Sandy is the Assistant Program Director of the day service in Berkshire County. Sandy has been able to combine her managerial and people skills here at Nonotuck. She is originally from the Bronx, N.Y. and is the oldest of five children. Sandy moved to the Berkshires twelve years ago, with her two children. Sandy graduated from the Mildred Elley School and earned a certificate in business administration. She has many years experience as a manager for Ciatrella Fine Foods in New York. Some of Sandy’s other interests include that she is very active in her church and loves spending time with her family. Originally, Sandy took a job here in the Berkshires driving people that needed assistance to their scheduled appoints. It was then, that she realized her true calling, working in human services with people. She loved meeting people of all abilities and making them smile. She went from driving people to working in a residential home for people served by the Department of Mental Health. From there she found the Nonotuck Day Program. Sandy enjoys working with the people supported by our day service and has assisted in successfully increasing the number of people served from 4 to over 11. Sandy loves working for Nonotuck and she loves what Nonotuck stands for. She feels that people are people and we all have something to learn from each other. Sandy believes so much in the shared living model that she became a Shared Living provider in 2009 for Amanda. Sandy says that “she fits right into our family. She brightens our day.” She loves helping Amanda grow as a woman and loves the way Amanda helps her family grow. “It’s a give and take relationship that has been good for everyone.”
George has led the agency as its president and CEO since the fall of 1987. He brought to Nonotuck a firm and deep-rooted set of values that centered on his profound belief in family, community, life sharing and authentic relationships. Early in his tenure, and based on these values, George guided the agency’s path from congregate care [by closing 15 group homes and moving all 55 people it served] into the personalized service of shared living. His leadership has taken Nonotuck from a small western Massachusetts based organization to a large state-wide agency with 12 offices from Pittsfield to Hyannis while serving over 300 people in shared living and over 800 people in adult family care. George is nationally recognized as an innovator of value-based and personalized services to people with intellectually and/or physically disabled people. George has two children and lives in the small town of Williamsburg, Massachusetts.
Jill is a program director at Nonotuck in the Berkshires. She came from Berkshire County ARC’s Center for Development day program where she worked as a habilitation specialist providing direct care. Before working with persons with developmental disabilities, Jill was a protective services worker at Elder Services of Berkshire County. There she investigated allegations of abuse, neglect and financial exploitation in people over the age of 60. Jill has her bachelor’s degree in communications from Bridgewater State College and an associate’s degree in selected studies from Berkshire Community College. Jill is thrilled to be working for Nonotuck as she shares all of the core values of the dedicated employees in the organization and is proud to be a member of such a fine team. She enjoys sports, spending time with her friends and family, reading and exercise. She has a strong passion for music, the performing arts and animals. In her free time, Jill is the lead vocalist in a 7-piece rhythm and blues band. Her influences include Susan Tedeschi, Janis Joplin, Bonnie Raitt and Aretha Franklin.
Tammy Laurent began her career with Nonotuck Resource Associates in 1999 in the Berkshire office. She started working in a unique day program, one of the first in-home programs providing one to one support. In 2001, she became a care manager, working with families to ensure successful and meaningful home lives for people and their shared living providers. Tammy continues to act as care manager. She also serves as human rights coordinator for one of Nonotuck’s three human rights committees. Tammy thoroughly enjoys the time she spends visiting and connecting with people and the difference she is able to make in their lives. Tammy began working in human services in 1985. She started as relief staff in a 24-hour group home. Over a span of two years she was promoted to full-time staff, assistant house manager, and then manager. She worked for the same agency from 1985-1999. During her years as manager, she supervised up to four group homes and 30 staff members. Tammy is a lifelong resident of Pownal, Vermont. She lives with her husband, Lucien, and her daughter, Kylie. She also has a son, Jeffery, daughter-in-law, Kaley, and granddaughters, Braelyn and Kenzi. Jeff and Kaley are expecting another baby in June! There is nothing better than being a grandma! Tammy is an avid reader and is always searching for the next great book. She enjoys walking, yard work, and being outdoors.
Angela is a program director from the Berkshire Office of Nonotuck Resource Associates. She began her career at Nonotuck as a shared living provider in 1998 and continues this relationship today. In 2005, Angela became a program director for Nonotuck’s Day Services. That program has grown from serving four people to more than 10. She now serves as a director for both day and shared living services in Berkshire County and as a co-chair for our Quality Enhancement Committee. In 2011, Angela was appointed director of Special Projects. Her career in human services began in 1988, working for a large sheltered workshop that that served more than 100 people. She served as a work skills trainer, then a senior work supervisor, director of a day service model that served people 1:1 and as a co-director for a habilitation center serving more than 60 people. She also became an applied non-violence trainer, a basic American Sign Language trainer and was certified to train facilitated communication in addition to other forms of augmented communication. She has completed course work at Berkshire Community College, Hartford University, Syracuse University and U-Mass Amherst. She has a Bachelor of Arts in human service administration. Outside of Nonotuck Angela enjoys spending time with her husband Kevin, their two sons, Cameron and Chase, and their roommate, Carrie. She loves being outdoors, vacationing to new places, musical events, theatre productions and reading.
Maggy graduated from Springfield College in 2008 with a master’s degree in organizational management and leadership. Maggy has always had a heart and a passion for helping people with developmental disabilities because she is her own self-advocate. Every day she shares her life with a group of friends with developmental disabilities. They attend local basketball games, go on vacations, and just spend family time together. Maggy has done outstanding things with her time in the human service field, such as help a school district create a section in the library for the reading level of students with developmental disabilities. She has also helped a school district create the first after school program designed for students with developmental disabilities. Maggy brings a lot of love and passion to her job every day and enjoys making a difference in lives of others.
