Michael Billia has some big plans, and he has the perfect inspiration to succeed. He is the new chief executive officer of Life’s WORC, a nonprofit that provides residential and community-based programs and other services to adults who have intellectual and developmental disabilities and autism.
“At Life’s WORC, our goal is to enable each person we support the opportunity to have a fulfilling and purposeful life,” Billia emphasizes. His extensive career with the organization, including roles such as vice chair of the board and chief administrative officer, reflects his commitment to overseeing various programs and departments that contribute to the well-being of the individuals they support.
“I am expected to be the voice of the people we support, along with the parents and team members, on a more global platform,” says Billia of the organization that supervises 45 residential and 12 community-based programs. “During my two years as chief administrative officer, I saw a lot of good things, and some things that needed changing. If you focus on your job and do it 100%, the better the team works, the better we are able to fix what needs fixing.”
Having dedicated employees who have made a long-term commitment to the organization and who give 100 percent is the backbone of Life’s WORC’s success. This includes their clinical team and the outstanding nursing support who oversee the organization’s residential and community-based programs. They administer medication and oversee the clinical needs of those Life’s WORC supports.
For more than 52 years, Garden City-headquartered Life’s WORC has been opening doors and minds. Today, Life’s WORC continues to provide comprehensive services and support to people who have intellectual challenges, developmental disabilities and autism across Manhattan, Queens, Nassau and Suffolk counties. This 501(c)(3) provides exceptional support and services to more than 2,000 people and their families. Additional services include skills development and behavioral intervention, social recreational programs, and vocation training and job-placement assistance. The organization also helps families plan for their future through its trust services.
Life’s WORC was founded April 27, 1971, by Victoria Schneps — the founding president of Long Island Press parent company Schneps Media — whose severely challenged daughter Lara was a resident at the troubled Willowbrook State School on Staten Island. Willowbrook had gained national attention a decade earlier when Geraldo Rivera, a young investigative reporter, exposed the deplorable and often horrific conditions at the school.
“With everything we do, we must always ask ourselves how it relates back to the people we support in the field and the employees in our programs, and especially our direct support personnel who care for the people we support,” says Billia, who started his career as a direct support professional working with juvenile detention residents. As CEO, he has promised to look closely at how Life’s WORC operates and look for ways to improve efficiency and working conditions. “If we make the operation of our agency more efficient, we can spend more time focusing on the people we support and those who care for them.”
Life’s WORC’s programs and services are crafted with the best interest of the people they support in the field. Those who are employed at Life’s WORC constantly seek ways to enhance the lives of those they support.
Explains Board of Directors Chair Lynne Koufakis, “We at Life’s WORC know what needs to be done. We have a lot of great ideas. We just have to be in the right place to implement them.”
She recognizes the importance of the services Life’s WORC provides for the people they support and their families. Through a vast array of services, Life’s WORC can be a resource from diagnosis through adulthood. She also recognizes that it is vital to have the proper team in place to lead the organization as it grows and adds to its services.
“Mike Billia is the perfect CEO for Life’s WORC,” Koufakis says. “He has strong leadership skills and understands and has an appreciation and compassion for the people we support. We have a lot of great plans for the future.”
She is also confident that Mike can make the tough decisions that fall under the CEO’s responsibilities.
“A CEO has to set goals and follow through,” she says. “Mike has shown that he can do that and has put a good team in place.”
Vital parts of that team are the direct support professionals who work directly with individuals either in their residential or community-based programs. Life’s WORC employs more than 700 DSPs in various capacities and more than 1,000 employees total. In the residential programs, DSPs perform a range of tasks that can include bathing, preparing food, and household chores to administering medicine and other medical tasks. They also provide transportation, and are companions and advocates.
“Our workers should feel they can express their feelings, ideas and even criticisms,” Billia says of the importance of DSPs. “We need to ask our direct support professionals, the people in the trenches, how we are doing. What could we be doing better? What are we doing well?”
Billia and Koufakis have a good working relationship. His background in finance helps him to be mindful of the bottom line. Koufakis is always looking at ways to make lives better and more fulfilling for the people they support.
“We want to continue to grow our programs,” Koufakis explains. “We also want to better handle our aging populations in the homes. We are in a hiring crisis, not just at Life’s WORC, but across the state, across the nation. We also need to look at how the people we support are treated when they walk into the hospital or a doctor’s office.”
Billia is a boots-on-the-ground CEO and complements the vision for the future set out by Koufakis and the board of Life’s WORC. He wants the right employees in the right jobs to make their visions reality.
“If everyone gives 100 percent, and can always be mindful of how what we are doing affects the people we support, we can accomplish all the things we need, reach all the goals we set,” he says.
Koufakis also has her sights set on the goals the people they support set for themselves. One in particular which is dear to her heart: job skills and employment opportunities.
“While not all of the people we support may be capable of holding a job, we want them to build confidence and lead a productive and purposeful life,” Lynne Koufakis says.
In fall of 2024, WORC Force will open Long Island’s largest job skills center for those with disabilities, offering training in 15 different career options including car detailing, food service and catering, computer training, retail, and hospitality, at a 24,000-square-foot facility in Garden City. This state-of-the-art facility will both train those who are interested in getting a job and those who simply wish to learn new skills. It also will include training in how to prepare a resume, interview skills, and how to dress for success. The facility will also offer fitness and recreational programs.
Life’s WORC has been a leader in getting the public to re-evaluate its notion of those who have intellectual and behavioral disabilities. Through outreach, public events and positive media coverage, Life’s WORC has endeavored to show the public that those they support are capable of much more than the outdated notion of what a “special-needs” person can do. This includes the range of jobs they can master as well as the ability to self-advocate and to make choices about what they want in life.
Koufakis, who recently was invited to join New York State’s Developmental Disabilities Advisory Council, says that public perception and partnering with elected officials and corporate partners are part of Life’s WORC’s formula for success.
“Nothing happens overnight,” she says, “but if you don’t work together, nothing will happen. We have to all work together if we want to get things done: lawmakers, organizations, parents and the private sector.”
She is confident that as the public develops more understanding of the people Life’s WORC supports, there will be more acceptance, and with acceptance will come more assistance.
“More understanding will show in the way they are treated, the way they are viewed,” Koufakis says. Life’s WORC’s outreach has included inviting Jets players to its Christmas party for autistic adults and staff, giving Gov. Kathy Hochul and other elected officials a tour of facilities and programs, and even inviting WABC-TV’s Chantee Lans to one of the residential programs to celebrate Thanksgiving.
“Honestly, the best part of my job is working with all the exceptional people in the agency and being part of such an incredible family,” says Billia, who also takes the supervision of staff seriously. “My favorite quote is from Simon Sinek: ‘Leadership is not about being in charge, it’s about care of those in your charge.’”
As all the pieces come together, Koufakis and Billia believe they will not just meet, but exceed their goals.
“We are looking forward to expanding our bandwidth and creating more community-based centers that will embrace all skill levels,” Billia says. “Our aim is to help the people we support create the best life they want to live.”
