Abington resident awarded by ADDP

Cardinal Cushing Centers employee Tom Phair, of Abington, recently won the Direct Support Professional Award for the Southeast region from the Association of Developmental Disabilities Providers.

Phair received his award at the ADDP Lead! Conference and Expo, held May 4 at the DCU Center in Worcester.

Phair brings resourcefulness and creativity to the Day Program, where he works and has created many programs to stimulate interest among individuals. Phair has always been supportive of individuals and their passions, going above and beyond to try to turn those passions into goals and actions. He shows dedication to his job by showing up outside of scheduled hours, listening to the individuals he supports and offering solutions to the problems they face. Phair is a great mentor to the staff who work alongside him, providing help and support whenever they need it.

“I have been working alongside Tom for about four years and still not a day goes by where I am not incredibly impressed with something he has done,” said Brendan McGuirk, director of Employment South Shore Industries Hanover. “One of Tom’s many great qualities is his ability to connect with the folk he supports. He opens himself up to each individual and adapts himself to their needs in the moment”.

“Direct Support Professionals like Tom are the foundation of the human services sector in Massachusetts,” said Gary Blumenthal, president and CEO of ADDP. “There are hundreds of thousands of people living with disabilities in Massachusetts who rely on Direct Support Professionals to provide critical services so they can live, work, play and thrive in their home communities. Tom and his colleagues enable this to happen every day all across our Commonwealth.”