Vista Vocational and Life Skills Center

Mission: To provide services and resources on an individualized basis to assist adults with disabilities to live an independent and successful life.

Vista opened its doors in 1989 to serve young adults with neurological disabilities. Most have completed their secondary academic education yet require additional residential training to transition to adulthood. All of Vista's training and support services are designed to enable the 165+ adults we serve to succeed in work and to live independently in the community. Based along the shoreline in south central Connecticut, Vista offers four levels of program support.

Vista's central mission is to provide experiential, hands-on training in vocational and life skills. From the day they arrive, students are helped by program counselors and job developers to find training positions and then paid employment. Vista's job coaches help students acquire appropriate work skills and learn the social requirements necessary for competitive employment. Independent living skills such as money-management, time-management, independent travel, self-care (hygiene, laundry and medication management), food-management, and household-management are also taught by Vista's life skills instructors.

After graduation from Vista's first phase Entrance Program, students are eligible for a menu of long-term support services. Drawn from all over the country to Vista's outstanding programs, many students remain in Connecticut, residing in nearby shoreline towns and working in the community.

B O A R D O F D I R E C T O R S

OFFICERS

Tondra Lynford, M.S.W.
President Psychotherapist, Private Practice
Parent

Steve Souza
Vice President and Treasurer Executive Director, Mystic Seaport Museum Stores
Community Member

William J. Terribile, Jr.
Secretary Compliance Officer , Essex Financial Services
Community Member

Ryan Duques
Deputy Secretary WD Enterprises, Inc.
Community Member

MEMBERS

Nola Battipaglia

Relationship Development Officer, Guilford Savings Bank, Community Member

Helen K. Bosch, B.S., M.S.

Executive Director, Vista Vocational & Life Skills Center, Inc.

Alan Campbell Community Member

Elizabeth Connelly
Community Member

Timothy W. Crowley, Esq.
The Law Office of Timothy Crowley, Community Member

Barbara Segen Gould, M.B.A. Community Member

Sid Holbrook
SJH Associates, LLC, Community Member

Scott Houghton, M.D.
Premier Medical Associates, Community Member

Wayne Mountz Parent

Robert B. Ostroff, M.D.

Spectrum Psychiatric Group, Yale Psychiatric Hospital, Parent

Kent Scully, C.P.A.
Retired Partner, Scully & Wolf LLP, Parent

Kathryn Warlick, M.A. Sp.Ed.
Director of Learning Center, Purnell School, Sibling

Edward Gallant General Counsel

D I R E C T O R S

Helen K. Bosch, B.S., M.S. Executive Director since 1991

Bobbi Guercia, B.S., M.S.
Director of Student Services since 1989

Tracey Celentano, M.B.A.

Director of Finance and Administration since 2007

Linda Rogen, B.S., M.P.H., C.H.E.S.
Director of Student Services since 1990

Judith Young, B.A.

Director of Development and Public Relations since 1999