The people sitting on our board make up a diverse group of great women and men with one very important thing in common: not one of them sits on our board to glitter up a resume or because of the benefit to themselves. They are here because they believe in what we are doing. They advise, guide, and partner with us to get things done; Alternative Pathways has networking, partnerships, and events that we would never have accomplished without our board.

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Sarah Cormendy came to us when she was volunteering with Disability Advocates of Kent County. Her supervisor at the time was our board president and she recommended that Sarah looked into Alternative Pathways as a service option for her sister with autism. After meeting her, we asked her to join the board and she says she "was so excited at the opportunity to serve for such a great organization." Part of her enthusiasm may be because she has always been impressed at the relationships our staff members have built with our clients to make sure we keep their best interests in mind and serve each person in the best way we can. Sarah’s favorite activities to join are our kickball games at Mulick Park in the summer.  She served as board chairperson for 3 years before passing the baton to Scott in the fall of 2016.

 

Larry and Nancy Faulman came to Alternative Pathways with their daughter and they decided to stick around. Both Larry and Nancy have spent the majority of their AP time with Jane, but they have gotten to know the rest of us pretty well too. To them, the caring they see from the staff, is what stands out about AP. Both Larry and Nancy participate in every activity they can with us—they both love to go on camping trips and lend a helping hand when we have volunteer groups stop by. Larry says his favorite part of camping with us, is seeing the fun everyone has. On our trip in 2011, Nancy said taking the clients sailing was her highlight. Larry is our board secretary and Nancy is his unofficial assistant.

 

Frank Lynn is another board member who came to us through Disability Advocates of Kent County. He was DAKC's housing advocate before retirement, and came to help us with his knowledge of some of the issues that can arise. To him, it is very unique that Alternative Pathways works to combine in-home support services with allowing clients to own their own homes and rent out rooms. He feels it is a model that works well and should be replicated. Like most of the people who have seen one of our talent shows, Frank enjoys those most out of the activities he’s been a part of. Like Mike, Frank also enjoys helping out with our volunteer projects because they deal with maintenance in the homes.

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Paul Cormendy is our newest board member.  He has taken over treasurer responsibilities and brings a fresh way of looking at our budget to the table.  While he is newer to the board, Paul definitely  is not new to the organization, he's been helping with fundraisers and student volunteer days for years.