When Richard Asztalos graduated from Boston University with a liberal arts degree in 1975, he had his sights set on applying to law school. In need of a job in the interim, he responded to an ad and landed a gig as a special education teacher. It didn’t take long for him to fall in love with the human services field. It’s been nearly five decades since then, and he hasn’t looked back.

Earlier this month, Guild CEO Amy C. Sousa wrote an op-ed in Commonwealth Magazine, What’s causing the boarding crisis in hospitals? The article looks at the crisis of psychiatric boarding and its direct connection to the dire need for residential services for people with complex developmental and behavioral health needs.

Bob Renois, a Residential Assistant with Walnut House, was honored with an Award of Excellence at the Providers’ Council’s annual convention and expo on Monday, October 3rd. Bob has worked at The Guild for over 23 years in both Residential Assistant and Assistant Residential Manager capacities.

The Guild for Human Services has been recognized with an Award of Excellence in the 28th Annual Communicator Awards for its short documentary, The World Got Smaller: The Spirit of The Guild During COVID-19. Produced by Viamark Video, the film features interviews with Guild staff, students, residents, parents, and community partners and provides a first-hand look at how the pandemic curtailed the community life of individuals with intellectual disabilities.

The World Got Smaller: The Spirit of The Guild During COVID-19 premieres to the public this Wednesday, 3/16 at 1 pm! Each week, we’ve been featuring students, residents, staff, and parents interviewed in the film on our blog. This week, we sat down with Jessica Goodwin, Billerica House resident, and her mother, Janice:

The Guild for Human Services, which educates, encourages, and empowers individuals with intellectual disabilities, is premiering its documentary, The World Got Smaller: The Spirit of The Guild during COVID-19 on March 16th at 1 PM EST online. The short film provides a first-hand look at how the pandemic curtailed the community life of individuals with intellectual disabilities. The film is being released to commemorate the second anniversary of the State of Emergency declared in Massachusetts and the subsequent closing of schools.

The premiere of The World Got Smaller: The Spirit of The Guild During COVID-19 is right around the corner! Each week, we've been featuring students, residents, staff, and parents interviewed in the film on our blog. This week, we sat down with Kaitlyn Tarr, Billerica House resident, and her mother, Sue. 

Each Wednesday night last fall, a group of six Guild adult residents cleared out their schedules and logged onto Zoom at 5 p.m. sharp. They would spend the next hour in lively discussion talking about relationships with employers, family members, romantic partners, and themselves. The group was part of The Guild’s Healthy Relationships course, designed by Elevatus Training.

Leading up to the premiere of The World Got Smaller: The Spirit of The Guild During COVID-19, we'll be featuring students, residents, staff, and parents interviewed in the film on our blog. This week, we sat down with Nathalie Etame, Residential Manager of Sudbury House.

The language we use to describe ourselves and others has lasting implications. Language preferences are personal, especially as terminology evolves within the disability movement to accurately reflect individuals’ unique strengths and challenges. Recently, some have shifted away from the term ‘nonverbal’ in favor of ‘nonspeaking’ to describe individuals who use modalities other than speech to communicate.