Pochatko to lead Adult Community Services

On Monday, March 1, Jeremy Pochatko became the Manager of Community Services and Support at the Spina Bifida Association of Western Pennsylvania (SBAWP). The SBAWP's Adult Community Services Program helps individuals with spina bifida and other related disabilities gain independent living skills. Some of these individuals have completed the SBAWP's Gatehouse program, which provides life skills, educational and vocational training and assists them with transitioning to adulthood in a supportive and structured environment.

The Adult Community Services Program also assists adults with spina bifida and other related disabilities living within the local community. It helps them locate housing in the community of their choice. The SBAWP also collaborates with other greater Pittsburgh area agencies to provide personal care services through the Pennsylvania Attendant Care Program and the Community Services Program for Persons with Physical Disabilities (CSPPPD). Services include help with housekeeping, money management and personal care.

Twelve to fourteen individuals participating in the program live in the Villa Riviera Apartments, a housing complex in Allison Park. SBAWP staff members provide in-home personal assistance with daily activities such as bathing, dressing, housekeeping and cooking as residents pursue their educational and vocational goals.

In his new role, Pochatko will coordinate care for individuals in the Villa Riviera Apartments and elsewhere in the community and help remove residents' barriers related to self-care, self-direction, mobility or the ability to live independently. He will also help participants develop and sustain connections in the community.

Pochatko began working part time with the SBAWP in 2009 while working full time as an Employment Training Specialist with Mercy Mental Retardation Services. He studied Computer Science and Business Administration at the State University of New York at Morrisville and became a Certified Vocational Evaluator of the McCarron-Dial Systems in Dallas.

"I have worked with individuals with disabilities for fifteen years in residential settings, adult training facilities, facility based vocational rehabilitation centers, and most recently as a vocational evaluator and employment training specialist in the area of community employment. I look forward to working hard to make other people's lives as successful and fulfilling as they will allow themselves to be," Pochatko said.