He’s recognized for teaching video skills to individuals with intellectual disabilities
Geno Blair’s journey to becoming a lifelong film nerd began with Oliver Stone’s 1986 Vietnam War epic “Platoon.”
“I never saw my dad show any emotion,” Mr. Blair, 42, of Sharon, said of his Vietnam veteran father. “So here I am, it’s 1987, the first time I saw my dad cry was when he saw the movie ‘Platoon.’ And something triggered in me. What was it about this movie that brought this?”
He started researching the works and careers of cinematic legends such as Mr. Stone, Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese and Stanley Kubrick. When DVDs first became popular, he would watch the behindthe-scenes featurettes before devouring the films to learn about the technical side of the moviemaking process. You can see his love of cinema on the adult Mr. Blair in the form of a giant tattoo inspired by Mr. Scorsese’s 1980 boxing drama, “Raging Bull.”
The only thing that matches Mr. Blair’s passion for movies is his dedication to his job of 16 years as a direct support professional with Whole Life Services, a Hermitage, Mercer Countybased organization that provides community-based services for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Mr. Blair combined his two greatest loves four years ago into Get 2 Work Productions, where he teaches his clients communication and video production skills.
Get 2 Work has been churning out videos via Whole Life Services’ website and its own YouTube channel. They range from corporate advertisements to fundraising efforts to fun experiments like the short film “Michael Smells Cookies” about the titular “Halloween” villain realizing not all is what it seems with that delectable fragrance.
For his efforts, Mr. Blair was recently named direct support professional of the year in Pennsylvania by the American Network of Community Options and Resources, a nationwide network of organizations that support folks with intellectual and developmental disabilities in their own communities. ANCOR held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Mr. Blair on July 29 in
Sharon, where he was formally recognized for everything he has done to improve the lives of the individuals he serves.
“I honestly couldn’t picture myself doing anything else other than making films and working with these people,” he said. “They’ve become such a huge part of my life. The people I’ve met have almost rewritten narratives for me in a way that they’ve put life in a perspective where I feel it’s now my responsibility to do whatever I can to help them get their stories out and live better lives. I just feel like I’m where I’m supposed to be.”
An honor like this reflects the success of Whole Life Services’ mission and the work of people such as Mr. Blair and Cindy Vogan, its founder and CEO. She’s the one who first gave Mr. Blair an opportunity to join Whole Life Services after he answered a newspaper ad for a job opening. He spent the first 10 years of his direct support professional career working at an adult training facility and driving transport vans before adding on that extra responsibility of building Get 2 Work from the ground up.
Ms. Vogan said Get 2 Work was originally conceived as a news program to help individuals struggling with their verbal skills become more confident when it comes to expressing themselves. It turned out she wasn’t thinking big enough, and she’s been delighted to see how much good this makeshift production company has done for everyone involved.
“I want to thank him for the great job he does with our individuals, for believing in them and being with us for so long,” she said. “The fact that he does his basic DSP work, thank you for doing that, and on top of that, creating this wonderful program for them.”
Mr. Blair’s commitment to all facets of his work caught the attention of ANCOR, which for the past 15 years has awarded a direct support professional of the year in every state in addition to naming one nationally and giving out a few special accolades. Pennsylvania happens to be the state with the highest number of ANCOR members, according to senior director of communications Sean Luechtefeld.
Whole Life Services isn’t an ANCOR member, although Mr. Luechtefeld said his organization “hopes to rectify that” soon. It first got on ANCOR’s radar by nominating Mr. Blair for Keystone State 2021 DSP of the year honors. Mr. Luechtefeld said he was impressed by how Get 2 Work Productions creates jobs out of nothing and helps individuals “build the skills they need to excel in the workplace and helps build a spirit of entrepreneurship.”
“The work that we do as a community of providers can be hard and is often underappreciated,” he continued. “I want them to know that there are a whole slew of folks in the commonwealth and across the country who are deeply appreciative of the contributions people like Geno make to their communities.”
For Ms. Vogan, an honor like this is all about proving how people with intellectual and developmental disabilities should not be underestimated in terms of their professional capabilities.
“People think our folks are just going to earn minimum wage at a low-demanding job in their community,” she said. “Not all our folks want to do that. I’m proud of the program that we have, and I’m very honored it was recognized and he was given recognition for the wonderful things that he does.”
And Mr. Blair is all about giving these individuals the tools they need to speak their truths through Get 2 Work Productions.
“We always look for the good in people,” he said. “I think with something like what we’ve got going here, this is a great way for the world to kind of begin to see things from a different perspective, which in turn should produce empathy, which is something there’s not enough of.
“I think that if the individuals we serve are given the opportunity to share their life how they see it, there will be a natural swing in how the system itself is geared.”