107 Roanoke Ave Riverhead, NY 11901
107 Roanoke Ave Riverhead, NY 11901
Level Up
​An EEDA Cares Initiative
Welcome to EEDA’s Level Up Platform!
All resources available to EEDA staff are now in one place! It’s easier than ever to make sure you’re taking advantage of all professional opportunities and resources available to EEDA employees. We want you to succeed, not just at EEDA, but everywhere. Because the better you is the better us. If you want to know more about any of these resources, please get in touch with Denise Dublar, our Assistant Director of Education and Training.
Level Up with the EEDA Staff Resource List:
  • Relias: Relias is the learning management platform used at EEDA. This system is a leading provider of education and training for human services and healthcare organizations. Relias gives staff access to trainings that are required by OPWDD, as well as those specific to EEDA. Additionally, staff can take elective trainings in various areas such as health education, recreation therapy, behavioral health, nutrition, and psychology. Certain Relias courses are accredited by NADSP, facilitating the process of DSP I, DSP II, DSP III and Frontline Supervisor credentialling.
  • Staff Development Coordinators: EEDA invested in the success of its employees by creating positions for Staff Development Coordinators. Staff Development Coordinators deliver on-site training to new staff within our programs, providing ongoing support as they transition from orientation into their new role as a direct support professional. Staff continue to receive hands-on guidance from these experienced leaders who foster positive relationships, share their expertise, and model best practices at all of our traditional sites.
  • Employee Assistance Program: EEDA provides access to an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) to all EEDA employees through Magellan Healthcare. The EAP can help you navigate common challenges like emotional health, family and relationships, grief and loss, stress and balance, daily life solutions, career, parenting, supporting aging loved ones, financial well-being, legal services, ID theft, and obtaining discounts. All employee engagement with the EAP is confidential. EEDA will never know if you accessed this service, so you can receive support with confidence that whatever challenges you face in your personal life will not be shared with anyone EEDA.
  • Training Tuesday: EEDA leaders, in both traditional and self-direction services, come together once a month for a shared training experience. Each session has a thoughtful topic with associated resources to distribute (a PowerPoint, quiz questions, and a poster with key points to post in the programs). In 2025, we covered the following topics: confidentiality, conflict resolution, emotional intelligence, fire safety, health and wellness, professional boundaries, timely reporting, and meaningful activities.
  • EEDA Cares Fair: In 2024, EEDA held its first EEDA Cares Fair. This event occurs during Direct Support Professional Recognition Week and serves as one of the many ways EEDA expresses its appreciation for DSPs. EEDA works with partners in the community to provide vendors at the EEDA Cares Fair who can provide information about resources in our community that can help DSPs success outside of EEDA. Our last EEDA Cares Fair featured   vendors from FourLeaf Federal Credit Union, Suffolk Federal Credit Union, Community Action for Social Justice, Walgreens, eVero, Cornell University Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County, Habitat for Humanity of Long Island, Long Island Lending a Helping Hand, Stony Brook Cancer Center, Cigna Healthcare, Quogue Wildlife Refuge, Riverhead Parks and Recreation, Focused Wealth Management, League of Women Voters, Queerli, and Planned Parenthood. We also provided EEDA swag to staff, refreshments, and raffled off over 28 gift baskets and fifteen giveaway prizes! We hope to see you at the next EEDA Cares Fair!
  • National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals (NADSP): EEDA is a proud member of NADSP, with access to the members-only section of the website, webinars, and other valuable resources. Additionally, EEDA is committed to supporting staff in attaining DSP I, DSP II, DSP III and Frontline Supervisor credentialling through the NADSP E-Badge Academy. [MOU1]
  • NY Alliance for Inclusion and Innovation: EEDA takes advantage of webinars, resources, tool kits, and identified best practices outlined by the New York Alliance for Inclusion and Innovation. To access these webinars
  • ANCOR: need blurb​
  • OPWDD Resources: EEDA streams OPWDD webinars in our conference room to create a space where we can learn together and foster conversation across programs. To participate in an OPWDD webinar at EEDA, please get in touch with Denise Dublar, our Assistant Director of Education and Training.​
  • EEDA’s Tuition Assistance Program supports staff in their professional growth and career goals. Please read the Tuition Assistance Policy below and contact our human resources department with any questions. We hope you’ll take advantage of this excellent opportunity! Get links from employee resource page.  
  • Wellness – Need Julie workshop from Credit Union? Wellness committee? Credit Union - Need Julie
  • Kinexion: EEDA is a proud affiliate of the Kinexion Network, which enables us to provide resources to staff that we wouldn’t be able to provide on our own, like the reduced cost of our healthcare this year.  ​
  • Associations: EEDA is a member of the New York Alliance for Inclusion and Innovation, NADSP, LIFI, and ANCOR. Our membership in these organizations allows us to what exactly?
  • Justice Center Resources – What resources should we share here? Need a link. How would a staff member access them?
  •   403(b) Retirement Plan Option – Need Info on Plan from Julie  ​
  • Program Feedback: EEDA’s Advisory Committee is on a mission to visit all of EEDA’s sites and programs to assess what they smell, see, hear, and to gather feedback from staff. EEDA uses this information to improve our sites and programs and to increase staff satisfaction. If you see an advisory member at your site, let them know how we can make EEDA even better.
  • $1,000 Referral Bonus** ​**This benefit does not apply to Self-Direction employees.  ​
  • VanGuard Training Program is led by Robert Budd, title? Who is providing mid-level leadership workshops across New York to I/DD organizations. Robert Budd is leading the Vanguard training program at EEDA. This program tell me about this program:
  • New York Alliance for Inclusion and Innovation’s (NYAII) Executive Leadership Development Series. This is an opportunity for growth for leaders to develop an understanding of how to apply assorted styles and tools to support professional growth at all levels. The program also features a Mentor Circle to provide additional opportunities for growth and connection. The program includes a series of courses, reading materials, and discussion groups led by industry and educational leaders to encourage professional growth. The program takes one year to complete. All sessions are mandatory and are provided through a combination of in-person and virtual sessions. Participants are also required to complete two approved electives to supplement the program to receive a certificate of completion at the end of the course. To find out if you’re a good candidate for this leadership program, please get in touch with Denise Dublar, our Assistant Director of Education and Training.
  • DEI Committee: EEDA is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion for the people we support and our staff. If you have an idea on how to make EEDA a more equitable and inclusive place to work, please let us know! You can submit an anonymous suggestion here.
  • Hiring Process: EEDA’s improved its efforts at job fairs by working with our programs and the Self-Advocates of the East End to coordinate the presence of a DSP and a self-advocate at our job fair tables. The goal of this is to make our hiring process more inclusive and to help potential applicants learn about EEDA through the people who we serve and the staff who support them. This has been a really positive experience so far. If you want to help us in these efforts, please get in touch with Denise Dublar, our Assistant Director of Education and Training.
  • Food Drive: EEDA created the Give and Go Food Drive, a shared space where anyone can quietly give or receive food as needed. Info on this here.
  • Disability Advisory Council: Matt is going to share with me.
  • Kinexion Studio: Keep an eye out for updates to the Kinexion Studio, a place to learn new skills and connect with your peers.