Message From The Superintendent - December 2025
Greetings!
We hope everyone is doing well!!
We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Since it is the season of gratitude, we wanted to be sure to express our gratitude to everyone. We are grateful for the tremendous people who work here at Portage DD!! We are grateful to our community partners, providers, families, and Individuals!! We consider ourselves fortunate to be a part of making lives better for the individuals and families that we serve!!
Pictures with Santa returns this year on Saturday, December 6, from 10am to 2pm at the Happy Day Services Building (2500 Brady Lake Road, Ravenna, Ohio 44266). Email Tim Torch at timt@portagedd.org to schedule a time!!
We want to let everyone know that Tracy Moore will be leaving us for a new adventure. Tracy has been an investigative agent for the past 4+ years here at Portage DD. We will miss her!! We wish Tracy well at her next stop!!
We also want to congratulate 3 people here at Portage DD. Desiree Nastase will start her new role as an SSA Supervisor here starting January 1, 2026. Desiree has been an SSA here for over four years. Congratulations Desiree!
George Gabriel will be starting as the SSA Director on January 1, 2026. George has been an SSA supervisor for over a year at Portage DD and has over 40 years of experience in the Developmental Disabilities field. Congratulations George!!
Lastly, George Winsen, who has been with Portage DD for the last 11 plus years, is retiring after over 30 years in the field. George’s last day will be January 5, 2026. We are very sad to see him leave, but grateful for all he has done to improve things at Portage DD. He will be greatly missed, but he left the place in much better hands than when he arrived. He cares deeply about the people we serve and the people he works with. His passion and professionalism helped improve many lives. We wish him the best in retirement!! Congratulations George!!
Believe in People!
WE ARE HERE FOR YOU.
Sincerely,
John Vennetti