Second Home's Monthly Newsletter

Spreading Love & Building Community at Second Home

Second Home is embracing February as a time for connection, kindness, and growth. In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, our participants are focusing on building meaningful relationships, practicing empathy, and strengthening their sense of community.

We are proud to recognize Lauren Elia as our Educational Specialist of the Year. As an Occupational Therapist, Lauren brings expertise, dedication, and compassion to every participant she works with. She consistently develops meaningful, individualized strategies that promote independence, confidence, and skill development. Her collaboration with our team ensures that every participant receives thoughtful, tailored support that fosters personal growth and success. Thank you, Lauren, for your passion, professionalism, and the positive impact you make every day. We are so fortunate to have you as part of our Second Home family!

This month, our participants are focusing on strengthening essential functional daily living skills through personal hygiene and self-care routines. February is a wonderful time to emphasize self-care and healthy habits while taking pride in caring for ourselves each day. Through structured hygiene routines and guided practice, individuals are learning to follow steps, increase independence, and develop greater awareness of personal health and presentation. These experiences promote responsibility, confidence, and self-advocacy skills while supporting social success and community participation.

Through hands-on baking activities, participants practice following recipes, measuring ingredients, maintaining kitchen safety, and completing tasks from start to finish. These structured experiences help individuals strengthen attention to detail, time management, and teamwork skills. In addition to culinary skills, participants are learning workplace expectations such as following directions, communicating effectively, maintaining cleanliness, and taking pride in their finished products. These experiences support independence, confidence, and continued growth toward meaningful employment opportunities.

Stop and Shop

Our participants enjoyed a Community-Based Instruction trip to Stop & Shop, where they practiced shopping for groceries and daily necessities. During the outing, they strengthened essential independent living skills, including making a shopping list, budgeting, selecting items, and completing transactions.

Attendance: Continue to use SHattendance@nresc.org to report attendance changes.
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