People Home Health Care Services-Certified Inc. Selected to Provide Nurse Assessor Services for Erie County

Program’s goals mirror agency’s mission and experience People Inc. affiliate People Home Health Care Services-Certified Inc. (People Inc. CHHA), was recently selected by the Erie County Department of Social Services to provide Nurse Assessor Services. People Inc. CHHA was selected through a competitive Request for Proposals (RFP) process.   The certified home health agency will assess the needs of recipients of Erie County’s Medicaid-funded long-term care program, the Community Alternative Systems Agency (CASA). The primary goal of CASA is to promote access to cost-effective care for seniors and people with disabilities at an appropriate level and in the least restrictive setting. Regulated by the New York State Department of Health, CASA’s administration, supervision and case management functions are under the authority of Erie County.   With more than 20 years’ experience providing specialized home care services to individuals with disabilities and seniors, People Inc. CHHA’s work is in close alignment to the goals of CASA. People Inc. CHHA will perform nursing assessments and reassessments in individuals’ residences.   “People Home Health Care Services-Certified Inc. has been providing home care services and conducting nursing assessments for more than two decades,” said Laurie Cianfrini, administrator and associate vice president. “We are pleased to bring our expertise, experience and knowledgeable staff to the county and our community.”   People Inc. CHHA is a special needs CHHA that provides skilled nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, nutrition services, social work and home health aide services to people with developmental disabilities who need skilled health care, living in Erie and Niagara counties.   People Inc. CHHA is an affiliate of People Inc., a not-for-profit health and human services agency providing programs and services to more than 12,000 people with special needs, their families and seniors throughout Western New York and Rochester. Since 1970, People Inc. has assisted individuals to achieve greater degrees of independence and productivity. To learn more, please visit  www.people-inc.org . Like us on Facebook at  Facebook.com/people-inc  and follow us on Twitter  @PeopleIncNews .

People Inc's Senior Housing keeps growing

Cleaning, mowing the lawn, paying the bills, and shoveling the endless snow... do you have a family member that has found of all of this too much? Help is available. People Inc. offers safe, affordable housing for seniors throughout Western New York. The best part is those overwhelming tasks of living in a large house and having to maintain it are a thing of the past! Your loved one's income goes farther with rental assistance, allowing seniors to better afford the things they enjoy. People Inc.'s Senior Housing program offers rental assistance for independent people over the age of 62, who meet the federally mandated income guidelines. Rent, which includes gas, heat, and water, is based upon 30 percent of their adjusted annual income. The individual apartments are unique as each tenant adds their own personal charm and decor to their living space. There is on-site management and maintenance, on-site laundry facilities, emergency pull cords and response systems, group transportation for grocery shopping and social activities, and a community room with a full kitchen. There are also opportunities to develop new friendships! Locations include a furnished community room and kitchen for social events and a calendar of enjoyable activities. Your loved one will feel safe with the 24-hour on-call emergency services available when you need them! As you walk down the hallways of each senior housing complex, the sense of home is felt as you see wreaths on doors and welcome mats with flowers on them. We are known in the senior services field locally as 'the agency that does the extras,' and People Inc. has won a U.S. Department of HUD National Best Practices Award for the quality of this program. There are many locations to choose from - currently accepting applications for sites in Cheektowaga, Clarence, Lackawanna, Blasdell, and South Buffalo. Future Senior Housing buildings are scheduled for Hamburg, Lockport, and Wheatfield. For more information for your self, relative, or friend, call People Inc. at 716.634.8132.

People Inc. 2020 Report Now Available

The past year revealed a great deal about human strength and perseverance. People Inc. is made of up of an incredible team – our frontline heroes, clinicians and administrative employees – who each play an important role in ensuring the safety of the people we support. Our partners and supporters have also played a huge part in our success. We’re pleased to present our 2020 People Inc. Annual Report, which is built around three words that have aptly defined the previous year: Resilience, Responsiveness and Results. Learn more about our accomplishments, how we delivered on our mission through challenges and our agency’s growth.

People Inc. 50th Anniversary Video Released

In honor of the People Inc. 50th Anniversary, a video was created to mark this important milestone and share some of our agency’s history! Family members, a program participant and advocate, as well as longtime staff members and local leaders share the impact our agency has made in their lives. We’re five decades in the making – and YOU can be a part of our next chapters – let’s continue to tell the People Inc. story – where your world opens up! Watch the video and feel free to share with family, friends and colleagues!

People Inc. Admissions Featured on LCTV

Stacy Blair and Linda Rinaldo of People Inc. Admissions shared their expertise with viewers of WNY Tonight on Lockport Community Television. They talked about our various agency supports and the steps to take when a family or person with an intellectual or developmental disability may need assistance.  View the show!

People Inc. and Southeast Works Announce Affiliation

Collaboration aims to strengthen agencies, provide improved services for people with disabilities May 26, 2016: Southeast Works, a neighborhood-based not-for-profit that helps people with developmental disabilities lead productive, independent and fulfilling lives, has entered into an agreement to become an affiliate of People Inc., Western New York’s largest and most experienced health and human services agency. Effective in the fall of 2016, the collaboration will allow for more efficient operations and a sharper focus on service excellence in a changing environment. Southeast Works first formed in 1974 when a group of families from Alden and Lancaster, NY, sought to establish a community-based, family-oriented center to provide employment to adults with developmental disabilities. Today, it employs 279 and serves over 500 people through numerous programs, including family support, Medicaid service coordination, residential, vocational and community habilitation services. The affiliation is a proactive response to more than $1.5 million in state budget cuts and is expected to benefit both agencies, allowing them to pool resources and expand services for individuals throughout Western New York. “Our goal is to always provide the best quality services and we are fortunate to partner with People Inc. to ensure the individuals we serve have continued opportunities and choices to lead fulfilling lives,” said Southeast Works’ Executive Director Timothy J. Pfohl. “It is the right time to strengthen our services for long-term sustainability. We are proud to be part of People Inc.’s team, and to broaden our own community by joining a reputable health and human services agency.” As an affiliate of People Inc., Southeast Works will retain its name and separate corporate status, and no jobs will be lost as a result of the change. Agency supports will be integrated and strengthened, thereby reducing overhead, furthering services and lowering administrative costs.  “We work every day to ensure that individuals with developmental disabilities, special needs and senior adults can lead healthy, productive and independent lives. Welcoming another agency like Southeast Works to our People Inc. family means that we can extend what we do and better address the abundant need for services in Western New York,” said People Inc.’s President and CEO Rhonda Frederick. “With this affiliation, People Inc. and Southeast Works can continue to strengthen our respective organizations while accomplishing goals together.” In light of a challenging fiscal climate, Southeast Works will remain open to a merger arrangement in the future if it is determined to be in the best interests of those the agency serves. Whether or not this takes effect, both People Inc. and Southeast Works look forward to working in close alignment, providing quality services for individuals with disabilities.  People Inc. provides programs and services to more than 12,000 people with special needs, their families and seniors throughout Western New York and Rochester. Since 1970, People Inc. has assisted individuals to achieve greater degrees of independence and productivity. To learn more, visit people-inc.org. Like us on Facebook at People Inc. and follow us on Twitter @PeopleIncNews .

People Inc. and Supporters Announce Start of Construction on $31 Million Affordable

Jefferson Avenue Apartments to Continue Revitalization of Commercial Corridor  On December 19, New York State Homes and Community Renewal, City of Buffalo Mayor Byron W. Brown and People Inc. proudly announced the start of construction on the $31 million affordable housing and supportive housing development on Buffalo’s East Side for the People Inc. Jefferson Avenue Apartments.  Government and community leaders joined together at the Johnnie B. Wiley Amateur Athletic Sports Pavilion to mark the occasion, including: Mayor Byron W. Brown, Herb Bellamy of Bellamy Enterprises, Upstate Development Director of NYS Homes and Community Renewal Lenny Skrill, NYS Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes, State Senator Tim Kennedy, Congressmember Brian Higgins, Common Council President and Ellicott District Common Council Member Darius Pridgen, Erie County Legislator Barbara Miller Williams, Ellen Hardy, acting director of the Office for People with Developmental Disabilities Region 1, Nick Sinatra of Sinatra and Company Real Estate and People Inc. President and CEO Rhonda Frederick. People Inc. Jefferson Avenue Apartments, to be located at 1140 and 1166 Jefferson Avenue, will include 89 affordable apartments in two buildings with 16 set aside for individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities. The apartment buildings will feature both one and two-bedroom units available and will also contain a community room with a small kitchen, on-site laundry facilities, ample green space, courtyards and off-street parking. The apartments will also be near a major bus route and easily accessible to a number of services and retail shops. The ground floor of both apartment buildings will contain a total of 16,500 square feet of commercial space, which will include retail shops and house a People Inc. recruitment office. The project is funded by: City of Buffalo Home Funds, NYS Empire State Development, NYS Energy Research and Development Authority, NYS Homes and Community Renewal, NYS Housing Finance Agency and NYS Office for People with Developmental Disabilities. “I’m proud to be a part of this development in the historic Jefferson corridor,” said Rhonda Frederick, president and CEO, People Inc. “We are so pleased to have the support of many community leaders and organizations, as we work together to provide an affordable housing opportunity for individuals ages 18 years and older. We are so grateful to the funders and elected officials that are making this project a reality.” Well known for its development of group homes for individuals with developmental disabilities and affordable senior housing, People Inc. continues to serve the community by bringing various audiences together for a unique housing model.  People Inc., a multispecialty non-profit health and human services agency, provides programs and services to more than 12,000 people with developmental disabilities, special needs, their families and older adults throughout Western New York and the Greater Rochester region. Since 1970, People Inc. has assisted individuals to achieve greater degrees of independence and productivity. With nearly 4,000 employees, People Inc. is one of the region’s largest employers. To learn more, visit people-inc.org, follow People Inc. on Facebook or Twitter @PeopleIncNews.

People Inc. and The Albright Knox Art Gallery Celebrate Disability Awareness Month

The Art Education wing of the Albright Knox Art Gallery is featuring artwork created by people with disabilities. Artists’ work from The Arts Experience will be on display from Tuesday, October 2nd thru Sunday, October 28th.  Admission to the gallery is free on Friday, October 5th as part of M&T First Fridays at the Gallery from 10am -10pm.  (The gallery is also showing a free large scale 3D anniversary video projection, Illuminate outside on the Delaware steps on Friday, October 5th from 7:00 – 9:30 pm.) On Wednesday, October 10th, school children from the City of Buffalo will visit the gallery as part of Disability Awareness Month.  Included in their visit, Cammie, a visual artist from The Arts Experience will lead an art demonstration and Beats Me will perform from 11:40 am - 12:20 pm.   

People Inc. and the Collins Correctional Facility Assist with Restoration of Wheater Road Cemetery in the Town of Collins

People Inc. and the Collins Correctional Facility will host a Ceremony of Remembrance to honor the lives of individuals who now rest at Wheater Road Cemetery. The event will be held on Thursday, September 29 at 11 a.m. at Wheater Road Cemetery, which is on Wheater Road between Route 62 and Bagdad Road in the Town of Collins. Former residents of the Gowanda Psychiatric Center will be commemorated with a memorial garden, dove release and a brief program. In a grassy hollow in the town of Collins, People Inc. employees and program participants have spent the last three summers restoring the Wheater Road Cemetery. In this unmarked area, at least 1,200 patients who resided at the Gowanda Psychiatric Center are buried, most with anonymous numbered graves. Burials began after the center opened as the Gowanda Homeopathic Hospital in 1898. Two sections of the cemetery contain cast iron grave markers. In many cases, these were straightened and staked into place. Other sections closer to Clear Creek contain gravestones. In one area, the size of a football field, there were only three stones visible. After much exploration and excavation, nearly 500 stones are now resting on the surface. Each stone was painstakingly unearthed, cleaned and set on the ground again. This restoration project, led by People Inc., is helping to restore some dignity and honor to their lives. The Wheater Road Cemetery is the final resting place of approximately 1,200 people who resided in what was known as Gowanda State Hospital and later the J. N. Adam Developmental Center, which opened in 1898 to provide residential care for the "insane and idiotic." The restoration endeavor is an example of the strides that have been made in the treatment of people with disabilities and to acknowledge their history. This is the third cemetery which People Inc. volunteers have helped to restore. In total, more than 2,000 graves of patients in the Office of Mental Health and New York State Office for People with Developmental Disabilities system have been touched by the work. Monuments were placed in the two previous cemeteries. The Collins Correctional Facility has generously donated use of equipment and volunteers to maintain the grounds. People Inc. has been joined along the way by volunteers from the Office of Mental Health, the Cattaraugus County Mental Health Association, Randolph Academy, St. Bonaventure University and Siena College. Hundreds of spring bulbs have been planted and a heart shaped garden will be installed. As People Inc. concludes its work at the Collins site, the human services agency has been asked to assist with another abandoned cemetery in Lockport. Restoration efforts there will begin in the spring of 2012. People Inc. is a not-for-profit health and human services agency providing programs and services to more than 10,000 people with special needs, their families, and seniors throughout Western New York. Since 1971, People Inc. has assisted individuals to achieve greater degrees of independence and productivity. Note to Media: As per the guidelines of the Collins Correctional Facility, members of the media are asked to kindly RSVP if you are able to attend the event to provide any necessary authorization to be on the grounds. If you have any questions or to RSVP, please contact Nicole Forgione, People Inc. public affairs manager, at  nforgione@people-inc.org or at 716.817.7490 (office) or 716.598.9692 (cell). Thank you. Directions to  Wheater Road Cemetery 1. Take the 90 West toward Erie, Exit at 57 A (Eden Evans Center Road) 2. Turn left on to Eden Evans Center Road 3. Proceed into the village of Eden 4. Turn right onto Route 62 5. Proceed on route 62 through North Collins and into Collins 6. Across from the Collins correctional facility, you will see a barn on the corner at the left - turn left, this is Wheater Road 7. Just past the farm land on left, there will be a tire track drive - park in grassy area there 8. Walk down the hill and look for folks working toward the front of cemetery