Bartlett enjoying new role as Nishna executive director

Nishna Productions executive director Monica Bartlett has settled into her new role.
Bartlett was named to the position after long time director Sherri Clark, who worked with Nishna Productions for 40 years, announced her retirement, moving on from the position at the end of January. Bartlett says she grew up in Shenandoah and currently lives there with her husband and has a long history with the organization.
“I started with Nishna in 2006, so I’ve been here a little over 19 years. When I first started, I was a business developer. So, my job was to get contract work for the work centers. That was primarily what I did for the first couple of years working for Nishna,” advised Bartlett. “I then transitioned to a director role responsible for our vocational department at the time.  I was very active with employment services, and then added Day Hab services to my responsibilities as well. Most recently, I’ve been in the role of Director of Operations.  I have been fully responsible for all of our Human Resources functions, as well as supervision of our Day Hab program, maintenance department, and IT department.  I’ve worn a lot of hats in the years that I’ve been with Nishna Productions, but it’s given me a solid background in all areas of the organization.”
Even though she never directly supervised the residential department, Bartlett says she has always had a lot of interaction with that department as well and has been well versed in the services. When Clark announced her retirement, Bartlett said she thought she might be a good fit to serve as Clark’s replacement.
“It’s something that over the years, I’ve worked toward. When Sherri announced that she was retiring, it just seemed like the natural next step in my career. I feel like Nishna has been my home for more than 19 years now. I don’t plan to go anywhere. It’s a good opportunity to continue to lead the staff and continue in the traditions of what we’ve previously done. Nishna is very well known across the state for the high quality of services that we provide. My goal is to maintain that and continue to provide the best quality services to our clients. I am also focused on continuing to expand the services available and to grow to meet the demand for services.” explained Bartlett.
Additionally, having the position filled by a familiar face, Bartlett believes, made for a smoother transition.
“I believe it gives the staff some familiarity and a sense of security over having the position filled by someone they’ve never worked with before.  They know me; I’m a familiar face. They know what to expect. So, I think it’s a good continuation. I have big shoes to fill. Sherri was with Nishna for many years. I’m very excited about this transition,” stated Bartlett. “I’ve got a really good team to work with. I’m also excited about where we can go from here, the opportunities for growth, and all that we still have to accomplish.”
While Clark officially retired at the end of January, she remained with the organization on a part time basis until the end of April. Bartlett praised Clark for helping her ease into things.
“There are always things that pop up, so it was helpful to have her there to initially work through some of that. Sherri had been a mentor to me for my whole career with Nishna. I have learned a lot from her over the years and I’m putting that gained knowledge to work now,” Bartlett said.
Among the irons in the fire, Bartlett said, is continuing to expand the residential program, building new sites and housing in area communities.
“We have recently opened one site here in Red Oak, and we are getting ready to open another yet this month.  Prior to her retirement, Sherri actually started the process of building a house in Essex. That construction has now been completed, and we had an open house there on Sept. 12. We have four individuals that will be making this beautiful new house their home,” commented Bartlett. Nishna is starting on a new endeavor to build an additional new home here in Red Oak. We also have an extensive remodeling project going on.  Where our Group home is here in Red Oak, we had some additional apartment space next door.  We are completely remodeling those apartments to make them more updated and accessible. This space will be set up into two separate apartment units that will house three individuals.”
While there’s a lot going on regarding expansion building projects, Bartlett said they are also continuing to grow the Day Hab program.
“Day Hab is expanding at all of three of our sites. In particular, we’ve seen growth in our Glenwood program. We started out pretty small in that community, but recently have had several individuals join the services. We continue to grow the Day Hab programs here in Red Oak and Shenandoah as well. Community employment is still going strong and growing as a department. We continue to see high demand for those services, and right now, we have a bit of a wait list.  We are focused on hiring staff for the variety of positions that have been created by the growth of services.  We are definitely in that mindset of expansion,” Bartlett explained.
With the closure of the Glenwood Resource Center, Bartlett said it became clear there was a need to keep expanding the residential footprint of Nishna.
“Building the new homes became critical to being able to accept some of the individuals that we did. Nishna accepted 26 individuals in the course of the closure of Glenwood Resource Center. Some of the individuals actually came to us a little before the closure was announced, and we continued to transition people up to the final days of the closure. Many of the individuals that came to us were medically fragile and had a lot of adaptive equipment. Our challenge as we were accepting these referrals was trying to find adequate housing. Housing that would meet their needs, was accessible for them, while also remaining affordable. Coming out of the institutional setting, the amount of money received in benefits is somewhat limited.  Trying to find housing that met individual’s needs for accessibility and that they would be able to afford and still have money left over for general living expenses was quite a challenge.  That’s when we began the process of building several new houses over the last couple of years.”
The first house was built in Malvern, followed by additional houses in Shenandoah and Red Oak. Constructing these homes allowed Nishna to accept many of those referrals from Glenwood Resource Center. Bartlett said one key factor of the homes they’ve built is that they’re beyond a standard home, being 100% accessible.
“The homes have zero clearance entry, wide doorways, and wide-open spaces. Those individuals that came to us with larger wheelchairs, with hospital beds, and other types of equipment have plenty of room to move around and get around in the house. Each of the houses has two bathrooms, one with a very large walk-in shower, the other with a walk-in bathtub.  The homes are set up to meet the specific needs of the individuals, while ensuring they remain affordable.” Bartlett stated. “We try not to build or purchase properties because we want our clients to be a part of the communities that they live in, and a part of that is trying to rent from local community members. But in this circumstance, where we had to have totally accessible housing, it was the best solution.”
As she continues in her new role, Bartlett said she had a few goals in mind to finish out this year.
“As we continue to grow our services, we are rapidly adding staff.  In the last couple of months, we have hired at least 20 new staff members. Recruiting staff remains a challenge, and we continue to focus on hiring and training for the several new sites we are opening,” Bartlett said. “We also have our accreditation survey coming up after the first of the year, so our staff will be working to get ready for that. Additionally, we have some activities with strategic planning that we’re working on, so we have plenty of projects between now and the end of the year to keep us busy.”
Now that she’s moved into this new role with Nishna, Bartlett said she is excited to see where they can go.
“I believe there’s opportunity to look at adding additional service lines, expanding services in different areas, and just continuing with our mission to meet the need that’s out there for people with disabilities.  We want to assist individuals to live as independently as they can in the communities that they choose to live in. That’s our whole purpose. I think there’s a lot of opportunity out there to make great things happen for the individuals that we serve. The future is bright, and I’m excited to be leading the charge. We’ve got a really good team, and I think everybody’s excited about where we can go.”
Bartlett also shared a special message to those in the area who may not be aware of everything Nishna offers and who may be having struggles of their own.
“I encourage them to reach out, especially if they have a need. Even if it’s not something that we’re ultimately able to help them with, if we can help get them pointed in the right direction to access the services that they need, we are more than happy to try to do that. We offer quite a variety of services from our day habilitation program, community employment services, where we’re helping individuals find jobs in the community, supporting them to get started in those jobs. We have small group employment, where we have work crews that are going out into the community to learn how to work,” stated Bartlett. “Of course we also have our residential services. We have our 24-hour homes where we’re providing support to individuals, but we also do what we call intermittent services. It’s what used to be called hourly services, where we help individuals that live on their own, providing them whatever level of support they need. Some people may just need a few hours, once or twice a month, some people need several hours a day several days a week, but it’s all based on the individual’s need for support. We’re available and always looking to provide support and help to those who need it.”
For more information, log onto nishna.org, or area residents can call the office directly at 623-4362.