For the Bender JCC of Greater Washington’s new director of inclusion, this isn’t her first rodeo at a Jewish community center, nor working in disability inclusion.
Abbey Plumb, a Rockville resident, began in the role in mid-January. Her job includes working with Kaitlyn Mora, Bender JCC’s inclusion program coordinator, on enhancing and building upon the institution’s year-round programming.
“We offer a lot of classes for kids — pre-K through young adults — so [we] work to enhance those, make them as intentional as possible, while expanding to offer some new programming,” Plumb said.
She and Mora collaborate with the JCC’s parenting center to develop programs specific to the “challenges and extra systems” parents of children with disabilities must navigate, according to Aimee Segal, the Bender JCC’s chief program and innovation officer. Those programs will explore possibilities for post-high school graduation, such as local workforce training programs.
“We are so blessed in Montgomery County to have a range of organizations that offer vocational training and supplemental care and all manner of programming. We’re not looking to replicate any of that,” Segal said. “What we would like to do is be a hub where people can learn about these things [and] be connected to some of those services.”
In April, the JCC is launching J Circle, a series of social events for adults with disabilities, according to Plumb. She also works with Rachel Assal-Albert, the Early Childhood Center’s coordinator of developmental support, and the Lessans Camp JCC team to ensure inclusivity across the JCC’s programming.
“We’re putting inclusive practices into everything we do, while enhancing the current inclusion-specific programming that we offer,” Plumb said.
Plumb recently moved from Pittsburgh to Rockville, but her new workplace already feels familiar.
“I come from a JCC,” said Plumb, who worked at the JCC of Greater Pittsburgh since she was 18.
After graduating from high school, Plumb began working at the Jewish day camp housed at JCC Pittsburgh. “[I] just fell in love with it and stayed working at the Pittsburgh JCC year-round until I came here,” she said.
Her litany of part-time roles there included camp counselor, unit head, assistant director, inclusion coordinator, after-school program staff member, then director of the after-school program and children, youth and family programming.
“The reason I stayed after my first summer camp job is I just loved the community aspect, getting to see the campers and how they would grow, getting to build relationships with the families and the parents, being able to continue to grow relationships with the other staff,” Plumb recalled. “It was just amazing to see the growth and the community and to see how the JCC constantly and continually evolves to meet the needs of the community, to make it truly a community center.”
Plumb’s background is in applied developmental psychology. For a semester during her undergraduate studies, she held a teaching position in a multiple-disabilities classroom at Pittsburgh’s Pioneer Education Center.
“All of my students were nonverbal. They had very specific [individualized education program] goals,” Plumb said. “I really loved that experience.”
She had initially planned to do a fifth year of college to earn her master’s in education when a full-time job opened at JCC Pittsburgh that she couldn’t pass up. Around the time she took on the job, JCC Pittsburgh brought in a consultant to help with its inclusion initiative in day camps and the children, youth and family division.
“Through my work with them, [I was] able to see and learn from them the accommodations and to see how [they] made our campers’ and kids’ experiences so successful and so positive, when, if it wasn’t for that, they might have really struggled,” Plumb said. “Being able to be part of the reason for a child’s success really propelled my love for inclusion.”
Segal said she sought a director of inclusion who had worked with school-age students with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
“The ideal candidate had real hands-on experience as well as leadership experience because our camp program and our year-round skill building is so important,” Segal said. “I was looking for someone who had their feet in both worlds and could help us expand.”
Plumb said she looks forward to focusing on inclusion full-time at the Bender JCC. In addition to providing a “continuum of care” across a person’s lifespan, Plumb also hopes to help create new programming geared toward parents of children with disabilities. “We’re not only supporting the individual; we’re also supporting the family,” she said.
“It’s a lot for a parent to learn that their student might have a diagnosis or some kind of medical condition or genetic difference that’s going to affect their development,” Segal said. “We want to be partners with families — both the participants and the parents — to ensure that we’re providing that safe and welcoming space.”
Segal hopes these parents can also benefit from programs and services at the JCC.
“Parents and caregivers of children who have intellectual or developmental disabilities are shouldering a lot of stress and to be able to connect and relate and share experiences and resources with each other, we can be that center point,” she explained.
The Bender JCC’s commitment to inclusion is already apparent to Plumb: “Within my first 30 days, I have felt how central inclusion is to their mission,” she said.
Her next steps are to focus on learning what the community wants and needs, then developing JCC programming specific to those wants and needs. She said she’s excited to see camp in action this summer and continue to get to know her community and colleagues.
“Someone who I met here said it really well: ‘When you’re an inclusive environment, you don’t get to decide who you include and who you don’t,’” Plumb said. “We want to include everyone in everything that we do, and everyone’s heard, everyone’s valued, everyone’s seen, and that we are doing our part.”
