April 10, 2012
HARTFORD, CT, April 2012 HARC, Inc. an organization serving people with intellectual disability and their families, will honor the twenty-five year career at HARC of George Darrell of Manchester, CT, at its Annual Spring Fling Staff Milestone Celebration on Friday, April 13, 2012, at the Rocky Hill Marriott.
Mr. Darrell grew up in Hartford and attended school there. After graduation from South Catholic High, Mr. Darrell went on to major in psychology at Central Connecticut State University. While at Central, he undertook a six-month internship at Wassaic Training School in New York State, then part of the New York State Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities. He both lived and worked at the facility, training with four psychologists both on and off the grounds, learning among other things, about psychometrics and adaptive behavior skills. Mr. Darrell says, “Just as in Connecticut, New York State at that time, was in the process of moving to community based services for people with developmental disabilities, so many of the school buildings were empty – providing living space for student interns.”
After college, and back in the Hartford area, he saw that HARC was hiring and applied for a job. He was hired in 1987 as a residential counselor; comparable to the position of Residential Support Assistant today, at HARC’s community residence at Eastern Drive in Wethersfield. The community residence had opened in 1983 as part of HARC’s expansion into residential options for its participants.
According to Mr. Darrell, who has worked at the Eastern Drive residence for his entire tenure at HARC, “This type of work has come naturally to me, and I have really enjoyed working at Eastern Drive. While there have been changes in the staff and residents over the years, the overall atmosphere has remained consistently great. The people I work with and the residents especially, have been wonderful, and a joy to be with. I get a great deal of insight from the day-to-day life of the house. It’s just been a great place to work.”