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.

In October, The Guild celebrated National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM). NDEAM reflects the importance of ensuring that people with disabilities have full access to employment and community involvement. Throughout the month, the national #NDEAM campaign aimed to educate the public about disability employment issues and celebrate the many and varied contributions of America’s workers with disabilities.

Ryan and Denzel, who live in Woburn House II, were awarded a silver medal at the Annual Special Olympics Massachusetts Sailing Regatta on Saturday, August 7th at Community Boating on the Charles River.

On Wednesday, October 13th at 7 p.m. The Guild will be hosting a live book reading event via Zoom featuring authors J.M. Crawford (mother of a Guild adult resident), Choices, and Nicole Donovan, A Life Suspended.