Courtesy photo PLUS Company client Emily Wright, right, and service provider Jill Ryan-Fortier observe the 6-foot social distancing regulation while packaging food to be delivered by Meals on Wheels. They continue to volunteer for the program 3-4 days a week.

NASHUA – Maybe it was because it was scheduled for a Friday the 13th, or maybe the mischevous, but always friendly, leprechauns decided for some reason not to bless this year’s PLUS Company Wild Irish Breakfast.

Losing what would have been the agency’s 29th annual signature fundraiser event to the insidious COVID-19 virus threat was bad enough, but just three days later the PLUS Company leadership, staff, clients and visitors arrived at their headquarters to find the lower levels inundated with water gushing from a broken pipe.

As they have done with every challenge the agency has faced in its nearly 50 years serving Greater Nashua and the region with a litany of social services and programs, those who make the agency tick promptly dealt with the water issue, and as far as the WIB goes, they began making preliminary plans for the 2021 breakfast.

But now, although having only so much control over the third challenge – the changes, limitations and disruptions brought on by the COVID-19 threat – everyone involved with the agency has stepped up and made necessary adjustments, its leadership said this week.

PLUS volunteer services director Leni Hodgins, for instance, discovered that clients “really love seeing each other on the computer … they’re loving this,” she said, referring to what was once group interaction now taking place on computer monitors through ZOOM.

Courtesy photo Fifteen PLUS Company clients joined in via ZOOM to participate in a recent Health Matters class faciliated by volunteer services director Leni Hodgins, second from left in top row. Several programs and classes have been able to continue thanks to the technology.

“They’re a very, very social group to begin with. This is a great way for them to stay connected with each other. And they’re learning new things,” Hodgins said.

Some classes and programs that until now drew a handful of participants have grown considerably, Hodgins said, with at least one hitting the 20 mark.

“It’s been an adjustment for us, but I have to say the clients love it,” she added.

Another significant adjustment that’s seemed to work out well so far is having members of the day staff go to clients’ residences to provide services rather than having the clients be transported to the PLUS Company.

While getting out and taking part in activities with peers at PLUS headquarters has its own benefits, the temporary change is going well, Executive Director Kim Shottes said.

Courtesy photo While the COVID-19 virus threat has altered schedules and caused other changes at Nashua's PLUS Company, important work, such as this group's job assembling material for a company that makes air filters for regulators, still goes on. Able to work from home at their PLUS Company group home are, from left, Richard Hewitt, Jeremony Rose, staff member Pramrod Dangol, and Michael Infantino.

She said clients who normally receive services at home from home care providers continue to do so.

PLUS marketing and community relations director Jennifer Cusato said the temporary model necessitated by the COVID-19 threat is pretty much the opposite of the agency’s chief mission.

“Our focus has always been on getting clients out into the community, but that’s not possible right now with the stay-at-home order,” Cusato said, referring to one of Gov. Chris Sununu’s multitude of orders issued over the past month.

“It’s a complete shift for the whole organization,” she added.

Still, Cusato, Hodgins and Shottes said, the leadership and staff members have found ways to adapt to the temporary switch.

Courtesy photo Several PLUS Company clients participate in a Project Search class via ZOOM, technology that company leaders say clients have embraced as they adapt to changes brought on by the COVID-19 virus threat.

They found for instance that clients can still participate in programs such as Project Search, a partnership with St. Joseph Hospital that hires people with developmental disabilities and provides instruction and job training to prepare clients for careers in a variety of fields.

Adapting to the “new norm,” however temporary, even has a few upsides, the leaders said.

A good example is clinician Maia Semerzier, a licensed social worker who has been coming in once a week for about two years to help clients with coping skills.

Now, again thanks to the implementation of ZOOM and similar technlogy, Semerzier is able to host group sessions rather than being limited to one-on-one visits ñ and spend more time with clients.

“She’s meeting more people this way,” Hodgins said. “She told us (her time with PLUS clients) is becoming the best two hours of her week,” Hodgins added.

In the works now are a talent show – broadcast live from each performing client’s group home or family home – a weekly yoga class, and a Friday afternoon “music hour,” also via livestream.

“We’re getting creative here,” Shottes said. “And the clients are really excited.”