out of our way
to try and do that.

509
00:23:39,651 --> 00:23:41,186
For individuals accessible,

510
00:23:42,220 --> 00:23:44,956
affordable and well maintained.

511
00:23:44,956 --> 00:23:45,690
Nice. Yeah.

512
00:23:45,690 --> 00:23:48,260
What's the mission of SGA, SGA?

513
00:23:48,260 --> 00:23:51,396
The mission would be to,
I mean, it's to help

514
00:23:51,396 --> 00:23:54,633
everyone, help individuals
to live the best life possible.

515
00:23:54,633 --> 00:23:55,467
I mean, that's

516
00:23:55,467 --> 00:23:56,701
that's really it's a it's a be

517
00:23:56,701 --> 00:23:59,771
as independent as possible
in the communities of their choice. Yep.

518
00:23:59,805 --> 00:24:01,840
That's
what we try to do each and every day.

519
00:24:01,840 --> 00:24:05,510
Each individual that comes in,
we create person centered programing

520
00:24:05,710 --> 00:24:08,547
based around their needs
rather than our needs.

521
00:24:08,547 --> 00:24:11,817
And if we keep that in mind, I think
that's how we help each individual grow.

522
00:24:12,584 --> 00:24:13,952
Now are you ready for a test?

523
00:24:13,952 --> 00:24:14,653
Oh, this is.

524
00:24:14,653 --> 00:24:16,955
There's a culture called

525
00:24:16,955 --> 00:24:18,423
do you know the culture code?

526
00:24:18,423 --> 00:24:19,291
There's five of. Them.

527
00:24:19,291 --> 00:24:23,328
I wrote the Culture Code a number of years
ago, but now you have there on the spot.

528
00:24:23,328 --> 00:24:25,597
I might I may need a clue from this. Okay.

529
00:24:25,597 --> 00:24:28,166
That's what you do. You need a clue?

530
00:24:28,166 --> 00:24:29,701
Yeah. Can you.

531
00:24:29,701 --> 00:24:31,069
All right. So you're committed.

532
00:24:31,069 --> 00:24:35,340
We are committed to providing
the best possible services that we can.

533
00:24:35,340 --> 00:24:37,275
Each and every day. Okay?

534
00:24:38,810 --> 00:24:40,111
You're fixated.

535
00:24:40,111 --> 00:24:43,081
Fixated
on on being the best that we can be.

536
00:24:44,549 --> 00:24:46,184
Okay. It's all just strive.

537
00:24:46,184 --> 00:24:48,687
We strive to benefit those.

538
00:24:48,687 --> 00:24:50,188
We provide support services.

539
00:24:50,188 --> 00:24:52,157
True. We strive to be recognized

540
00:24:52,157 --> 00:24:55,160
as the best provider in Connecticut
each and every day.

541
00:24:55,193 --> 00:25:00,031
And we strive to continue to grow
our philosophy everywhere that we land.

542
00:25:00,065 --> 00:25:01,500
All right? And we believe.

543
00:25:01,500 --> 00:25:04,736
We believe
in the ability of our participants

544
00:25:04,736 --> 00:25:08,373
to grow, to develop, and to find happiness
after their injuries.

545
00:25:08,773 --> 00:25:10,008
And we invest.

546
00:25:10,008 --> 00:25:13,078
In our people, in our participants

547
00:25:13,411 --> 00:25:17,048
and in our infrastructure
and the way that we provide services.

548
00:25:17,215 --> 00:25:20,485
That's a big piece as well, in terms
of the owners of the company are committed

549
00:25:20,485 --> 00:25:23,488
to reinvesting any profits
that the agency makes.

550
00:25:23,622 --> 00:25:26,558
Those have shrunk because
because of the environment that we're in.

551
00:25:26,558 --> 00:25:29,027
But back into the programing space.

552
00:25:29,027 --> 00:25:31,730
All right. You nailed it.
I think I did well having the B-plus.

553
00:25:31,730 --> 00:25:35,700
I think I wrote those in like 2017, 2018.

554
00:25:36,167 --> 00:25:38,436
You got to get those like tattooed
on your arm or something. Yeah.

555
00:25:38,436 --> 00:25:40,539
I mean way to do it. Culture
code. That could. Work.

556
00:25:42,040 --> 00:25:43,942
No. It's great I was good.

557
00:25:43,942 --> 00:25:44,442
That was funny.

558
00:25:44,442 --> 00:25:47,312
That was good stuff.
It was stressful for a second.

559
00:25:47,312 --> 00:25:49,047
No no no.

560
00:25:49,047 --> 00:25:51,716
All right. Great.

561
00:25:51,716 --> 00:25:54,219
All right, so we got another another game.

562
00:25:54,219 --> 00:25:58,023
First last best worst.

563
00:25:58,223 --> 00:26:00,992
So, like a program or an event? An event.

564
00:26:00,992 --> 00:26:02,627
And I said,

565
00:26:02,627 --> 00:26:04,529
SLG. Yeah.

566
00:26:04,529 --> 00:26:06,998
So your events or programs,

567
00:26:06,998 --> 00:26:09,935
what was your first event or program?

568
00:26:09,935 --> 00:26:13,705
Your last event or program,
your best one and your worst one.

569
00:26:13,705 --> 00:26:14,573
Any order I.

570
00:26:14,573 --> 00:26:17,342
Think I think the best program

571
00:26:17,342 --> 00:26:20,445
we have put together, as I said,
is the arts program.

572
00:26:20,445 --> 00:26:24,049
We actually have a an art show going on.

573
00:26:24,149 --> 00:26:25,450
This starts this Friday.

574
00:26:25,450 --> 00:26:28,453
It's going to be for the whole month,
next month.

575
00:26:28,853 --> 00:26:31,823
With the Keshi Art Gallery
in Avon, Connecticut.

576
00:26:31,823 --> 00:26:32,390
Okay.

577
00:26:32,390 --> 00:26:36,294
Individuals across the state
who have sustained brain

578
00:26:36,294 --> 00:26:40,632
injuries are going to have their work,
showcased at the KC Gallery.

579
00:26:40,632 --> 00:26:42,901
It is a curated show.

580
00:26:42,901 --> 00:26:45,003
So any the best piece of work are there?

581
00:26:45,003 --> 00:26:48,273
If anyone is an art collector
or anything of that nature,

582
00:26:48,506 --> 00:26:51,843
definitely stop by and take a look
because you have a

583
00:26:51,843 --> 00:26:55,747
you have an opportunity to to purchase a
one of a kind piece of artwork and support

584
00:26:55,747 --> 00:26:56,314
the artist.

585
00:26:56,314 --> 00:27:00,151
This isn't about supporting the agencies,
it's about supporting the artists.

586
00:27:00,452 --> 00:27:02,487
And for some individuals,
that first piece of artwork

587
00:27:02,487 --> 00:27:06,091
that they sell enables them then
to hold that mantra of being an artist

588
00:27:06,091 --> 00:27:07,926
because you're not an artist
unless you sell a piece.

589
00:27:07,926 --> 00:27:08,627
Okay. That's great.

590
00:27:08,627 --> 00:27:11,229
And, make it official.
Yeah, make it official.

591
00:27:11,229 --> 00:27:13,932
And I'm going to be honest,
you see the changes in people

592
00:27:13,932 --> 00:27:17,268
because in terms of trying
to find a purpose and an identity,

593
00:27:17,702 --> 00:27:20,372
the nature of the brain injury
is you wake up one day,

594
00:27:20,372 --> 00:27:23,341
you could be a teacher, you're
driving the school, you get in a car

595
00:27:23,341 --> 00:27:26,344
accident, you're no longer a teacher
because you can't go back.

596
00:27:26,444 --> 00:27:28,546
You're a victim of a car accident.

597
00:27:28,546 --> 00:27:30,015
You're a brain injury survivor.

598
00:27:30,015 --> 00:27:33,018
You don't want to be known as a brain
injury survivor for the rest of your life.

599
00:27:33,151 --> 00:27:36,655
So programs like what we offer, there
are other agencies that offer programs

600
00:27:36,655 --> 00:27:41,226
as well, enable the individual
to find a new purpose and a new identity.

601
00:27:41,493 --> 00:27:42,961
So helping that individual become

602
00:27:42,961 --> 00:27:46,431
known as an artist is a huge step
in that person's life.

603
00:27:46,865 --> 00:27:49,267
And that would be probably yeah.

604
00:27:49,267 --> 00:27:50,135
That's amazing.

605
00:27:50,135 --> 00:27:52,303
That's awesome. That's the best one. Yeah.

606
00:27:52,303 --> 00:27:54,272
Did you ever have something
go wrong or missing.

607
00:27:55,507 --> 00:27:56,107
Programs?

608
00:27:56,107 --> 00:27:58,209
Yeah, we've had programs go right.

609
00:27:58,209 --> 00:28:02,213
Essentially what ends up happening,
we have like a woodshop program.

610
00:28:02,213 --> 00:28:06,618
It's an interesting thing because,
you know, 5 or 6 years ago, great program.

611
00:28:06,618 --> 00:28:08,286
Everything was working fine.

612
00:28:08,286 --> 00:28:13,124
And you kind of those those individuals
that have sustained brain injuries

613
00:28:13,124 --> 00:28:15,560
from the older generation,
you know, those grizzly

614
00:28:15,560 --> 00:28:19,064
guys that were coming through school
in like the 70s and 80s

615
00:28:19,330 --> 00:28:22,267
that did tech programs
and stuff like that, that

616
00:28:22,267 --> 00:28:25,403
when we get the new generation of brain
injury survivors, the woodshop

617
00:28:25,403 --> 00:28:27,505
is they kind of look at it
and they're looking at the tools

618
00:28:27,505 --> 00:28:29,340
and they're trying to figure out
what's going on.

619
00:28:29,340 --> 00:28:34,779
So that was that was that was
tough in terms of having to again, pivot,

620
00:28:35,180 --> 00:28:37,982
find a new individual
who was going to be able

621
00:28:37,982 --> 00:28:40,285
to take over the woodshop program when,

622
00:28:40,285 --> 00:28:43,188
you know, kind of the gentleman
that helped develop that, Mr..

623
00:28:43,188 --> 00:28:46,191
Keith Merwin, decided to retire.

624
00:28:46,291 --> 00:28:48,426
And there was
there was a period of stress.

625
00:28:48,426 --> 00:28:51,162
We had to hire somebody, actually,
from South Carolina.

626
00:28:51,162 --> 00:28:54,666
He had moved into the state very,
very recently, and we lucked out.

627
00:28:55,400 --> 00:28:58,737
But that was a moment where it was
it was stressful when we had to pivot.

628
00:28:59,070 --> 00:29:02,006
He's come in, he's got his own ideas
and he's changing it up.

629
00:29:02,006 --> 00:29:03,508
But, yeah, that was

630
00:29:03,508 --> 00:29:06,211
that was a moment of stress for me
because we have the woodshop.

631
00:29:06,211 --> 00:29:08,880
We've invested heavily in all those tools
and all that equipment.

632
00:29:08,880 --> 00:29:09,214
Yeah.

633
00:29:09,214 --> 00:29:10,882
And there was a moment. Do we keep it?

634
00:29:10,882 --> 00:29:12,517
Do we do something different?

635
00:29:12,517 --> 00:29:15,553
As I said, there would have been
a lot of grizzly old gentleman who.

636
00:29:15,553 --> 00:29:18,556
And there's some ladies
that participate in that program

637
00:29:18,723 --> 00:29:20,091
that would have been without,

638
00:29:20,091 --> 00:29:24,429
you know, that that purpose
and having to change them over. Wow.

639
00:29:24,662 --> 00:29:26,965
Do you remember your first program.

640
00:29:26,965 --> 00:29:29,634
First Pro. Around 2017 when you. Started?

641
00:29:29,634 --> 00:29:34,205
When I first came in, it was
it was the art program and I think.

642
00:29:34,339 --> 00:29:35,907
So that's the longest running program.

643
00:29:35,907 --> 00:29:37,642
The whole program with the agency.

644
00:29:37,642 --> 00:29:39,344
Other programs have changed and developed.

645
00:29:39,344 --> 00:29:42,781
Probably the best
and most memorable program that I ever had

646
00:29:42,781 --> 00:29:45,784
was I developed
actually at a custom bike shop.

647
00:29:46,918 --> 00:29:49,521
We called it the Bespoke program.

648
00:29:49,521 --> 00:29:54,359
And we hired actually a brain injury
survivor who, you know, had been doing

649
00:29:54,793 --> 00:29:58,329
had been successful without brain injury
waiver support or anything of that nature.

650
00:29:58,329 --> 00:30:02,333
His name was Kevin Hickey,
and he came in with actually brother in

651
00:30:02,333 --> 00:30:07,272
law, Joe Galasso, and we worked together
to develop a custom bike program.

652
00:30:07,539 --> 00:30:08,173
They were building

653
00:30:08,173 --> 00:30:11,743
mini bikes with some of our participants,
and this nobody else had done a motor.

654
00:30:11,743 --> 00:30:13,611
Or pedal. Motor. Oh, no.

655
00:30:13,611 --> 00:30:16,614
Because and,
you know, looking at individuals,

656
00:30:17,315 --> 00:30:21,152
their eyes lit up in terms of the program
because a lot of the time programs

657
00:30:21,152 --> 00:30:27,592
before that stage were were kind of soft
softened down because nobody wanted to

658
00:30:27,592 --> 00:30:31,296
nobody a lot of individuals
didn't think that that program could work.

659
00:30:31,296 --> 00:30:32,797
And it worked really, really well.

660
00:30:32,797 --> 00:30:34,566
And it changed the way I think.

661
00:30:34,566 --> 00:30:38,203
A lot of other provider agencies took
a look at what could be what could occur

662
00:30:38,503 --> 00:30:41,239
in terms of services and individuals.

663
00:30:41,239 --> 00:30:41,739
You know, that

664
00:30:41,739 --> 00:30:45,510
that little cluster of guys and gals
together were doing custom artwork

665
00:30:45,510 --> 00:30:49,714
on the gas tanks, and elements like that
build out mini bikes and different pieces.

666
00:30:49,714 --> 00:30:51,916
And it was a very, very good program.

667
00:30:51,916 --> 00:30:53,618
Awesome, awesome.

668
00:30:53,618 --> 00:30:55,987
So that's first, last, best, worst.

669
00:30:55,987 --> 00:30:58,656
I think we hit them all.
Or what's your last most recent one?

670
00:30:58,656 --> 00:31:01,192
I think. Most recent
honestly that's. Happening on Friday.

671
00:31:01,192 --> 00:31:04,529
We got the we got the
for the short gallery and then the Healing

672
00:31:04,529 --> 00:31:08,366
by Growing Farms
Collaborative has been very beneficial.

673
00:31:08,600 --> 00:31:10,735
Just seeing individuals lined up

674
00:31:10,735 --> 00:31:14,672
with planning the gardening,
the healing gardens that we're developing.

675
00:31:15,540 --> 00:31:18,309
Connecting with doctor that Ruiz

676
00:31:18,309 --> 00:31:22,480
and then the gardens taking shape
for Bethany.

677
00:31:22,480 --> 00:31:25,650
I was literally we had a meeting
with Doctor Ruiz a couple of weeks ago.

678
00:31:25,650 --> 00:31:27,852
We're going to be doing a koi.

679
00:31:27,852 --> 00:31:30,288
We have a large pond, in Bethany.

680
00:31:30,288 --> 00:31:32,423
So we're going to be stocking that
with koi fish. Nice.

681
00:31:32,423 --> 00:31:36,594
And we're probably going to be probably
going to be looking to grow that program

682
00:31:36,594 --> 00:31:39,631
where individuals are tending
to the koi fish and then selling them

683
00:31:39,631 --> 00:31:42,901
as another revenue stream
and developing out some healing gardens.

684
00:31:42,901 --> 00:31:43,668
There.

685
00:31:43,668 --> 00:31:44,903
Very nice. Yeah. Awesome.

686
00:31:44,903 --> 00:31:46,938
That was first, first, last, best works.

687
00:31:46,938 --> 00:31:49,007
You can play it at home with the kids.

688
00:31:49,007 --> 00:31:51,609
Your favorite teacher,
your first teacher, your last teacher,

689
00:31:51,609 --> 00:31:55,179
your best teacher,
your worst teacher, vacations, whatever.

690
00:31:55,179 --> 00:31:57,348
You know. Have you ever sitting
around? It's a great game.

691
00:31:59,050 --> 00:32:00,685
Oh, so you're in the Avon community.

692
00:32:00,685 --> 00:32:01,653
Do you ever work with, like,

693
00:32:01,653 --> 00:32:04,889
Avon Old Farms or the high school
or the police department?

694
00:32:04,889 --> 00:32:05,957
We've actually done a bit of.

695
00:32:05,957 --> 00:32:08,159
We donated artwork
to the police department.

696
00:32:08,159 --> 00:32:11,162
The police department, a great
every now and again, one of the clients

697
00:32:11,162 --> 00:32:13,131
that we
we supports provides support services.

698
00:32:13,131 --> 00:32:15,833
We may have a medical emergency,
something like that.

699
00:32:15,833 --> 00:32:17,502
They're there in a heartbeat.

700
00:32:17,502 --> 00:32:19,871
Yeah. The, the EMTs as well.

701
00:32:19,871 --> 00:32:21,272
Amazing people.

702
00:32:21,272 --> 00:32:22,240
They're there.

703
00:32:22,240 --> 00:32:25,443
And you know, the participants
that we provide service to.

704
00:32:25,443 --> 00:32:29,447
A very thankful
one of our artists, Larry Pablo,

705
00:32:29,948 --> 00:32:33,451
created a custom piece of artwork
for the police department.

706
00:32:33,451 --> 00:32:37,855
And she also created a custom
piece of artwork for the, probate judge

707
00:32:37,855 --> 00:32:42,727
in Farmington, who was very, very honored
to receive that piece of artwork.

708
00:32:42,927 --> 00:32:43,928
She went out of her way.

709
00:32:43,928 --> 00:32:48,032
She used to work at the Halstead Museum
before she became a probate judge,

710
00:32:48,232 --> 00:32:52,937
took a day off to show that artist around
Halstead was a one of the.

711
00:32:53,237 --> 00:32:54,872
You know,
if that doesn't normally happens,

712
00:32:54,872 --> 00:32:57,642
it says a lot about that
individual community. Yeah, right.

713
00:32:57,642 --> 00:32:58,609
And the police department is great.

714
00:32:58,609 --> 00:33:01,612
One of my good friends
is, is on the job there.

715
00:33:01,913 --> 00:33:03,881
Great little workout area in the back.

716
00:33:03,881 --> 00:33:05,383
Yeah. Did the Murph there once.

717
00:33:05,383 --> 00:33:07,885
It's a great it's a great it's
a great community. Out, out.

718
00:33:07,885 --> 00:33:10,621
And where about is your artwork in the PD.

719
00:33:10,621 --> 00:33:11,990
So the hallway when you first I.

720
00:33:11,990 --> 00:33:14,993
Believe it's in the I believe it's
in the hallway when you walk in.

721
00:33:14,993 --> 00:33:18,796
For the probate court, it's actually in
the the probate court office of the judge.

722
00:33:18,963 --> 00:33:20,732
That's beautiful. Yeah, I love it.

723
00:33:20,732 --> 00:33:22,233
That makes me happy to hear that. Yeah.

724
00:33:23,201 --> 00:33:23,835
Very cool.

725
00:33:23,835 --> 00:33:27,305
Supported living and know, everyone

726
00:33:27,305 --> 00:33:30,842
as a teacher,
you know, there's varying abilities.

727
00:33:30,842 --> 00:33:34,012
Yeah. So.
And everyone should find success.

728
00:33:34,078 --> 00:33:34,312
Yeah.

729
00:33:34,312 --> 00:33:37,382
So I feel like you're making sure
everyone finds success.

730
00:33:37,615 --> 00:33:39,150
That's what we aim to do. It's.

731
00:33:39,150 --> 00:33:40,952
And again,
it goes back. Fight in that purpose.

732
00:33:40,952 --> 00:33:43,021
Fight for that reason
to get up in the morning. Yeah.

733
00:33:43,021 --> 00:33:47,025
Because a lot of individuals, you know,
they lose everything after the injury.

734
00:33:47,025 --> 00:33:49,127
They lose the person that they were.

735
00:33:49,127 --> 00:33:51,763
So helping them get back on track,

736
00:33:51,763 --> 00:33:55,233
helping them move forward in
life is is very, very important.

737
00:33:55,767 --> 00:33:57,035
And we go back to it.

738
00:33:57,035 --> 00:34:01,439
The management team, the support staff
all have that motivation

739
00:34:01,706 --> 00:34:03,708
and that makes my job so much easier.

740
00:34:03,708 --> 00:34:09,280
And it benefits our participants
who are grateful each and every day.

741
00:34:09,414 --> 00:34:11,349
It's definitely a sense of community
there.

742
00:34:11,349 --> 00:34:14,252
And, you know, you see the happiness,
you see the joy.

743
00:34:14,252 --> 00:34:15,853
And that's
that's really, really important.

744
00:34:15,853 --> 00:34:17,355
Now, do you have varying,

745
00:34:18,890 --> 00:34:19,524
injuries?

746
00:34:19,524 --> 00:34:22,627
Do you have people that are wheelchair
bound, nonverbal and.

747
00:34:22,627 --> 00:34:25,063
Okay, yeah, we have we have you know, it's

748
00:34:25,063 --> 00:34:28,132
definitely a spectrum
in terms of the brain injury community.

749
00:34:28,833 --> 00:34:31,202
We have individuals
that are a hands on care.

750
00:34:31,202 --> 00:34:34,338
We have other individuals
that you wouldn't even know

751
00:34:34,338 --> 00:34:37,341
had an injury
until you started speaking to them.

752
00:34:37,608 --> 00:34:38,810
And after five minutes,

753
00:34:38,810 --> 00:34:41,813
they're having the same conversation
with you again because of,

754
00:34:41,879 --> 00:34:44,916
because of, you know, one gentleman,
it was a road rage incident.

755
00:34:45,083 --> 00:34:48,086
He can tell you all the stories
that happened when he was a child.

756
00:34:48,753 --> 00:34:51,956
Father was a famous film
director, lived in, lived,

757
00:34:51,989 --> 00:34:56,227
lived in the Middle East, was kidnaped
multiple times, speaks multiple languages.

758
00:34:56,227 --> 00:35:00,064
But in the early 90s,
he was a victim of a road rage assault.

759
00:35:01,065 --> 00:35:01,966
After that road

760
00:35:01,966 --> 00:35:04,969
rage assault, my five minute memory.

761
00:35:05,002 --> 00:35:07,738
So. But, you know, and working

762
00:35:07,738 --> 00:35:10,741
with him, it's, you know,

763
00:35:11,008 --> 00:35:13,911
you're trying to help him navigate
through the day,

764
00:35:13,911 --> 00:35:16,914
trying to help him
store things in long term memory.

765
00:35:17,148 --> 00:35:20,551
Because, you know,
the short term memory is so impacted.

766
00:35:22,253 --> 00:35:25,223
So do you have what would be a strategy?

767
00:35:25,223 --> 00:35:26,491
Does he have note cards?

768
00:35:26,491 --> 00:35:27,425
Does he have.

769
00:35:27,425 --> 00:35:30,027
There's note cards,
cell phones, support staff.

770
00:35:30,027 --> 00:35:34,832
Some individuals have 24/7 support service
unlike a lot of other agencies as well.

771
00:35:34,832 --> 00:35:38,136
We have our own internal
clinical department at the Avon location.

772
00:35:38,402 --> 00:35:40,471
So we have a neuropsychologist on staff.

773
00:35:40,471 --> 00:35:45,443
We have two occupational therapists
and a board certified behavioral analyst.

774
00:35:45,443 --> 00:35:48,646
They all work within the Acquired Brain
Injury Waiver Program

775
00:35:48,646 --> 00:35:51,649
and the Autism Spectrum program,

776
00:35:51,682 --> 00:35:54,485
to benefit the individuals,
which is a huge help for us

777
00:35:54,485 --> 00:35:57,722
because if we are struggling,
we get to talk to the clinicians

778
00:35:57,722 --> 00:36:00,992
who can make suggestions and they can make
suggestions on the fly as well.

779
00:36:01,492 --> 00:36:02,360
Nice.

780
00:36:02,360 --> 00:36:06,764
Is there anything our listeners can do
to help support the your programs?

781
00:36:06,764 --> 00:36:09,467
I think awareness is a big piece.

782
00:36:09,467 --> 00:36:12,069
Everybody knows
somebody who's had a brain injury.

783
00:36:12,069 --> 00:36:14,672
I would definitely recommend
if you have kids playing

784
00:36:14,672 --> 00:36:18,543
sports, concussions, take them seriously
because the long term consequences

785
00:36:18,876 --> 00:36:22,246
and when you're working elderly relatives,
if they have a fall,

786
00:36:22,480 --> 00:36:26,017
get them checked out and be cognizant
that,

787
00:36:26,050 --> 00:36:29,487
you know, with brain injuries,
it can be something innocuous.

788
00:36:29,987 --> 00:36:32,223
It bleeds and elements like that.

789
00:36:32,223 --> 00:36:34,325
I've worked with multiple individuals
over the years

790
00:36:34,325 --> 00:36:37,261
where you just scratch your head
how the injury occurred. Yeah.

791
00:36:37,261 --> 00:36:41,332
One of the gentleman, he was an architect
stood up that switched his office around.

792
00:36:41,599 --> 00:36:44,702
He stood up in the new office, hit
his head, just stood up.

793
00:36:44,936 --> 00:36:47,104
Hit his head. Was never the same again.

794
00:36:47,104 --> 00:36:49,140
Needed 24/7 supports.

795
00:36:49,140 --> 00:36:51,309
This thing goes on again and again. Yeah.

796
00:36:51,309 --> 00:36:53,077
Everyone thinks like football. Boxing?

797
00:36:53,077 --> 00:36:55,980
Yeah, it's. It's
sometimes even happened on a trampoline.

798
00:36:55,980 --> 00:36:57,248
Can happen on a trampoline.

799
00:36:57,248 --> 00:36:59,550
It can, it can happen
just simply falling down.

800
00:36:59,550 --> 00:37:00,518
We all fall.

801
00:37:00,518 --> 00:37:02,920
Everybody
that's ever sustained a concussion

802
00:37:02,920 --> 00:37:06,857
that could have transitioned to a full
brain injury, that's the difference.

803
00:37:06,857 --> 00:37:08,626
That's that's that that's the scary part.

804
00:37:08,626 --> 00:37:09,994
So it's like luck of the draw.

805
00:37:09,994 --> 00:37:11,329
It's very much luck of the draw.

806
00:37:11,329 --> 00:37:11,762
Oh man.

807
00:37:11,762 --> 00:37:15,533
I mean, even some of the most
famous stories that Oliver Sacks is

808
00:37:15,967 --> 00:37:18,970
was an amazing author. He was a clinician.

809
00:37:19,103 --> 00:37:21,138
The cold sore virus. Everyone, everyone.

810
00:37:21,138 --> 00:37:23,107
A lot of people have cold sores.

811
00:37:23,107 --> 00:37:25,142
The virus can spread to the brain.

812
00:37:25,142 --> 00:37:27,945
And there was a famous concert pianist
who'd that happened

813
00:37:27,945 --> 00:37:30,948
to another one that that transition
to a five minute memory.

814
00:37:31,148 --> 00:37:33,217
They could play piano wonderfully.

815
00:37:33,217 --> 00:37:35,386
That never went away. Long term memory.

816
00:37:35,386 --> 00:37:38,589
Every time his wife walked out of the room
and walked back in the room

817
00:37:38,789 --> 00:37:41,259
as though he hadn't seen it for 15 years.

818
00:37:41,259 --> 00:37:41,592
So yeah.

819
00:37:41,592 --> 00:37:44,562
And these stories happen again
and again and again.

820
00:37:44,562 --> 00:37:48,165
I think overall, it's
not for the listeners.

821
00:37:48,165 --> 00:37:51,402
If you see somebody with a disability,
don't run away,

822
00:37:52,069 --> 00:37:55,072
learn their stories
because they all have stories.

823
00:37:55,239 --> 00:37:55,473
Yeah.

824
00:37:55,473 --> 00:37:57,842
The best is to learn just to say hello.

825
00:37:57,842 --> 00:37:59,710
Yeah. Get to know them. Yeah, yeah.

826
00:37:59,710 --> 00:38:01,045
Be a good friend. Be a good friend.

827
00:38:02,113 --> 00:38:04,548
This reminds me, the notebook.

828
00:38:04,548 --> 00:38:04,849
Yeah.

829
00:38:04,849 --> 00:38:05,416
Have you seen that?

830
00:38:05,416 --> 00:38:07,885
Yeah. Jonah Francis has not seen that.

831
00:38:07,885 --> 00:38:09,086
It's disgraceful. Right?

832
00:38:09,086 --> 00:38:10,988
Come on. Jonah,
he doesn't want to cry, that's why.

833
00:38:10,988 --> 00:38:12,490
Yeah. Doesn't want to cry.

834
00:38:12,490 --> 00:38:13,424
I told that story.

835
00:38:13,424 --> 00:38:14,992
I won 12 with Jonah.

836
00:38:14,992 --> 00:38:16,827
Like I watched that movie.

837
00:38:16,827 --> 00:38:18,963
I'm like, I don't want to watch this movie
with my wife.

838
00:38:18,963 --> 00:38:20,131
I'm like, this movie's stupid.

839
00:38:20,131 --> 00:38:23,301
By the end,
I'm sitting up at the TV bawling.

840
00:38:23,301 --> 00:38:23,901
That was me.

841
00:38:23,901 --> 00:38:25,603
Yeah, my wife had fallen asleep.

842
00:38:25,603 --> 00:38:27,638
I'm crying. Yeah, yeah.

843
00:38:27,638 --> 00:38:31,742
So suggest that's why we haven't gone
to the recommendation portion of the show.

844
00:38:31,742 --> 00:38:34,512
But see The Notebook, people?

845
00:38:34,512 --> 00:38:35,813
Oh, man.

846
00:38:35,813 --> 00:38:37,515
Any questions for me?

847
00:38:37,515 --> 00:38:41,719
So. So what what experiences have you had
with Brian and you?

848
00:38:41,719 --> 00:38:42,720
I mean, we've spoken about it.

849
00:38:42,720 --> 00:38:46,390
I kind of gave you a little bit of
education around, you know, some of that,

850
00:38:46,624 --> 00:38:47,792
some of the TBI stuff.

851
00:38:47,792 --> 00:38:49,393
I acquire brain injury.

852
00:38:49,393 --> 00:38:52,897
Have you had any family members that have
had strokes or anything of that nature?

853
00:38:52,897 --> 00:38:55,900
So, yeah, I fell once.

854
00:38:55,900 --> 00:38:58,169
Ice skating. Okay. And I remember,

855
00:38:59,170 --> 00:39:02,640
like coming
to and being sitting on the bench.

856
00:39:02,640 --> 00:39:03,674
So I fell on the ice.

857
00:39:03,674 --> 00:39:07,144
But all I remember is sitting on the park
bench taking off my skates.

858
00:39:07,211 --> 00:39:07,478
Yeah.

859
00:39:07,478 --> 00:39:11,716
So that time frame of banging my head
to take you off my skates,

860
00:39:11,716 --> 00:39:12,883
I had no recollection.

861
00:39:12,883 --> 00:39:15,886
So that was my,
I think, one and only concussion.

862
00:39:16,287 --> 00:39:18,989
I played football a couple times
and got my bell rung, you know.

863
00:39:18,989 --> 00:39:20,891
Yeah. And then,

864
00:39:20,891 --> 00:39:23,461
and then my grandfather,

865
00:39:23,461 --> 00:39:24,395
had Alzheimer's.

866
00:39:24,395 --> 00:39:28,966
So in his house
they would say today is Tuesday

867
00:39:29,266 --> 00:39:32,536
with the date because he would constantly
just drive to church.

868
00:39:32,636 --> 00:39:33,804
Every day was Sunday.

869
00:39:33,804 --> 00:39:36,807
So we had to tell him it was Tuesday.

870
00:39:37,141 --> 00:39:40,111
So those are my two experiences.

871
00:39:40,411 --> 00:39:41,445
I think that's it.

872
00:39:41,445 --> 00:39:45,282
And again, working with so many students
in the past 22 years,

873
00:39:46,650 --> 00:39:48,753
I don't know if

874
00:39:48,753 --> 00:39:51,288
it's any head injuries or something,

875
00:39:51,288 --> 00:39:54,291
but definitely a variety of abilities.

876
00:39:54,358 --> 00:39:55,893
Yeah, sure. Definitely. See that?

877
00:39:55,893 --> 00:39:56,160
Yeah.

878
00:39:56,160 --> 00:39:59,263
So and the outside piece
unfortunately kicks in

879
00:39:59,296 --> 00:40:02,299
a lot earlier for the brain
injury population.

880
00:40:03,033 --> 00:40:06,437
Neurological decline
happens sooner for the population.

881
00:40:06,437 --> 00:40:09,874
And those issues
that you were talking about go on top

882
00:40:10,074 --> 00:40:13,844
of potentially already already
occurring memory deficits.

883
00:40:13,844 --> 00:40:15,346
Yeah.

884
00:40:15,346 --> 00:40:17,782
No. It's scary.

885
00:40:17,782 --> 00:40:22,353
You know, a dad, my daughter, we went to
go to the New Bern Rockettes game.

886
00:40:22,353 --> 00:40:26,390
My girls were like 4 or 5 and Elsa
and on over there from frozen.

887
00:40:26,390 --> 00:40:28,125
So we're waiting in the line and,

888
00:40:28,125 --> 00:40:30,928
you know,
they're playing and spinning and pushing.

889
00:40:30,928 --> 00:40:34,265
She fell, hit her head and like,
blood came out of her head.

890
00:40:34,265 --> 00:40:36,901
And I'm like,
immediately, oh my God. Yeah.

891
00:40:37,968 --> 00:40:39,103
You know, do we need stitches?

892
00:40:39,103 --> 00:40:40,137
We could check her eyes.

893
00:40:40,137 --> 00:40:43,140
Or do they look dilated?

894
00:40:43,140 --> 00:40:44,475
But. I think we go back.

895
00:40:44,475 --> 00:40:47,478
I definitely recommend
taking any head injury seriously.

896
00:40:48,512 --> 00:40:51,982
I know nobody enjoys going to the,
But take it seriously.

897
00:40:51,982 --> 00:40:54,251
Get get get the kids checked out.

898
00:40:54,251 --> 00:40:55,419
All the kids play sports.

899
00:40:55,419 --> 00:40:58,422
And it's also trying to move away
from that,

900
00:40:58,656 --> 00:41:01,959
that mentality of like,
man up and carry on playing.

901
00:41:02,426 --> 00:41:02,693
Yeah.

902
00:41:02,693 --> 00:41:06,864
Growing up in the 80s, that's kind of my
my father was famous for frozen peas

903
00:41:07,231 --> 00:41:10,434
and I even though we had universal
health care, nobody went to the hospital.

904
00:41:10,468 --> 00:41:12,970
It's frozen peas grown on stuff.

905
00:41:12,970 --> 00:41:14,305
Knowing what I do now,

906
00:41:14,305 --> 00:41:18,242
I should have gone to the hospital
quite a few times to get just checked out.

907
00:41:18,309 --> 00:41:20,845
Yeah. So I definitely recommend that.

908
00:41:20,845 --> 00:41:23,848
I understand
nobody wants to sit in any as I said, er

909
00:41:23,881 --> 00:41:26,851
for a few hours, but it makes sense today.

910
00:41:27,318 --> 00:41:29,887
Speaking of your injury,
do you have any scars or anything?

911
00:41:29,887 --> 00:41:33,891
Yeah, I got,
I have a piece of my scalp missing.

912
00:41:34,592 --> 00:41:38,996
And I have a scar across the front of my
head, over the top of my eye.

913
00:41:39,797 --> 00:41:42,900
When I hit the floor, the gentleman,
the guys that did

914
00:41:42,900 --> 00:41:44,401
it were kicking me as well in the head.

915
00:41:44,401 --> 00:41:47,671
My friend had to come back
and lay over to the top of me. I.

916
00:41:48,205 --> 00:41:51,642
I woke up in hospital, in a room,

917
00:41:52,209 --> 00:41:55,546
and I can remember my mom,
my mom and dad were there.

918
00:41:56,013 --> 00:41:58,082
My dad was like,
he's got a hole in his head.

919
00:41:58,082 --> 00:41:59,984
What's what what happened?

920
00:41:59,984 --> 00:42:04,054
But there was a whole conversation
that happened, like with the EMTs.

921
00:42:04,421 --> 00:42:05,389
I don't remember at all.

922
00:42:05,389 --> 00:42:06,790
Similar to your story,

923
00:42:06,790 --> 00:42:10,027
my friends who traveled with me
in the back of the ambulance told me.

924
00:42:10,027 --> 00:42:10,961
Yeah, you were talking.

925
00:42:10,961 --> 00:42:12,863
I don't remember any of it.

926
00:42:12,863 --> 00:42:15,866
Wow. So, yeah, very, very lucky.

927
00:42:16,100 --> 00:42:17,902
And, you know, wrong place, wrong time.

928
00:42:17,902 --> 00:42:20,371
That's the story of brain injury
for a lot of individuals.

929
00:42:20,371 --> 00:42:23,240
Wrong place, wrong time. Yeah.
I remember watching a TV show.

930
00:42:24,475 --> 00:42:25,442
I want to say it was

931
00:42:25,442 --> 00:42:28,879
like America's,
was that show America's Most Wanted?

932
00:42:29,280 --> 00:42:33,117
Yeah, but a woman was on the back
of a motorcycle, and some guy, like,

933
00:42:33,684 --> 00:42:34,718
hit her with a stick or something.

934
00:42:34,718 --> 00:42:38,255
Yeah, or something
like awful act of nonsense.

935
00:42:38,255 --> 00:42:40,591
Not, you know, nonsense, violence.

936
00:42:40,591 --> 00:42:42,660
But, that one stuck to my.

937
00:42:42,660 --> 00:42:47,464
I've just had that call back of a brain
injury, and then she was wheelchair bound.

938
00:42:47,464 --> 00:42:48,799
Yeah. Couldn't speak.

939
00:42:48,799 --> 00:42:50,467
You know, they go for a nice bike ride.

940
00:42:50,467 --> 00:42:53,337
Some guy's an idiot.
And and, like, hit her.

941
00:42:53,337 --> 00:42:56,106
Takes a second,
takes a second to change your life.

942
00:42:56,106 --> 00:42:57,908
Awful, awful.

943
00:42:57,908 --> 00:43:00,911
But you know, with that

944
00:43:00,945 --> 00:43:04,114
negative, negative stuff
and that the pain that

945
00:43:04,114 --> 00:43:07,685
the person's going through your company
in supporting living group

946
00:43:08,185 --> 00:43:12,289
is trying to turn them around, ensure
that they have a healthy and happy life.

947
00:43:12,289 --> 00:43:14,825
And yeah,
you know, become an artist and yeah.

948
00:43:14,825 --> 00:43:16,126
Chance of. Success. Yeah.

949
00:43:16,126 --> 00:43:19,263
We help other individuals re
you know re secure jobs

950
00:43:19,263 --> 00:43:22,266
in the community,
not just art based competitive employment.

951
00:43:23,100 --> 00:43:25,636
We, we work very diligently with that.

952
00:43:25,636 --> 00:43:28,706
And then for the autism spectrum,
we do a lot of work

953
00:43:28,706 --> 00:43:31,709
with we specialize with teenagers
and adults.

954
00:43:31,909 --> 00:43:32,676
A lot of companies

955
00:43:32,676 --> 00:43:36,847
focus on the kids and the feedback
we got from parents in that communities.

956
00:43:36,847 --> 00:43:37,247
That's great.

957
00:43:37,247 --> 00:43:38,682
But what happens when they leave school

958
00:43:38,682 --> 00:43:42,119
or what happens when those school based
services are not available?

959
00:43:42,453 --> 00:43:45,322
So we do a lot of a lot of supports
with those individuals

960
00:43:45,322 --> 00:43:48,325
to try and help them be successful,
find employment.

961
00:43:48,425 --> 00:43:52,162
Help them link with housing opportunities
and elements like that in the long run.

962
00:43:52,863 --> 00:43:55,199
So that, that
that's a big concern for that population.

963
00:43:55,199 --> 00:43:57,868
And there's, there's a big waitlist
to get services for them.

964
00:43:57,868 --> 00:43:58,202
Yeah.

965
00:44:00,638 --> 00:44:02,940
So your boss, we didn't really talk.

966
00:44:02,940 --> 00:44:03,374
We talked.

967
00:44:03,374 --> 00:44:04,875
What inspired you?

968
00:44:04,875 --> 00:44:07,144
Yeah. What got Christopher in in.

969
00:44:07,144 --> 00:44:07,845
Well, Chris.

970
00:44:07,845 --> 00:44:12,182
Chris had worked in the disability
support field for a number of years.

971
00:44:12,516 --> 00:44:15,219
He'd worked for a number of different
agencies, both brain

972
00:44:15,219 --> 00:44:18,422
injury based and DDS base,
which is developmental differences.

973
00:44:19,690 --> 00:44:24,294
And he had decided to start his own
be a private provider.

974
00:44:24,862 --> 00:44:28,332
And because of his success
in being a private provider,

975
00:44:28,699 --> 00:44:31,602
a lot of individuals were coming
from wanting to provide support services.

976
00:44:31,602 --> 00:44:33,737
But there's only so much time in the day.

977
00:44:33,737 --> 00:44:36,740
So that's how the Supported
Living group came about.

978
00:44:37,574 --> 00:44:40,577
And he you know
definitely family mentality

979
00:44:41,011 --> 00:44:43,547
working with individuals giving back.

980
00:44:43,547 --> 00:44:46,950
And that mentality
really really cemented him

981
00:44:46,950 --> 00:44:51,121
in eastern Connecticut
to be a really standout service provider.

982
00:44:51,455 --> 00:44:54,858
Chris and I had come close to working
with each other a number of times,

983
00:44:54,858 --> 00:45:00,197
and in 2017, the stars aligned and worked,
and philosophy is very similar.

984
00:45:00,197 --> 00:45:05,936
Wanting to give back to individuals, and
wanting to support the staff and wanting.

985
00:45:05,936 --> 00:45:08,605
If you provide good services,
then the company grows.

986
00:45:08,605 --> 00:45:11,141
That's kind of how we look at it. Cool.

987
00:45:11,141 --> 00:45:13,310
And then that's a husband and wife
team. Husband and wife.

988
00:45:13,310 --> 00:45:14,912
His wife is Kimberly Brisson.

989
00:45:14,912 --> 00:45:17,081
Yeah, she is the vice president.

990
00:45:17,081 --> 00:45:22,119
She oversees the billing, which is
very important, very detail orientated.

991
00:45:22,553 --> 00:45:24,888
I'm I'm like the bad guy.
She's like the good guy.

992
00:45:24,888 --> 00:45:27,624
And so I was wrong with having to do
with the state and stuff like that.

993
00:45:27,624 --> 00:45:28,926
So complement each other.

994
00:45:30,694 --> 00:45:31,995
Another, another

995
00:45:31,995 --> 00:45:34,998
person who comes from a culture of giving,

996
00:45:35,332 --> 00:45:38,335
her father and mother was very much

997
00:45:38,602 --> 00:45:41,472
in, in the community
giving back to individuals.

998
00:45:41,472 --> 00:45:44,475
And, she, she followed through with that.

999
00:45:45,843 --> 00:45:48,011
Now is Danielson, eastern Connecticut.

1000
00:45:48,011 --> 00:45:51,148
Yep. It's on the it's on the border
of like

1001
00:45:51,148 --> 00:45:54,184
Putnam and Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

1002
00:45:54,184 --> 00:45:56,186
Gotcha. So fun drive.

1003
00:45:56,186 --> 00:45:58,922
I know it sounds far away. It's far away.

1004
00:45:58,922 --> 00:46:02,292
A lot of, podcasts
and books on tape on those days

1005
00:46:02,292 --> 00:46:05,796
I go through, and I get a lot of work done
going back and forth.

1006
00:46:05,796 --> 00:46:07,765
Gotta listen to the Feeney talks
with friends.

1007
00:46:07,765 --> 00:46:08,732
I do, where they're.

1008
00:46:08,732 --> 00:46:11,068
Consistently. Nice. Nice.

1009
00:46:11,068 --> 00:46:12,503
Thank you.

1010
00:46:12,503 --> 00:46:15,506
A couple questions. So,

1011
00:46:15,773 --> 00:46:16,306
Oh, yeah.

1012
00:46:16,306 --> 00:46:19,743
Do you have a memory of working
with someone or seeing

1013
00:46:19,743 --> 00:46:22,746
someone find that success
that kind of gave you, like, goosebumps?

1014
00:46:22,746 --> 00:46:26,283
Like you were like the the client
was here, and then they they reached.

1015
00:46:26,817 --> 00:46:29,987
Yeah. Probably one of my earliest clients.

1016
00:46:29,987 --> 00:46:32,222
I'll give her first name. Larry.

1017
00:46:32,222 --> 00:46:36,560
When I first met Larry,
she was very much a closet placer.

1018
00:46:36,560 --> 00:46:38,562
Is Adrian a have Rocky one?

1019
00:46:38,562 --> 00:46:41,899
The glass is the very, very timid,
very shy.

1020
00:46:42,266 --> 00:46:43,000
Great analogy.

1021
00:46:43,000 --> 00:46:45,402
Yeah, and she likes the
analogy. It makes a laugh,

1022
00:46:46,470 --> 00:46:49,506
and only willing to work on, like,
an A4 piece of paper.

1023
00:46:50,007 --> 00:46:53,010
And over the years, I, you know,
I pushed her a little bit and.

1024
00:46:53,010 --> 00:46:55,179
Come on, you can do better.
You can do more than this.

1025
00:46:55,179 --> 00:46:57,114
Because she was really, really creative.

1026
00:46:57,114 --> 00:47:00,117
She suffered a stroke at the age of 26,

1027
00:47:01,318 --> 00:47:02,486
recovering from the stroke.

1028
00:47:02,486 --> 00:47:04,721
She had expressive aphasia.

1029
00:47:04,721 --> 00:47:08,959
So word finding difficulties
and left sided paralysis.

1030
00:47:10,160 --> 00:47:12,062
She had two kids at the age of 26.

1031
00:47:12,062 --> 00:47:14,164
Those children
had to go and live with the grandma.

1032
00:47:14,164 --> 00:47:16,233
So she couldn't really take on that role.

1033
00:47:16,233 --> 00:47:21,271
And she was provided
24/7 support services for the Connecticut

1034
00:47:21,772 --> 00:47:24,541
Abi Waiver Program,
which is a state and federal program

1035
00:47:24,541 --> 00:47:27,778
which ensured she wasn't in a nursing home
for the rest of her life.

1036
00:47:28,345 --> 00:47:32,916
Working with her over the years,
she is now a recognized artist.

1037
00:47:33,684 --> 00:47:37,321
She went from working on
those A4 pieces of paper

1038
00:47:37,588 --> 00:47:41,892
to doing eight foot
by six foot individualized.

1039
00:47:42,259 --> 00:47:46,964
Her artwork is all torn pieces
of individualized paper. Wow.

1040
00:47:46,997 --> 00:47:49,600
And she creates
these amazing pieces of artwork.

1041
00:47:49,600 --> 00:47:51,268
I'll definitely send over to you.

1042
00:47:51,268 --> 00:47:54,705
I have a it's a it's a copy of a Banksy,

1043
00:47:54,705 --> 00:47:57,708
the street artist, Winston Churchill.

1044
00:47:57,774 --> 00:48:00,110
And, it's called Turf Wars.

1045
00:48:00,110 --> 00:48:03,814
She it's probably it's easily

1046
00:48:04,381 --> 00:48:07,150
five foot by six for it
hangs in my office.

1047
00:48:07,150 --> 00:48:10,988
She's a piece of that piece of artwork
is hand torn piece of paper.

1048
00:48:11,889 --> 00:48:14,124
Amazing piece. She did another one of the,

1049
00:48:15,592 --> 00:48:17,261
Sex Pistols album cover.

1050
00:48:17,261 --> 00:48:20,264
That one is absolutely huge in a
in a Danielson location.

1051
00:48:20,497 --> 00:48:25,435
And the pride that comes from
that was Connecticut green screen from,

1052
00:48:25,903 --> 00:48:28,605
Thomaston
did actually did a documentary on her,

1053
00:48:28,605 --> 00:48:31,608
a little video
that can still be found on her story.

1054
00:48:31,808 --> 00:48:34,811
And she the sense of pride
that she's got on her growth

1055
00:48:34,811 --> 00:48:36,947
and development has been has been amazing.

1056
00:48:36,947 --> 00:48:38,282
So she's one that really stands out.

1057
00:48:38,282 --> 00:48:39,783
Yeah. That's amazing.
Thanks for sharing that.

1058
00:48:39,783 --> 00:48:41,418
What was her name again? Larry.

1059
00:48:41,418 --> 00:48:45,422
Larry, Larry, if you look up on our
on our Facebook page on our social media,

1060
00:48:45,422 --> 00:48:48,725
she's she's highlighted her work is going
to be at the key she gallery.

1061
00:48:49,726 --> 00:48:54,064
And it's and it's also listed on
the inspire art CTE page as well.

1062
00:48:54,064 --> 00:48:54,831
So she is

1063
00:48:56,166 --> 00:48:57,534
what's a commissioned artist?

1064
00:48:57,534 --> 00:48:58,602
Yeah, she's a commissioned art.

1065
00:48:58,602 --> 00:49:01,204
If she sells pieces independently.

1066
00:49:01,204 --> 00:49:05,776
And she, you know, we employ her
competitively to create the artwork.

1067
00:49:05,776 --> 00:49:08,078
That's something that we do
within the arts program.

1068
00:49:08,078 --> 00:49:11,648
We employ individuals competitively,
create the pieces of artwork, which is.

1069
00:49:11,648 --> 00:49:11,949
A little bit.

1070
00:49:11,949 --> 00:49:13,483
So now she's Adrian and Rocky four.

1071
00:49:13,483 --> 00:49:16,053
She's Adrian in Rocky Force. She's driving
the Will not. Yeah.

1072
00:49:16,053 --> 00:49:19,056
She's not driving the Ferrari yet
but hopefully one day.

1073
00:49:19,389 --> 00:49:20,057
That's amazing.

1074
00:49:20,057 --> 00:49:23,827
And you did mention,
the acquired brain injury waiver.

1075
00:49:23,827 --> 00:49:25,462
Yeah.
Can you elaborate a little more on that?

1076
00:49:25,462 --> 00:49:28,532
So in Connecticut has an Acquire Brain
Injury waiver program,

1077
00:49:28,532 --> 00:49:33,170
which essentially covers
the costs of services for the individuals.

1078
00:49:33,403 --> 00:49:34,271
It's limited.

1079
00:49:34,271 --> 00:49:37,607
There's a roundabout 700 people

1080
00:49:37,607 --> 00:49:41,345
all told, on the waiver
one program and waiver two program.

1081
00:49:41,345 --> 00:49:44,281
Waiver one is closed. Waiver two is open.

1082
00:49:44,281 --> 00:49:48,185
There's a 6 to 7 year
waitlist to get onto this program.

1083
00:49:49,753 --> 00:49:52,022
Because, you know,

1084
00:49:52,022 --> 00:49:55,792
there are limited number of waiver slots
and the majority of individuals are on it

1085
00:49:55,792 --> 00:49:58,795
for the for the trajectory
of the rest of their lives.

1086
00:49:58,929 --> 00:50:02,299
That that the state
has definitely developed a good program.

1087
00:50:03,066 --> 00:50:04,935
Compared to a lot of other states.

1088
00:50:04,935 --> 00:50:06,903
I'd love there to be more slots open.

1089
00:50:06,903 --> 00:50:10,140
There isn't at the moment,
but it definitely benefits individuals.

1090
00:50:10,507 --> 00:50:13,643
And it was to assist individuals
like LA, right?

1091
00:50:14,077 --> 00:50:17,581
Not to end up in nursing homes in long
term care facilities.

1092
00:50:17,881 --> 00:50:19,583
It was problematic
for the care facilities.

1093
00:50:19,583 --> 00:50:21,585
And it was also,
you know, it was definitely problematic

1094
00:50:21,585 --> 00:50:23,954
for the individuals
if they suffered their injury.

1095
00:50:23,954 --> 00:50:26,323
18 what where was the future?

1096
00:50:26,323 --> 00:50:27,491
That was the hope.

1097
00:50:27,491 --> 00:50:30,727
Because the acquired brain injury waiver
is mentioned on the website.

1098
00:50:30,727 --> 00:50:31,028
Yeah.

1099
00:50:31,028 --> 00:50:34,031
So if you're interested
or need to check the website,

1100
00:50:35,265 --> 00:50:36,933
what's the website.

1101
00:50:36,933 --> 00:50:39,536
Supported living group.org.

1102
00:50:39,536 --> 00:50:41,671
If you go there
you can jump on to the website.

1103
00:50:41,671 --> 00:50:43,373
There's a lot of information
about the brain injury

1104
00:50:43,373 --> 00:50:47,077
waiver, ISD waiver
and our elder care services.

1105
00:50:47,444 --> 00:50:51,014
And now do com clients,
tenants, residents call them.

1106
00:50:51,281 --> 00:50:54,618
We typically try and use the word
participants and clients.

1107
00:50:54,618 --> 00:50:56,520
They're kind of interchangeable.

1108
00:50:56,520 --> 00:50:58,021
Stephanie person Senate.

1109
00:50:58,021 --> 00:51:02,492
If you come into the program, you're going
to hear people we use first name times.

1110
00:51:02,492 --> 00:51:02,926
Gotcha.

1111
00:51:02,926 --> 00:51:04,027
And I made my first name.

1112
00:51:04,027 --> 00:51:06,029
I know each and every individual.

1113
00:51:06,029 --> 00:51:08,732
That's the beautiful thing
about the program spaces.

1114
00:51:08,732 --> 00:51:10,267
We're all interacting all day long.

1115
00:51:10,267 --> 00:51:14,237
Nobody sits in an ivory tower
miles away, even down to Chris and Kim.

1116
00:51:14,237 --> 00:51:17,541
That they're walking in and introducing
themselves to, to participants.

1117
00:51:17,541 --> 00:51:19,943
They know who they are
so that that that's an important part.

1118
00:51:19,943 --> 00:51:20,877
Yeah.

1119
00:51:20,877 --> 00:51:21,344
That's good.

1120
00:51:21,344 --> 00:51:24,214
The rapport and building
relationships is key.

1121
00:51:24,214 --> 00:51:26,049
Yeah. No. That's great.

1122
00:51:26,049 --> 00:51:31,221
And then do the participants
have a voice and say, like you said, oh,

1123
00:51:31,254 --> 00:51:32,522
some want to do the woodworking,

1124
00:51:32,522 --> 00:51:34,891
some want to do the horticulture,
some want to be artists.

1125
00:51:34,891 --> 00:51:37,160
They have they can participate
in whatever they want.

1126
00:51:37,160 --> 00:51:39,062
To play and what they want to do.

1127
00:51:39,062 --> 00:51:40,497
They can indicate,
I don't want to do this.

1128
00:51:40,497 --> 00:51:41,998
I want to do something in the community.

1129
00:51:41,998 --> 00:51:44,334
I want to find an employment
in the community.

1130
00:51:44,334 --> 00:51:46,036
I say it's all the managers
and all of the staff.

1131
00:51:46,036 --> 00:51:46,970
We're not there to say no.

1132
00:51:46,970 --> 00:51:49,973
We're there to support them, to
get as close to their dreams as possible.

1133
00:51:50,340 --> 00:51:54,077
And, you know, sometimes there is failure,
but then it's about helping that

1134
00:51:54,077 --> 00:51:57,481
individual recover from that and maybe
work towards something different.

1135
00:51:57,781 --> 00:52:00,750
But they're not going to know that they're
not going to experience that failure.

1136
00:52:01,251 --> 00:52:03,220
And so you support them towards it.

1137
00:52:03,220 --> 00:52:04,387
They they it happens.

1138
00:52:04,387 --> 00:52:04,788
Okay.

1139
00:52:04,788 --> 00:52:07,757
Now we're going to support you to want to
move toward something different.

1140
00:52:07,757 --> 00:52:08,792
I think that's important.

1141
00:52:09,993 --> 00:52:11,061
Nice.

1142
00:52:11,061 --> 00:52:14,164
Now, where do you see yourself

1143
00:52:14,164 --> 00:52:17,200
and where do you see the supported group?

1144
00:52:17,400 --> 00:52:20,370
Supported living group in five years.

1145
00:52:20,370 --> 00:52:23,273
I think we're probably going to be moving
into,

1146
00:52:23,273 --> 00:52:26,276
New York and Massachusetts marketplaces.

1147
00:52:27,177 --> 00:52:31,148
It's just, you know, New York has
an acquired brain injury waiver program.

1148
00:52:31,148 --> 00:52:33,416
There is no waitlist for that program.

1149
00:52:33,416 --> 00:52:35,051
And they have they have a need.

1150
00:52:35,051 --> 00:52:38,855
Massachusetts also has a program
that we've been asked to go to.

1151
00:52:39,356 --> 00:52:43,193
For myself, my role consistently
and constantly changes based on need.

1152
00:52:44,261 --> 00:52:46,530
I'd love to do more clinical pieces.

1153
00:52:46,530 --> 00:52:49,533
That's kind of my my heart and desire.

1154
00:52:49,966 --> 00:52:52,102
It's also less stressful.

1155
00:52:52,102 --> 00:52:54,905
But yeah, I'm always going to be involved

1156
00:52:54,905 --> 00:52:59,042
in some capacity of program development,
identify new ways to grow.

1157
00:52:59,042 --> 00:53:02,812
And you know, with every new staff member
that we bring in, every new clinician,

1158
00:53:02,812 --> 00:53:07,117
there's new ideas that keeps things
percolating in my mind,

1159
00:53:07,484 --> 00:53:10,887
going to new trainings, elements
like that, a lot more advocacy

1160
00:53:10,887 --> 00:53:13,290
work as well,
I think is going to be important to do,

1161
00:53:13,290 --> 00:53:14,691
especially in the current climate.

1162
00:53:14,691 --> 00:53:15,992
Cool, cool.

1163
00:53:15,992 --> 00:53:17,360
Is there anything that I missed?

1164
00:53:17,360 --> 00:53:18,662
Anything you'd like to share?

1165
00:53:18,662 --> 00:53:21,631
Oh, I think I think you hit everything I
yeah, yeah, I.

1166
00:53:21,631 --> 00:53:23,800
Think, you know,
our listeners are listening. Come on in

1167
00:53:24,901 --> 00:53:26,703
this that Feeney Talks with Friends
podcast.

1168
00:53:26,703 --> 00:53:28,838
Check it out.

1169
00:53:28,838 --> 00:53:31,841
Our listeners
hear an accent now, is that new Jersey?

1170
00:53:31,975 --> 00:53:33,577
Yeah. Close. Good.

1171
00:53:33,577 --> 00:53:35,478
They make it another shrimp.

1172
00:53:35,478 --> 00:53:36,379
Little bit of Australia.

1173
00:53:36,379 --> 00:53:39,015
I grew up in east London. Okay.

1174
00:53:39,015 --> 00:53:40,183
East London.

1175
00:53:40,183 --> 00:53:43,587
I was there until my early 20s,
and then I moved, I moved

1176
00:53:43,587 --> 00:53:46,756
here, I've been here longer than there
at this point.

1177
00:53:46,756 --> 00:53:47,691
I'm a U.S. citizen.

1178
00:53:47,691 --> 00:53:50,760
My wife's an American,
but the accent never went away.

1179
00:53:50,760 --> 00:53:54,598
If I try to do an American accent,
I sound like I'm from the Midwest.

1180
00:53:54,731 --> 00:53:56,032
Yeah, and my wife yells at me.

1181
00:53:56,032 --> 00:53:58,201
So we can't do that.

1182
00:53:58,201 --> 00:53:58,868
You got.

1183
00:53:58,868 --> 00:54:00,303
Yeah, definitely. So. No. That's great.

1184
00:54:00,303 --> 00:54:02,305
And then who do you support for soccer?

1185
00:54:02,305 --> 00:54:02,806
Tottenham.

1186
00:54:02,806 --> 00:54:05,408
Tottenham Hotspur there's my team.

1187
00:54:05,408 --> 00:54:07,777
I had a cousin who played for them, my,
back.

1188
00:54:07,777 --> 00:54:10,814
And my father also played for them
back in the day and anyway.

1189
00:54:10,814 --> 00:54:14,017
And he's in his teenage years,
so there's some connection there.

1190
00:54:15,619 --> 00:54:17,420
Very nice

1191
00:54:17,420 --> 00:54:18,421
bloke.

1192
00:54:18,421 --> 00:54:19,689
My mate. My mate.

1193
00:54:19,689 --> 00:54:21,891
East London. Yeah. Is that a mate? Yes.

1194
00:54:21,891 --> 00:54:22,892
Look, mater bloke.

1195
00:54:22,892 --> 00:54:23,994
It's a bit of both.

1196
00:54:23,994 --> 00:54:26,229
Most of the time it's my bloody bloody.

1197
00:54:26,229 --> 00:54:27,731
Some of that goes on. Yeah.

1198
00:54:27,731 --> 00:54:30,734
There's a few we use a lot of cockney
rhyming slang.

1199
00:54:30,734 --> 00:54:33,770
So like apples and pears,
stairs, whistle, flute.

1200
00:54:33,770 --> 00:54:35,372
So stuff like that.

1201
00:54:35,372 --> 00:54:36,773
What's the whistle on flute suit.

1202
00:54:36,773 --> 00:54:38,041
Well, whistle a flute.

1203
00:54:38,041 --> 00:54:40,277
So cockney may look nice. Yeah. Well you.

1204
00:54:40,277 --> 00:54:43,246
Well it was, it was,
it was basically created.

1205
00:54:43,246 --> 00:54:46,816
That whole language was created
by the working class

1206
00:54:47,117 --> 00:54:50,120
to avoid the police
knowing what was going on.

1207
00:54:50,320 --> 00:54:55,892
So it was rhyming language
that was used amongst the, the EastEnders

1208
00:54:55,892 --> 00:54:59,663
to avoid people knowing if there was
something a little bit naughty going on.

1209
00:54:59,796 --> 00:55:00,163
Yeah.

1210
00:55:00,163 --> 00:55:03,733
So as I said,
like jam jar car with someone flute. So,

1211
00:55:05,068 --> 00:55:06,569
different pieces like interesting.

1212
00:55:06,569 --> 00:55:08,305
Yeah, I know, elevator's a lift.

1213
00:55:08,305 --> 00:55:09,673
Yeah. Over there.

1214
00:55:09,673 --> 00:55:10,807
Mind your head.

1215
00:55:10,807 --> 00:55:11,775
On the on the mind.

1216
00:55:11,775 --> 00:55:14,077
The gap in the gap on the trains.

1217
00:55:14,077 --> 00:55:17,414
Yeah,
definitely stand to the right hand side

1218
00:55:17,414 --> 00:55:19,215
if you're going up
and down on the escalators,

1219
00:55:19,215 --> 00:55:20,717
because you will get knocked over

1220
00:55:20,717 --> 00:55:23,520
if you go and visit London, as you were
taught, as we were talking about before.

1221
00:55:23,520 --> 00:55:25,221
Yeah,
I would, I would love to check that out.

1222
00:55:25,221 --> 00:55:27,791
I'm going to go.

1223
00:55:27,791 --> 00:55:29,526
And so okay.

1224
00:55:29,526 --> 00:55:30,460
Favorite restaurant

1225
00:55:30,460 --> 00:55:33,263
this is sponsored by Luna Pizza,
his favorite restaurant in the world.

1226
00:55:33,263 --> 00:55:35,732
Anywhere. Could be Connecticut.

1227
00:55:35,732 --> 00:55:36,633
London.

1228
00:55:36,633 --> 00:55:39,302
Yeah. London I it's that's a tough one.

1229
00:55:39,302 --> 00:55:40,637
I, we do like our restaurants.

1230
00:55:40,637 --> 00:55:42,439
I actually like artisan.

1231
00:55:42,439 --> 00:55:45,575
Oh in, in in West Hartford
I yeah I do like that.

1232
00:55:45,575 --> 00:55:47,977
The Delmar.
And the Delmar. That's very. Nice.

1233
00:55:47,977 --> 00:55:49,612
That's a very nice restaurant.

1234
00:55:49,612 --> 00:55:52,649
That I eat outside
and yeah Tiger Woods was just there.

1235
00:55:52,649 --> 00:55:53,616
I didn't I didn't know that.

1236
00:55:53,616 --> 00:55:57,420
It's all the golfers for travelers
stayed at the Delmar.

1237
00:55:57,420 --> 00:55:58,355
Okay.

1238
00:55:58,355 --> 00:56:01,358
And my buddy
got a picture of Tiger at the artisan.

1239
00:56:01,491 --> 00:56:02,959
Okay. Yeah. So great. Right.

1240
00:56:02,959 --> 00:56:05,295
That's the that is the restaurant.
Yeah. Food's amazing. Yeah.

1241
00:56:06,896 --> 00:56:09,733
New Brook kitchen is another one that I
highly, highly.

1242
00:56:09,733 --> 00:56:10,533
It was the.

1243
00:56:10,533 --> 00:56:11,835
That's in Cheshire.

1244
00:56:11,835 --> 00:56:14,404
What's it called? New Brook kitchen. Okay.

1245
00:56:14,404 --> 00:56:16,072
The youngest. That one.
You've never heard of that one.

1246
00:56:16,072 --> 00:56:19,075
That's one you have to you have to sign up
to get onto their list.

1247
00:56:19,442 --> 00:56:23,480
And they have special events
all created in front of you.

1248
00:56:23,480 --> 00:56:24,581
Open kitchen.

1249
00:56:24,581 --> 00:56:28,618
They actually this past Saturday
they did a it sounds a little cheesy,

1250
00:56:28,618 --> 00:56:29,252
but it wasn't.

1251
00:56:29,252 --> 00:56:30,453
It was murder at the disco.

1252
00:56:30,453 --> 00:56:32,555
So it was a it was a five course meal.

1253
00:56:32,555 --> 00:56:36,192
Yep. And a murder scenario
that was involved in it.

1254
00:56:36,192 --> 00:56:39,195
But, it was a great sign. Like actors.
Yeah.

1255
00:56:39,662 --> 00:56:39,896
Yeah.

1256
00:56:39,896 --> 00:56:41,498
But you know, what's this called?

1257
00:56:41,498 --> 00:56:43,032
It's the new Brook kitchen.

1258
00:56:43,032 --> 00:56:44,634
Definitely check it out and look it up.

1259
00:56:44,634 --> 00:56:46,603
I highly recommend it.

1260
00:56:46,603 --> 00:56:47,704
It's bring your own bottle.

1261
00:56:47,704 --> 00:56:50,707
But the chef is there. She's.
She's amazing.

1262
00:56:51,107 --> 00:56:52,842
And it's in Cheshire. It's in Cheshire.

1263
00:56:52,842 --> 00:56:54,210
Newburgh kitchen, new York kitchen.

1264
00:56:54,210 --> 00:56:56,713
I try to go to all the recommendations.
It's a good one.

1265
00:56:56,713 --> 00:56:58,815
That would be my.
That would be my my highest record.

1266
00:56:58,815 --> 00:56:58,982
Wait.

1267
00:56:58,982 --> 00:57:01,951
Can you make a reservation
or you got to get on a failing list.

1268
00:57:02,252 --> 00:57:05,121
And a mailing list
and they have limited openings, so

1269
00:57:05,121 --> 00:57:09,959
you have to as soon as soon as it comes
up, you have to jump on you book, you see.

1270
00:57:10,560 --> 00:57:13,296
And they're booking
typically a month to two months.

1271
00:57:13,296 --> 00:57:14,431
And that's.
The only way to get in there to.

1272
00:57:14,431 --> 00:57:19,135
Anyway to get in this week and it's custom
menu, all of it is gluten free.

1273
00:57:19,803 --> 00:57:23,139
And hand created kind of in front of you
with an open kitchen concept.

1274
00:57:23,406 --> 00:57:25,241
It's amazing I like it. Yeah.

1275
00:57:25,241 --> 00:57:25,742
Thank you.

1276
00:57:25,742 --> 00:57:28,645
That was great. Yeah, yeah, I've been to,

1277
00:57:30,180 --> 00:57:31,214
so many different ones.

1278
00:57:31,214 --> 00:57:33,283
I haven't been to San Suisse.

1279
00:57:33,283 --> 00:57:35,718
Yeah, it's a steakhouse. Okay.

1280
00:57:35,718 --> 00:57:37,821
That was Brook Goff's recommendation.

1281
00:57:37,821 --> 00:57:40,223
The vulgar chef suggested Santiago's.

1282
00:57:40,223 --> 00:57:40,824
I've been there.

1283
00:57:40,824 --> 00:57:43,860
That was in,
I want to say, Massachusetts somewhere.

1284
00:57:43,860 --> 00:57:46,629
So I definitely go
to my food recommendations.

1285
00:57:46,629 --> 00:57:48,798
So thank you. This is interesting.
I like it.

1286
00:57:48,798 --> 00:57:50,700
All right.
So you're at new Brook kitchen. Yeah.

1287
00:57:50,700 --> 00:57:53,236
And you could eat with four guests, dead
or alive.

1288
00:57:53,236 --> 00:57:56,139
Anyone in the world who you eat
with? Well, that was there. Anyone.

1289
00:57:56,139 --> 00:57:58,842
If I could go back,
my wife will always be by my side.

1290
00:57:58,842 --> 00:57:59,742
Good. Good answer.

1291
00:57:59,742 --> 00:58:01,911
Audience I would, United States. Yeah.

1292
00:58:01,911 --> 00:58:03,213
Smart man. I've been trained.

1293
00:58:03,213 --> 00:58:05,181
It's just the right answer to provide.

1294
00:58:05,181 --> 00:58:08,017
I think I would like Freud. Okay. Sigmund.

1295
00:58:09,385 --> 00:58:11,454
And I think at
this stage, because he's so fresh in the.

1296
00:58:11,454 --> 00:58:13,256
Imagine that, Ozzy,
you've got to have Ozzy.

1297
00:58:13,256 --> 00:58:13,556
Yeah.

1298
00:58:13,556 --> 00:58:17,560
Next year you need some of that
just for the Sharon at some point.

1299
00:58:17,594 --> 00:58:19,162
Yeah, yeah. Rest in peace.

1300
00:58:19,162 --> 00:58:20,563
Rest in peace, Ozzy.

1301
00:58:20,563 --> 00:58:22,131
Oh, because he's an English. Guy, right?

1302
00:58:22,131 --> 00:58:24,167
Yeah. It was originally from Birmingham.

1303
00:58:24,167 --> 00:58:26,102
And then and then moved over. That's
right.

1304
00:58:26,102 --> 00:58:29,506
And Sigmund and Ozzy would be a great pair
to sit down and have dinner with.

1305
00:58:30,240 --> 00:58:34,277
Yeah, I know I felt they hurt me.

1306
00:58:34,377 --> 00:58:36,479
Hurt me more. Hulk Hogan hurt me.

1307
00:58:36,479 --> 00:58:37,981
Real American. Yeah, the real American.

1308
00:58:37,981 --> 00:58:40,183
What's your take on Hulk?

1309
00:58:40,183 --> 00:58:42,652
He was a character. He was the first.

1310
00:58:42,652 --> 00:58:43,653
He was outside.

1311
00:58:43,653 --> 00:58:46,256
It was him and Rocky growing up. Yeah.

1312
00:58:46,256 --> 00:58:49,259
That was my first introduction
to American culture.

1313
00:58:49,325 --> 00:58:50,693
Crikey. Three thunder lips.

1314
00:58:50,693 --> 00:58:52,028
Yeah. Quickly followed by,

1315
00:58:53,129 --> 00:58:54,430
what was it, Beverly Hills Cop?

1316
00:58:54,430 --> 00:58:56,466
Okay, those were my interpretations of.

1317
00:58:56,466 --> 00:58:57,033
Eddie Murphy of.

1318
00:58:57,033 --> 00:58:57,901
America. Yeah.

1319
00:58:57,901 --> 00:59:00,236
Eddie Murphy ex Axel Foley. Yeah.

1320
00:59:00,236 --> 00:59:02,105
Very good. Yeah, that was that.
Oh, that was it.

1321
00:59:02,105 --> 00:59:04,641
I can still remember
sitting and watching those shows.

1322
00:59:04,641 --> 00:59:06,543
Okay. Yeah.

1323
00:59:06,543 --> 00:59:09,512
No. I had a wonderful time
talking with you.

1324
00:59:09,579 --> 00:59:13,516
I learned a lot about everything
that the Supported Living group is doing.

1325
00:59:13,516 --> 00:59:16,052
I think you're doing wonderful things.
Thank you.

1326
00:59:16,052 --> 00:59:19,589
I you gave me all your acronyms,
and I just learned so much.

1327
00:59:19,923 --> 00:59:21,391
And again, it was great to know

1328
00:59:21,391 --> 00:59:25,628
that there's great things going on
and people are finding success.

1329
00:59:25,628 --> 00:59:28,631
No matter their abilities. So,

1330
00:59:28,665 --> 00:59:31,234
I just want to shout out
a couple upcoming events.

1331
00:59:31,234 --> 00:59:32,735
We have our whiskey first.

1332
00:59:32,735 --> 00:59:33,403
Do you like whiskey?

1333
00:59:33,403 --> 00:59:37,040
I do, so we have our whiskey fest
at tumble Brook

1334
00:59:37,040 --> 00:59:41,444
630 to 930 September
27th, hosted here by Maximum Beverage.

1335
00:59:41,444 --> 00:59:43,980
Thank you
to all of our friends at Maximum Beverage.

1336
00:59:45,181 --> 00:59:46,583
This is our biggest fundraiser.

1337
00:59:46,583 --> 00:59:48,718
This our fourth annual do golf.

1338
00:59:48,718 --> 00:59:51,120
I do not you would not want me to.

1339
00:59:51,120 --> 00:59:53,222
It would probably late

1340
00:59:53,222 --> 00:59:54,757
September 13th.

1341
00:59:54,757 --> 00:59:57,460
We have breakfast lunch and dinner.

1342
00:59:57,460 --> 00:59:57,794
All right.

1343
00:59:57,794 --> 01:00:00,263
So registration is going fast.
Get in there.

1344
01:00:00,263 --> 01:00:01,965
It's at six.

1345
01:00:01,965 --> 01:00:03,433
Any closing remarks?

1346
01:00:03,433 --> 01:00:04,934
No, I think I think it's been great.

1347
01:00:04,934 --> 01:00:07,036
I thank you for your time.

1348
01:00:07,036 --> 01:00:10,707
And I thank you for
for holding this podcast with me.

1349
01:00:10,740 --> 01:00:13,643
Yeah. Please check it out
for any talks with friends.

1350
01:00:13,643 --> 01:00:19,182
We're on Google, Apple, YouTube, Spotify,
wherever you could find a podcast.

1351
01:00:19,949 --> 01:00:21,284
Oh, we do even get the chance to eat.

1352
01:00:21,284 --> 01:00:24,487
We'll eat these,
mini almond horns from Crown

1353
01:00:24,487 --> 01:00:27,490
Market after for,
shout out to Crown Market.

1354
01:00:27,690 --> 01:00:29,792
And I will say be a good friend on three.

1355
01:00:29,792 --> 01:00:32,528
Ready? 123. Be a good friend.