Community

Awards Night 2009

The winners of the 2009 Joe Rogers Award for Independence were honored at the packed IBEW Union Hall in Boston. The evening was kicked off by Work , Inc. CEO, Jim Casetta. Jim passed the festivities on to be wonderfully led by Boston City Council President, the lovely Maureen Feeney. She captivated the audience with the spirit of Work, Inc. and its mission of providing meaningful community life and employment.

As Joe Rogers’ brother, Mark Rogers presented the Joe Rogers Award for Independence both Michael Greene and Dennis Machado came to the stage to accept their awards. It was a powerful moment that brought the audience to tears and to their feet – applauding. For Dennis taking the steps to walk to the stage as many people applauded represented how far he has come – from a man who wore a helmet to prevent self-injury while in a state facility to a man who walks proudly amongst his piers.

In this profile we see the steps Michael Greene and Dennis Machado took to get where they want to go.





In addition to the Joe Rogers Award profiles we also presented a video profile of the Work, Inc. Consumer of the Year, Maura Sullivan. Maura is a model for all of us of how we can lead others to find a wider community of connections and provide a model of success.




Thanks to Jim Cawley and Susan Buckley for coordinating a superb event. And Barbara, David, Mark, Susan and Terry Rogers for supporting the Joe Rogers Award.

As we left my dad, Mark, and I spoke of how much Joe and Len – Joe’s brother who passed away this year – would have loved this event.

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Uncle Joe Awards 2008

Monday night was Awards Night for Work Inc. Work, Inc. is a sevice provider for people with disabilities and psychiatric disabilities in Massachusetts. My uncle, David Rogers, presented the Joe Rogers Award for Independence to Paul Baxter. It was an exciting night at the IBEW hall, across the street from the site of Work Inc's new facility in Dorchester. The evening was also groundbreaking and by next year the new location should be good to go.

We showed a video for the event that features the seven nominees for the award. The nominees are Paul Baxter, John Carideo, Robert Collier, Alan Miller, Robert Ouelette, Grace Smith and Maura Sullivan. The award honors independence and each showed a side of the quality that was so essential in Joe Rogers' life.

Here's the video:



And the video from last year:

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After the Festival

The Moving Images Festival at the Museum of Fine Arts was a great celebration. What I most appreciate about flilm fests are walking into a theater knowing little or nothing about a film and being transported. Such was the case with Ryan and Alter Egos.

Ryan is an animated film with an extraordinary surreal quality that seems to me the height of what computers can offer. Using video recordings as a base the film
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Joe's Co-workers at NFPA

A Note from the National Fire Protection Agency Librarian and REQUEST FOR POSTS about Joe. Read More...
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Article in Patriot Ledger

Jack Encancio wrote a piece in the Patriot Ledger of Quincy, MA and surrounding area about Fernald and Joe's relationship to it.

patriotledger.com

It presents the question of how the past lives with us in the present. Does the shadow of the institution ever go away? One of the most challenging things about Fernald today is that it IS a community. Yes, there are elements of the segregation of the past, but they are more historical footnotes then real forces of the present.

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Museum of Fine Arts Vinfen Festival

Front Wards, Back Wards shows at Museum of Fine Arts, Boston on Saturday, March 15, 1:30 (FREE!) at the Vinfen Moving Images Festival. http://www.vinfen.org/film_festival/

-WCR Read More...
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