Goodwill helps resident with brain injury

WINSTED — When he was just one class away from getting his associate’s degree, William Salisbury suffered a stroke, leaving him with several physical and cognitive disabilities.Salisbury suffered the stroke outside his home during the winter, which left him immobilized in the cold for approximately 12 to 15 hours.When Salisbury was found, he was suffering from hypothermia and frostbite in addition to the stroke that left him largely immobile.One of the fingers on his writing hand had to be removed due to frostbite.Years later, Salisbury is working back toward his degree in general education and will be graduating this semester from Northwestern Connecticut Community College (NCCC). Salisbury said he was in a nursing home for nine years before he took part in Goodwill’s Acquired Brain Injury Program. Through the program, Salisbury has a team of five dedicated staff people, provided by Goodwill, to support him.“These programs help Salisbury with physical mobility, compensate for his memory loss and develop other skills needed for daily living,” said Melissa Cwiertniewicz, vice president of marketing for Goodwill of Northwestern Connecticut. Cwiertniewicz said that Salisbury receives support from his team 24 hours a day and seven days a week, which helps in all aspects of his daily life. With the guidance of the Goodwill staff, Salisbury will graduate this semester from NCCC. He earned an A+ grade in his public speaking class, despite having communication issues that were a result of his stroke. Salisbury said he loves the independence that he gets through Goodwill’s program. “I can eat what I want, I can see my family whenever I want and I can come back to school,” Salisbury said. He added that he plans to pursue a bachelor’s degree in business and a master’s degree at the University of Hartford. Although Salisbury values his independence, he appreciates the constant presence of the staff from Goodwill. “Everywhere I go, they go with me. It’s good to have someone with me,” Salisbury said. Goodwill manages 12 programs including the Acquired Brain Injury Program. Cwiertniewicz says that many people do not realize all that Goodwill does with the money it collects. “They just see the stores,” she said. “The reason that we run those is for the revenue that we get from the sales of the donated goods. Our ultimate goal is getting people to be as independent as possible.” Goodwill also has career centers, which have helped 1,300 people get off unemployment. The program has helped teenagers get their first jobs and seniors get back into the workforce. “The goal is to remove barriers to employment and getting people as independent and possible,” Cwiertniewicz said.