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Rose Hoptman Receives Paul Vanas Memorial Service Award The following link(s) will open in one new tab or window. Should you have any questions regarding this article, please follow the specific contact information provided. Third Age Providers Committee Honors a Person with Developmental Disabilities for the First Time SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – For the first time in its 16-year history, a person with developmental disabilities is the recipient of the Paul Vanas Memorial Service Award, bestowed by the New York State Third Age Providers Committee. Rose Hoptman, an 85-year-old woman from Manhattan, along with Russel Backus of St. Lawrence County and the Ballantyne Day Habilitation Program, Arc of Monroe County, received the award at the 19th Annual Third Age Conference, which took place at the Holiday Inn, 232 Broadway, in Saratoga Springs on May 20 and 21, 2010. At the conference New York State Office for the Aging (NYSOFA) Director, Michael Burgess gave welcome remarks, as did Gary Lind, Deputy Commissioner of New York State Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities (OMRDD,) who conferred the award on Rose. The Paul Vanas Memorial Service Award is named after Vanas, a New York State Office for the Aging (NYSOFA,) employee who, until his death in 1993, played a pivotal role in developing services for the aged. This award was established in 1994 to recognize the special efforts of those individuals who provided service opportunities to older people with disabilities. The award is typically presented to service providers or staff members who have impacted the lives of individuals by using creative and innovative programming to keep people living in their communities for as long as possible. The conference was sponsored in collaboration with OMRDD, NYSOFA and the Partner Agencies of the Third Age Providers Committee, which includes not-for-profit service providers, State University professionals and members of the medical and research community, as well as other State agency representatives. Laura M. Robinson, served as chair of the 2010 Annual New York State Third Age Providers Conference Committee. Michael Burgess, NYSOFA Director said: "Persons with developmental or intellectual disabilities are living longer, healthier lives and this conference is special because it is one of a few in the country that brings together the aging and developmental disability networks to help assure that persons with developmental disabilities can age successfully in place in New York State." OMRDD Commissioner Diana Jones Ritter said: "This award recognition is a milestone for people with developmental disabilities. I am pleased that Rose was selected for this prestigious honor. It is Rose’s strong perseverance, and the tenacity of her support team, that has allowed her to remain on her own, and integrated within her community, for this long. This award from the Third Age Providers Committee is a much-deserved acknowledgement of the commitment that Rose and her team have, which enables her to live the richer life she has worked so hard to achieve." Hoptman once lived at the Letchworth Developmental Center in Rockland County for 13 years as an adolescent and a young adult. She has been living in her own apartment in the Lower East Side of Manhattan since her mother died in 1985. Her fierce determination and independence to find a way is motivating her support team to find new and creative ways to enable her to remain as autonomous as possible, such as developing a day habilitation without walls for Hoptman. Falls have, unfortunately, impacted her degree of independence, but she remains in her community, as opposed to a nursing home or other institutional setting. Hoptman’s Story to Appear in Aging in Community Project Rose’s story will be told as part of a film that is currently in production and that will appear on PBS stations statewide, scheduled for late 2010 or early 2011. The project is a collaboration between OMRDD and NYSOFA and is part of a larger "Aging in Community" learning and training initiative. The project is being funded through a New York State Developmental Disabilities Planning Council (DDPC) grant. Russel "Russ" Backus has worked at St. Lawrence NYSARC since 1985, when he began as an Assistant Practitioner. Currently employed in the Agency’s Quality Assurance and Staff Training Department, Russ is a Staff Training Instructor responsible for educating the employees and staff of St. Lawrence NYSARC. As a founding member of the agency’s Task Force on Aging, Russ has been the driving force behind the development of a comprehensive program for individuals with IDD facing aging concerns. This program is designed to give people who work directly with the individuals of St. Lawrence NYSARC a basic level of understanding concerning the aging process and how this process specifically affects individuals with IDD. Ballantyne Day Habilitation Program, Arc of Monroe County is a unique day program which serves primarily a senior population and focuses on increasing or maintaining skills, independence, and quality of life. A 2006 Options for People Through Services (OPTS) application was accepted and allowed the agency to:
The combination of team commitment and creativity, community outreach and participation, and personalities, respect and love have created a program that is making big and small changes in ways that significantly impact quality of life. To view this article visit www.omr.state.ny.us
July 2010
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September 2010 Contact Us
Phone: 1-800-395-3372 Upcoming DDPC Meetings September 2010: 9/23/10 - Executive Committee Meeting *Notice* Open Government and the New York State Developmental Disabilities Planning Council (DDPC). All DDPC meetings are held in Albany, NY unless otherwise noted. Under law, the New York State Developmental Disabilities Planning Council (DDPC) meetings and DDPC Standing Committee meetings are open meetings. If the public wants to attend, they can attend as observers. Participants may be asked to leave during breaks in the deliberations and when the meeting goes into executive session. If more information, please contact the DDPC directly.
People First Language The DDPC strictly adheres to and encourages the use of people first language. However you may note that in some articles/stories appearing in the E-Bulletin the language used is not always entirely people first. Articles submitted to the DDPC are taken verbatim from the source and are therefore not edited by the DDPC for correct people first language due to copyright restrictions. |
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