Please join me in welcoming Cheryl Denniston as our newest Director of Operations in our Developmental and Brain Injury Services division. Cheryl may be new to ServiceNet, but she is definitely not new to human services.

Cheryl began her career in human services at age 17 at a small residential agency which later became Sunshine Village. Her older sister was working in a group home with young woman, and they hired her on as relief. Cheryl worked her way up to being house manager. She then left to take a position at New England Business Associates and spent 15 years working in this supported employment agency for people with disabilities.

Clearly, Cheryl is no stranger to hard work. She walked through ServiceNet's doors and hit the ground running. She oversees our Mountain View, Mt. Tom, Cushman Pine, and Pine Hill programs, all of which serve people with developmental disabilities. In addition, she recently took on our Harkness program which serves people with traumatic brain injuries.

It isn't easy walking into a management position here at ServiceNet, and it certainly isn't easy walking into an agency the size of ours when you come from an agency that only has 70 employees. It's a big jump. Cheryl very quickly came to appreciate the systems we have in place and counts on these systems to work (and, in general, they do...thankfully!).

I asked Cheryl what she likes the most about her job, and she very genuinely said, "I like the way ServiceNet treats the people we support. It's not generic. Services are geared toward the individual."

Her greatest challenge has proven to be the size of the organization. "I pass people in the hallways every day that I've never seen, and I've been here for a couple months. I'm still getting to know the folks we serve, and I'm still getting to know the agency."

Cheryl immediately knew the answer to my last request, which was to share her greatest experience so far at ServiceNet. She told me the story of how two women in two different programs she oversees really wanted to work on our Prospect Meadow Farm.  These two women went through the process of getting a vocational slot and are now sharing a full-time position. They truly couldn't be happier. Cheryl describes the farm's director, Shawn Robinson, as being fantastic. It's all working out beautifully. The farm is definitely up there on Cheryl's list.

Cheryl grew up in Chicopee. She now lives in South Hadley with her husband, 6-year-old son, and two dogs. Welcome, Cheryl! We're very lucky to have you on our team!