NASHUA – The PLUS Company, 19 Chestnut St., is a nonprofit organization that helps and supports individuals with developmental disabilities and acquired brain injuries. But back in March, the agency found themselves standing in water. Literally.

“For us, it was kind of ironic,” executive director Kim Shottes said. “When we came in on March 16, we had a massive flood in the building; a pipe had burst. So we had to cancel that day for services, and then we never really opened back up after the governor announced the stay-at-home order.”

Immediately, The PLUS Company had to put a halt on physical teaching, training and other programs that it offers. In New Hampshire, the agency serves some 200 individuals in their day services and another 100 individuals in their residential services.

“Those individuals we obviously had to continue to serve,” Shottes said. “They count on us for their living arrangement. It was a little chaotic because all of a sudden you have people home 24/7, whereas most people would have gone to a day program.”

The agency redeployed some of their day staff into the group homes, and also worked with those who lived in private providers’ homes. Shottes said they were able to reimburse those providers who were caring for people who were now home.

“Then we had another 70 or so people who live independently in the community,” she continued. “There are some people that we were helping with their medical appointments or doing their grocery shopping for them. They really rely on us in order for them to maintain their independence.”

Shottes said that there was also a crossover sect of individuals who also had jobs in the community, and many of those jobs disappeared as businesses closed down due to COVID-19.

“We do still have people who are maintaining employment,” she said. “Particularly those who are working at places like supermarkets. So the beginning was very hectic, just trying to be able to figure out how do we continue to connect with people.”

Within two weeks of March 16, The PLUS Company had begun virtual programming, and now the agency provides virtual classes that happen regularly throughout the week. The PLUS Company had paired down to the management staff, with some working remotely, working a hybrid, or going into the office on a daily basis.

“There are very few people in our building,” Shottes said. “Obviously, we want to keep our numbers down for exposure purposes. The teachers may be doing their classes from home, or they may be doing them from our offices.”

Classes vary, ranging from dance classes to stress management instruction. TD Bank provides grants for The PLUS Company’s music classes in particular, which are very popular.

“We actually work with different musicians in the community,” Shottes said. “They are still performing for people and those classes are in high demand. And our clinician is doing a couple of classes on coping skills through this pandemic.”

One of the many things that The PLUS Company provides is assistance in helping individuals obtain jobs. Shottes said the agency is providing tips on job interviewing skills, and for those who have jobs, how to maintain them.

“We’re doing money-management programs,” she said. “But we’re also doing some craft classes, because people need something fun to do in life now while they’re stuck at home.”

PLUS Company marketing and community relations director Jennifer Cusato said the most popular class is cooking.

“Everyone loves those,” Cusato said. “And we have a great positivity class which is also popular. It’s all about staying positive in tough times and dealing with difficult circumstances.”

From a client standpoint, Shottes said that there were some challenges innate to the pandemic.

“One of the classes we offered early on was ‘What is COVID?'” Shottes said. “We wanted to provide something on a level that our folks could understand. There were a lot of questions, and we have people of all types of abilities; there are some who can understand, and others just don’t understand why they can’t come here.”

Shottes said the biggest woe is that their clients can’t access the community the way that they are used to doing it.

“For some people who live at home with their families, a lot of the burden is now placed on the families,” Shottes explained. “Because they now have their sons or daughters home with them 24/7.”

The PLUS Company relies on community partnerships to sustain its mission in serving 300 clients in New Hampshire. (Courtesy photo)

As time has progressed, Shottes said the agency is willing to do more face-to-face services in a safe environment.

“We’re doing smaller ratios,” Shottes said. “Now it’s one staff member, one client instead of one staff member and several clients. We’re really trying to reach out to those families and those providers, because they really do need a break.”

Like other non-profit organizations, The PLUS Company was overwhelmed by the pandemic and how it’s affected their client base.

“There is nothing that compares to this,” Shottes said. “I’ve been here for 25 years- I think I’ve lost count- and I’ve been through a lot of different scenarios. But this is by far the most challenging thing that I have had to endure.”

Shottes praised the staff at PLUS, as well as the clients, their families and providers.

“Our staff has been amazing,” she said. “It’s still scary coming to work. But when you talk about essential workers, our staff is essential. Our clients rely on us. For some, we provide support 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”

Even now, the challenges of keeping everyone safe and ensuring that people wear PPE has been the ultimate goal for the organization.

In terms of aid to the agency, Shottes said the Greater Nashua community and the state of New Hampshire have provided invaluable assistance to The PLUS Company.

“From about April until the end of July, the state of New Hampshire gave us additional resources to pay our direct care staff who were on the frontline,” Shottes said. “That was incredible. That really meant a lot to that staff.”

PLUS also applied for grants via the Non-profit Emergency Relief Fund.

“We needed that assistance to purchase things,” Shottes said. “We needed to purchase new vehicles, because obviously I can’t transport five people in a van anymore. I have to limit that number. And we’ve had to buy laptops or iPads for our clients.”

Cusato said the Disability Counsel also helped in providing funds to PLUS.

“We were able to buy those laptops so that we were able to stay engaged with our clients,” Cusato said. “Some of our clients didn’t have that technology, so we had to take care of them. It was another piece of the puzzle.

The United Way of Greater Nashua supplied essential PPE equipment to PLUS. The need for gloves and masks continues.

Like many nonprofits, PLUS lost the opportunity to raise money through vital fundraisers, which were cancelled due to the health crisis.

For information regarding partnering with The PLUS Company or to make a donation, visit www.pluscompany.org. or visit Facebook.com/PLUSCompany.