Tag: IDD

March 10, 2021

One Percent Better

I stumbled upon Chris Nikic’s story a while ago and immediately was drawn to his inspiring story. Chris is a phenomenal and engaging young man. He is an Ironman competitor, Guinness World Record holder, and a man diagnosed with Down Syndrome. Chris operates by a 1% better philosophy. Meaning we can all do 1% better everyday to achieve our goals....

Categories General

March 3, 2021

What’s the Story?

I am thrilled, elated, ecstatic…you can see that not even by coupling the dictionary and the thesaurus together can I really find the proper language to communicate the excitement of this announcement. Have you heard the word that Next Chapter Book Club has come to Western PA? Next Chapter Book Club is a world-renowned club for adolescents and adults with...

Categories Community/General

February 24, 2021

Capture the Beauty: River Bend Gallery

There’s something so exciting about when business and passions collide. It’s like a firework formula where success and life happens. You know I can’t overstate how pumped we get about supporting small or local businesses.  Well, this gallery isn’t in my neighborhood but the small town appeal with big quality product meant I couldn’t stay quiet about it. River Bend...

Categories General

February 17, 2021

High Blood Pressure: The Silent Killer

February 2021 is American Heart Month and I wanted to discuss High Blood Pressure (HBP) also known as The Silent Killer. According to the American Heart Association nearly 50% of Americans have high blood pressure and many don’t know. (1)  Through out my nursing career I have seen many people who have been surprised at the diagnosis of high blood...

Categories General

February 3, 2021

Brother Andre’s Café

I received an email just a little bit before Christmas.  In part, it read;  “You all may feel a little disheartened this time of year with the pandemic and chaos we are facing, but maybe this little bit of good news will give you a ray of hope.   Milestone Supported Employment assisted in opening a café.  This café is staffed...

Categories Community/General

January 27, 2021

A Dream Come True

“Tell me I can’t so I can show you I can.”   This is the mantra of Armani Williams.  Armani is 20 years old, a professional NASCAR driver, a philanthropist, and has Autism Spectrum Disorder. He is the only driver in NASCAR with autism. Autism is a disorder that is characterized by difficulty focusing on and processing different stimuli and tasks...

Categories General

January 20, 2021

Building Boundaries

I read an article yesterday by Maria Shriver. In it she utilized a quote that referenced courageous men and women stepping forward with tenderness. It made me reflect on a conversation that I had with my co-workers last week. We had been discussing a project related to encouraging those that we support to set boundaries with those in their lives....

Categories Everyday Life/General

January 13, 2021

“Start where you are, use what you have. Do what you can.” – Arthur Ashe.

Today’s article is not about tennis, but I think this pro athlete’s quote is fitting for many facets of our lives. Especially as one can be tempted these days to feel overwhelmed by the COVID climate. I hope via this article to give you a few minutes to just breathe…and then maybe spark your creativity right where you are. There...

Categories General/Resources

January 6, 2021

A New Year, A New Perspective

Finally, it’s 2021!!  We can put 2020 behind us and look forward to a new year ahead of us.  I think it is safe to say that everyone hopes 2021 will be better.  Was 2020 really that bad though? Now, I know many of you are probably thinking, “What is she thinking?  Not that bad?  It was terrible.”  To all...

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December 23, 2020

Happy Holidays

Dear Readers, Each one of these trees from HCQU team members are different, but they are all beautiful.  We hope that you are able to find the beauty and peace this year in your different holiday celebrations.  Happy Holidays, The HCQU West Team

Categories General