Blog Stories

Earlier this summer, YAI Westchester and YAI/RCAPD hosted their first ever combined Career Day. The purpose of the day was to present staff members with the experiences of other employees who have built their careers at YAI/RCAPD. Focusing on the clinical career track, representatives spoke on behalf of Premier HealthCare, Behavioral Intervention Specialists, and NYSTART Crisis Prevention and Response. The speakers shared their professional journeys and gave advice on how to explore different...

A great part of my job at YAI has been collaborating with, supporting and learning from the many people who are self advocates. This opportunity has not only enriched my professional and personal world, but it has also provided me with the opportunity to challenge and question myself in ways that have only enhanced my learning about people and myself. When involved in supporting a person who is a self advocate I try very hard to “not take away their power.” This is easy sometimes but very...

About two years ago, a little Goldendoodle named Monty entered the life of Tarrytown staffer Ken Reedy. Ken started bringing Monty in for visits and noticed how beneficial Monty was to the day hab participants and other staff. Derrick S., who receives services at the day hab, said to Ken, “Monty is my best friend because I’m adopted too.” As BIS Inetta Clemons-D’Urso described, “Monty has added an increased sense of comfort and safety, with an added benefit of touch therapy. The emotional...

As a grade school child in the 1960s, in addition to the perfunctory fire drills, I experienced routine air raid drills where we would all gather in the basement of the school and wait until we were cleared to go back to our classrooms. I never really gave it any thought at the time, most likely because we did not experience an actual air raid. Nowadays, however, I give it a lot of thought. Over the past 20 years, we have witnessed acts of terrorism, natural disasters, and mass shootings in...

The best way to learn more about YAI and our programs, housing, and services is to see them in action. Through these videos, explore what YAI is all about with a look into the lives of the people we support as well as our residential options, day programs, and approach of person-centered thinking. Using this introduction to YAI, discover more about what it means to work toward our mission of living, loving, working, and learning.

Recently, Deer Park resident Alexandru (Alex), completed the long journey of becoming a citizen of the United States of America! One of the reasons why Alex wanted to become a citizen was to show others what he is capable of. “I want to be a stand-up citizen,” he said, explaining that a good citizen is “honest, truthful and helpful.” Alex has lived in America for the past seventeen years after being adopted from Romania. He moved to Deer Park in May of 2016. “I love America. There are lots of...

The eight people who lived at the Ridgeway IRA moved to a brand new home in Medford on Monday, April 9th. It is a beautiful home that is on one level, fully wheelchair accessible, and ADA compliant. This is a dream come true for all of the residents, and everyone was excited about the move.

Consuelo Senior, YAI’s Assistant Coordinator of Sex Education and Clinical Curricula, recently presented on Puberty, Sexuality, and Behavior: How to Guide Young People with Disabilities. Co-presented with INCLUDEnyc’s Kaitlin Roh, the hour-long live stream covered everything from setting manageable goals, to building up your child’s self esteem, and much more.

What drew me to Nursing? I was hospitalized when I was eleven. Next to me was a five year old boy. He was badly burned over his upper body and had difficulty using the call bell. I became his voice. The nurses were so kind though I’m sure I drove them crazy with the frequency of calls. They actually thanked me and made me feel good about helping him. Then in High School I volunteered to go on visits in the community with the Nursing Sisters. When we would enter the patients’ homes, I saw such a...

I have two relatives who I have great respect for, who are both nurses and always spoke of the satisfaction they felt in taking care of people. I always enjoyed taking care of people and thought that becoming a nurse would afford me a greater opportunity. As a nurse I know that I have helped people and their loved ones overcome many obstacles in their lives. In my career I have worked in many different fields of nursing from hospital nursing to nursing homes to private duty to where I am now...