b'20022011Michael Cummings Samantha ConantA DEP participant, MichaelSam has been a member of the Cummings set some health andCommunity Based Day Services and wellness goals for himself last year,Employment Supports program since and attending programming at the2007; she works at Trader Joes three Sollar Wellness Center has alloweddays a week and at Colchester Farm him to do the work to achieve thosetwo days a week. Work, she says, is goals. Whether he is in the pool withimportant to her because it allows staff or walking the indoor track orher to earn her own money. I like working out on the elliptical machinegetting a paycheck. It makes me feel with Wellness Manager Kim Lowman,independent, she says.Michael is pleased with his progress.More than that, she says, is that I lost 6 pounds and I feel proud of myit has given her a chance to work on wellness. I like working with the staff. Iand improve her social skills. We 46 get lots of encouragement. They arehave customers who come in all the hot tickets, he says.time so Ive gotten to know them. I like Samantha Conant talking with the customers, she says.New England VillageSam works in several different departments at Trader Joesstocking, facing, bagging, and cashiering. Im very busy there and I like that, she says. An employee of the store for nearly 12 years, Sam says even she is surprised at how far she has come since she first started. When I look back and I think about the manager who taught me to cashier and all that Ive learned, I feel proud, she says. While she loves her job at Trader Joes, she also enjoys working at the farm. I like harvesting and planting and taking care of the animals. I like the chickens, but I really like visiting Michael Cummings and Bob Worden [the farms resident donkey] Dapple.NEV_50Year_95x95_v5Final.indd 46 6/8/22 4:33 PM'