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Mortimer Bates receives award at Woods’ Fete & Fundraiser

It’s a long trip from Quincy, Florida to Langhorne, Pennsylvania, especially if you don’t like the cold weather in January, but friends and family of Mortimer Bates traveled from three states to attend the annual Woods Fete and Fundraiser on January 20 to see Mortimer Bates receive a well-deserved honor: the Jane Cowles Stewardship Award, the highest honor offered by Woods Services each year to one of its most loyal donors.

 

Mortimer came to Woods in 1948 at age nine. After attending school at Woods for nearly 10 years, “Mort” moved to Florida to be closer to his family. While at Woods, Mortimer developed an interest in Photography, which he studied after completing high school in Florida. He went on to become a wedding photographer, retiring in 2003.

 

In a video interview aired Saturday night at Woods Fete and Fundraiser, Mort remarked on the strong impact that Woods had on him, both in terms of developing his interest in photography and the life-long relationships he made, “As an adult, I realized how much Woods helped me.” One of Mort’s closest friends from Woods was on hand Saturday night for the Award Ceremony.

 

Mort’s loyalty to Woods has been sustained through annual gifts from his family foundation. His generosity has helped many individuals at Woods achieve their highest potential, reach their goals and lead fulfilling lives.

 

Last Saturday night, January 20, more than 275 guests attended Woods Annual Fete and Fundraiser in Langhorne, Pennsylvania. More than $318,000 was raised at the event to renovate and expand the Davenport Medical Center at Woods.

 

Woods has expanded and reorganized its new Medical Center to 1) add new primary care providers, additional exam rooms, a new lab and radiology services; 2) expand employee health services to provide acute and preventive care; and 3) expand training and educational opportunities for medical, nursing and related services to build a cadre of providers in Pennsylvania who can better serve its vulnerable population of persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

 

Click here to watch Mortimer’s story!

Social Innovations Journal Launch Event

CREATING A SOCIAL INNOVATION’S MOVEMENT
WITHIN HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
THE BUCKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA STORY

 

PLEASE NOTE: This event is sold out.

The Social Innovations Journal in partnership with Bucks County Human Services, Woods Services, Magellan Healthcare,  and Independence Blue Cross Foundation is pleased to host this SYMPOSIUM on Tuesday, Sept. 26 that will examine successful and innovative models and partnerships within the Bucks County, PA Region as an example of how health and human services organizations are innovating across the country. This edition specifically explores new innovative models of care for:

 

  • Aging Populations
  • Mental and Behavioral Health
  • Children and Youth
  • Drug and Alcohol
  • Physical and Developmental Disabilities

 

“Health and human serving system leaders are discarding the old ways of doing business in favor of new approaches that are innovative, efficient, effective, and responsive to the needs and demands of a dynamic and rapidly changing society. We are shifting from a reactive and crisis-oriented services delivery model to one that focuses “upstream” and better enables all of us to live to our full potential and to more effectively identify and address root causes when we do encounter roadblocks along the way.” (American Public Health and Human Services Association, November 2016)

 

Health and human services agencies along with their nonprofit and community partners in counties around the country have started to approach traditional long standing societal challenges differently. They are capitalizing on public/private partnerships; breakthrough technologies; brokering unique cross-sector partnerships; blending funding sources, and applying family-centered and community-based approaches to find innovative solutions with the expectation that these will lead to efficiencies and better client outcomes. Ultimately, regional health and human services agencies, collectively, are shaping a new ecosystem across sectors and systems that will align services, integrate data systems, leverage technologies and create system transformation.

 

PLEASE JOIN US!  As we have limited space capacity (100 participants) we ask that you only register if you are confident that you will attend.

 

Sincerely,
Nicholas Torres
CEO/Co-Publisher

 

Tine Hansen Turton
President & CEO of Woods Services
Co-Publisher

 

Jonathan Rubin
Human Services Director
Bucks County

 

Agenda

8:30 AM

Registration/Networking Light Refreshments

9:00 AM
WELCOME
Nicholas Torres, SIJ Publisher
Tine Hansen-Turton, CEO, Woods Services and SIJ Publisher
Charles Martin, Chairman, Bucks County Board of Commissioners
Jon Rubin, Human Services Director Bucks County

 

9:15 AM

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Tracy Wareing Evans, President and CEO, the American Public Human Services Association
Current state of Human Services/Human Services Value Curve and the Value of and future for Public-Private partnerships

9:45 AM

CONSUMER VOICE AND PERSPECTIVE

Lessons learned from the consumer perspective:  Bonnie Healey

 

10:00 AM

PARTNERSHIP INNOVATION STORIES

Bucks County:  Connect. Assess. Refer. Engage. Support. (BCARES) program:  Margie Rivera, Associate Director, Bucks County Drug and Alcohol Commission and Eric Stark, Executive Director, Bucks County Health Improvement Partnership

Using the Sequential Intercept Model to build collaboration and support community engagement: Christina Finello, Deputy Director, Bucks County Human Services

Foundations Summer Internship Program: Ron Bernstein, Executive Director, Foundations Community Partnership

 

10:15 AM

CRITICAL THINKING ROUNDTABLES

 

11:00 AM

PANEL REACTION

Moderated by Tine Hansen-Turton, CEO Woods Services

Panelists

Tracy Wareing Evans, President and CEO, American Public Human Services Association
Audrey Tucker, CEO Family Service Association of Bucks County
Dr. Mark Hoffman, Ed.D., Executive Director Bucks County Intermediate Unit
Jon Rubin, Director of Human Services, Bucks County
Heather Major, Independece Blue Cross Foundation

 

11:45 AM

CLOSING REMARKS/NEXT STEPS

Tine Hansen-Turton & Jon Rubin

Yellow Daffodil Featured on Fox 29!

Fox 29 reporter Joyce Evans, along with her cameraman Shane, spent a few hours at Yellow Daffodil on June 20th. The Yellow Daffodil staff had a great time interacting with the pair and talking about their roles at the shop and life at Woods. Click here to view the segment!

Third Annual Run for Woods is Best One Yet!

The sun broke through just in time to see more than 1,100 walkers, runners, and rollers take their mark for the third annual Run for Woods 5K and 1 Mile Fun Walk on Saturday, May 6. In just three short years, the Run for Woods has become one of the largest integrated events in Bucks County and it continues to grow thanks to the support of staff members, sponsors, community members and families of Woods.

 

A dedicated group of more than 100 volunteers helped the day run smoothly by staffing the course as marshals and assisting with rest stops, registration, and lunch. The Fitness Fair featured 10 kiosks including the Independence Blue Cross Van, which offered complimentary health screenings (glucose, blood pressure and body mass Index) and two of Woods’ social enterprises, the Yellow Daffodil Flower and Gift Shop and BeechTree Bath & Body Products.

At the Opening Ceremony, State Representatives Frank Farry and Gene DiGirolamo and State Senator Tommy Tomlinson presented Woods with a resolution from the State of Pennsylvania recognizing the importance of our advocacy efforts, which ensure that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities have a choice in where to work.

John Anthony Jensen spoke from his heart when he recounted the harrowing tale of his brain injury and his life now at Beechwood NeuroRehab, a program of Woods. “This day and age, I look forward to getting up every morning and continuing on with the day before’s endeavors and ultimately, my life. Every day is just a really great day at Woods, especially days like today,” he said. “I know it’s gonna sound like Beechwood’s paying me to say this, but in all honesty, this place is nothing but heaven sent…I look forward to getting up every morning and continuing my life.”

Following the run/walk, participants were treated to a delicious lunch of pork ribs and steak prepared by Outback Steakhouse and pasta and chicken prepared by Carrabba’s Italian Grill. Our local Corner Bakery Café in Newtown also hosted a wonderful dessert tent. Entertainment was provided by a group of Woods residents who presented several songs from their recent Disney Cabaret performance during lunch.
Awards were presented to the Top Individual Fundraiser: Whit Park, a Woods resident who raised more than $7300, the Top Fundraising Team, Team Mikey [Faulkner], which raised $14,425, and the Largest Team, the Woodlands Warriors, with 58 participants including residents and staff. Awards were also presented to the fastest male and female runners in 10 age categories.

 

 

“For the first time ever, a Woods resident was our most successful fundraiser. Whit Park raised $7300 for Woods Services,” said Hilary Stephens, Vice President of Development. “Whit spent hours on the phone calling friends and family. What a self-advocate! I hope that next year, others will follow his lead.”

 

 

Whit has lived at Woods for nearly 20 years and currently works at The Woods Enterprise (TWE) work center and recently started at the Yellow Daffodil Flower and Gift Shop. He enlisted the help of his parents, Penny and Jerry, and his brother, Ross, to spread the word about the Run for Woods and even he was impressed by the amount of money he was able to raise.

 

 

“I was pretty amazed myself,” Whit said. “I thought it was a great thing to do to raise money and my goal is to beat my total next year.”
Thanks to the generosity of nine Faulkner Ciocca Dealerships that raised a whopping $90,000 for Woods this year, and a record-breaking turnout, a total of $205,000 was raised for Woods Services. Joe Faulkner and Gregg Ciocca were on hand with their families to ensure that Woods reached its goal. Funds raised at the run/walk support services not currently covered or reimbursed by any funding source (including school systems, private insurance, Medicare or Medicaid) like music and art therapy, field trips and tickets to sporting or cultural events in the community or capital improvements to our buildings and grounds.

 

“We had a record 755 donors this year supporting our runners and walkers which is more than we have ever had. And the participation of our new community partners, Outback Steakhouse, Carrabba’s Italian Grill and the Corner Bakery Café has helped us take the Run for Woods to a whole new level.”

Thank you to everyone who helped make the third annual Run for Woods the best one yet!  We look forward to seeing everyone next year!

Award-Winning Run for Woods Set for May 6

Langhorne, PA— Woods Services will hold its third annual Run for Woods on Saturday, May 6, 2017, with Faulkner-Ciocca Dealerships once again serving as the Presenting Sponsor. In September, the Run for Woods was presented with three awards from the Best of Bucks contest sponsored by the Courier Times: Best Fundraiser, Best Outdoor Event and Best Family Event. Last year’s event drew more than 1,000 registrants and raised more than $205,000 for educational, vocational, and recreational opportunities for the more than 675 children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities who are served by Woods Services. Families, friends and the local community are invited to participate alongside more than 200 individuals served by Woods by running, walking, or rolling in the 5K or 1 Mile Fun Walk.

 

The 5K is a flat and fast route that starts on the Woods campus and takes runners, walkers, and rollers through Langhorne Manor Borough and the Borough of Langhorne, both historic districts listed on the National Register. Participants will enjoy the beautiful tree-lined shaded streets of the Boroughs before returning to Woods for the final mile of the Run. Roads will be secured to ensure the safety of all 5K participants and those participating in the 1 Mile Fun Walk will remain on the Woods campus. An awards ceremony, picnic lunch, entertainment, and Fitness Fair will follow the 5K/1 Mile Fun Walk. Carrabba’s Italian Grill and Outback Steakhouse (both located on Tillman Drive in Bensalem) will be on site cooking up their signature dishes for race participants. Desserts will be provided by Corner Bakery Café.

 

 

Online registration will remain open at www.runforwoods.org until May 3. The cost is $40 per person and discount registration options are available for children 12 and under. Registrations will also be accepted the morning of the event for $45/person. This is a family-friendly event and all participants ages 7 and up will receive a t-shirt, medal, and an individual online fundraising page with the option to create a fundraising team.