Simply reaching out has a big impact

“The Circle of a Good Life” is more than just the theme to Moore Center Services’ recent annual meeting. In fact, its meaning has perhaps never been clearer than it is in today’s challenging times, as people are struggling to recover from the latest ice storm and continuing to face the ongoing financial crisis.

“What goes around comes around” means different things to different people. At Moore Center Services Inc., where our mission is to create opportunities for a good life, we take the positive approach in all that we do. We believe strongly that everything is circular, and as we reach out a hand to help someone, there’s always someone ahead of us holding out a hand for us.

The response of people in the recent ice storm highlighted this concept. Businesses lent other businesses generators to help them stay open. Neighbors took in neighbors to keep them warm. Residents fed utility crews as they worked to restore power. The list goes on and on, and is evidence of one of the great and beautiful things about circles – that no part of the circle is more important or less essential than other parts of the circle. 

We see this on a daily basis at the Moore Center. Each day our circle expands and grows stronger as the community joins us in our mission to create opportunities for a good life. 

Today, developmentally disabled individuals live as members of happy families in homes, hold jobs and earn income; children of all abilities play and learn together in the agency’s child-care facility; direct support professionals are getting the training they need and deserve; and senior citizens have options and are remaining in their homes longer with in-home support or living with caring families rather than nursing homes.

We all know deep down that when good people work together good things, and more importantly, good lives, begin to happen.

In the end, our success has everything to do with how we affect the lives of people we encounter each day. These are challenging times, and truthfully, we’re not exactly sure how any of this will play out. There are two things we can be sure of, however. During difficult and uncertain times, we need to stay focused on the positive and we need our community – our circle – now more than ever before.

The impact of simply reaching out a hand to help someone cannot be overestimated.

Paul Boynton is president and chief executive of Moore Center Services, a Manchester-based agency that supports individuals with developmental disabilities and acquired brain disorders, children, senior citizens and members of the human services workforce.