About us

Our Mission and Our Amazing Team

Who are we at Bridging Independent Living Together

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Our Mission

Bridging Independent Living Together, Inc. works to enrich the lives of people with disabilities through compassionate support. Our team is committed to bridging the gap of care to enhance individuals’ independence, maximize their capabilities, and provide meaningful community inclusion by assisting and supporting their choices with regard to housing, socialization, learning, employment opportunities and recreational activities.

THE BILT PHILOSOPHY

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The organization

  • Maintain a high quality of service by ensuring care is provided by trained human service professionals to enrich the personal development of individuals we serve.
  • Create working relationships with local community establishments, fellow human service companies, politicians, and families, always while holding the individuals best interests at the heart of the matter. 
  • Develop a workplace in which people of all backgrounds can advance, learn, receive support, and openly communicate respectfully. 
  • To create comprehensive and innovative support services for the individuals served.

Employees

  • Support the organization, individuals, and families with a high level of care, honesty, respect, and compassion.
  • Communicate progress, suggestions, and concerns with the organization and families to provide the best care.

Families

  • Communicate transparently about the needs of the individual and family.
  • Support the programs set in place to achieve the goals set forth.  Every individual should be able to live as independently as possible
  • Treat staff with respect and compassion.  They are providing crucial services for your loved ones.

The Team

Christina Gravina, M.Ed, BCBA, LABA

CEO/PRESIDENT

Christina is the CEO and founder of Bridging Independent Living Together, Inc. Christina has been working in the Human Service field for the past 12 years and has gained extensive experience with promoting independence in individuals’ lives despite interfering behaviors.

Christina is currently a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) with a Masters of Education in Curriculum and Design in Applied Behavior Analysis. Christina has worked as a direct care staff, residential group home manager, residential area director, and a behaviorist overseeing individuals ranging from adolescents to adults, in clinical and in-home settings. 

Christina prides herself on not only providing guidance and education to her staff but also being an advocate for the individuals and their families. Passionate about her work, Christina works to create flexible, person-centered programming that always puts the individual and their wishes at the center of all programming.

With an understanding of the individuals’ and families’ goals, as well as extensive experience with navigating current services and systems, Christina is able to personalize services to deliver innovative and qualified services for every individual served.

Joshua Casement

CTO/TREASURER

Josh is the Treasurer and CTO of Bridging Independent Living Together, Inc. By trade, Josh is an Electro-Mechanical Product Design Engineer with over 15 years’ experience. With his superb balance of technical knowledge and unabridged support to BILT’s mission, Josh donates 100% of his time while:

• Managing the technical aspects of an organization to ensure that they’re in line with the company’s organizational needs.
• Researching, writing, compiling, and managing the timeline and budgets of financial grants.
• Evaluating and analyzing trends in the sales performance.
• Raising Awareness and Funds through social media adoption, local outreach, fundraising, and strategic partnerships.
• Developing and executing company’s marketing campaigns and promotional efforts.

Chelsea Clain

Client Case Manager

Chelsea has an extensive background in customer service and care management, working towards her degree in Human Services. 

Chelsea has the ability to not only work with our individuals but also to oversee the employees and ensure our programs remain high quality. She is passionate about the work we do at BILT. 

Our Directors

Anne Wolf

Christina Gravina

Herbert W. Boudreau, Jr.

Joshua Casement

Dennis LaRosee

Debra Casement

Syliva Fogel

Vicky Saar

Frequently asked questions...

All skills trainers receive training in positive behavior supports, CPR, Mandated reporting, HIPPA, Safety Cares (depending on individual need), Registered Behavior Technician training (depending on individual need) and are able to access a number of optional trainings. Skills trainers also all receive ongoing supervision from management.

Yes, skills trainers all have their background and driving records checked yearly. 

The cost of service is determined by the complexity of the individual and the job. Individuals with higher support needs are matched with staff who the education and experience to work with them effectively. 

All individuals are assessed individually so determination on if we are able to serve an individual depends on if we can do so safely and therapeutically. 

At this time we are not in network with any insurance agencies. Although we do perform ABA and have BCBAs on staff, working with insurance agencies is a full time job. Some families have had success with getting pre-approvals and services reimbursed through their insurance agencies. We do not talk to insurance agencies directly, nor do we bill them directly. However, we are happy to fill out pre-approval paperwork to help families with getting services reimbursed. Families utilizing insurance will receive a superbill. 
 

We are able to work with individuals to accept funds through DDS. We also work with some school districts who have contracted with us to perform the home portion of IEP services (if included). We also accept private pay. We are willing to work with various funding sources in order to assist the family in covering our services. 

Wait list times vary on hours and locations requested. If we don’t have a staff in the area after the intake process is completed we will hire for that staff. Oftentimes waits can be anywhere from 4-8 weeks. 

In order to get started we will send you an intake form and a schedule of availability through DocuSign. We will also ask that you send us a current behavior plan, IEP, and/or physical. It will take us about a week to review the paperwork. From there we will schedule an in person or zoom intake to discuss the individual and service needs. There is a one time intake fee added to the first invoice of every individual to account for the intake time and for individuals who don’t go forward with services there is no charge. 

All shifts are at least three hours long and can occur frequently or occasionally. We do scheduling a month in advance so having notice ensures we can get coverage in place. There is no maximum limit of hours. We will do overnights or respite care during the night as needed and if we have availability. 

Some Resources We Love!

Positively Goats

Our goats are specifically bred and raised for recreational, therapeutic and educational activities. Our team of specialists that oversees the  therapeutic and teaching programs has extensive training and experience  in mental health counseling, equine education,  holistic nutrition and goat husbandry. 

South Natick, MA 01760

617-733-2003

We rock the Spectrum

sensory-safe indoor playgrounds

Providing a safe, nurturing, and fun environment to foster learning, exploration and safe sensory experiences.  Through our nonprofit My Brother Rocks The Spectrum Foundation, we provide social skills groups and activities for children across the spectrum.

34 Central St, Wellesley, MA 02482
781-943-3125

Museum of Leos Arts

Artist

Leo, a youth artist with an autism diagnosis, greatly enjoys creating seasonal paintings and drawings. He also loves drawing vehicles of all kinds, animals and various landscapes. The money raised by Leo’s artwork goes towards raise funds for The Complete Puzzle, a 501c3, dedicated to helping families impacted by autism.

Work Without Limits

connecting disability-inclusive employers with qualified candidates 

Work Without Limits forms partnerships with organizations that provide employment services to individuals with disabilities such as colleges and universities, state agencies, and community-based organizations. Work Without Limits connects these Community Partners to members of our Employer Network, disability-inclusive employers that are seeking to connect to qualified candidates with disabilities. We would be very excited to have BILT become a Community Partner of Work Without Limits.

Organization Financials

Bridging Independent Living Together, Inc. was founded in May of 2019.

Form 990 is the IRS’ primary tool for gathering information about tax-exempt organizations, which is also useful to share information with the public about their programs.

Please find our financial reports at the links provided.

From the IRS.gov website, “expect delays in data updates for the Tax Exempt Organization Search tool. We are still processing paper-filed 990 series received 2021 and later.”

https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/search-for-tax-exempt-organizations