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  • About Woods
    • Our History
    • The Woods System of Care
    • Meet the Woods Services Leadership
    • Meet the Woods Services Board of Trustees
    • The Woods Clinical Approach
    • News & Events
  • Services
    • Short Term Residential Treatment
    • Health, Wellness, & Therapy
    • Vocational & Adult Day
      • Holland Enrichment Center
      • The Woods Enterprises
      • Yellow Daffodil
      • Common Grounds Café
      • Woods Wear
  • Education
    • An Overview of Education
  • Research Institute
  • Work With Woods
    • Employee Testimonials
    • Benefits of Working at Woods
    • Staff Development
    • Teach with Woods
  • Support Woods
    • Make a Gift to Woods
    • Join the Heart of Woods
    • Give through your Donor Advised Fund
    • Give through EITC
    • Leave a Legacy
    • Honor a Friend or Loved One
  • Admissions
    • Tour Woods
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    • FAQ
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emotional & behavioral challenges
EMOTIONAL & BEHAVIORIAL CHALLENGES
autism
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DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITY
medical complexities
MEDICAL COMPLEXITIES
brain injury
BRAIN INJURY
prader-willi and genetic disorders
PRADER-WILLI & GENETIC DISORDERS

Beechwood NeuroRehab Hosts Wheelchair Wash and Tune

April 9, 2022

Looking good and feeling good – the wheelchairs of Beechwood NeuroRehab have undergone some spring cleaning.

 

Therapy Aide Shelby Tibbetts created and hosted a “Wheelchair Wash and Tune” where chairs were cleaned, repaired, and examined for further fixes and replacement.

 

“The same way we want to have a clean house or clean car, they want – and deserve – a clean wheelchair,” Tibbetts said. “But they may not necessarily have the ability to do this, so we do this so their wheelchairs can be squeaky clean… It hurts me when they’re unclean, so I’ve really taken an interest in giving them attention,” Tibbetts said.

 

Beechwood held its first Wash and Tune in September 2020 with her, the help of some clinicians over their lunch, and wheelchair vendor NuMotion. Isolated amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Tibbetts felt the event would engage staff, residents, and the vendor positively and fill some of the time lost from closed programming.

 

The effects of the event reach far beyond just a clean set of wheels.

 

In addition to basic wheelchair care, the group also took inventory of everyone’s wheelchairs. With serial numbers cleaned off, Tibbetts created a massive spreadsheet detailing when each wheelchair was due for maintenance or complete replacement. The result: the team placed 20 wheelchair orders.

 

The Wash and Tune also helps build relationships with the vendor. Hosting weekly repair clinics and these clinics allows Beechwood to stay top-of-mind when services are needed.

 

This year, the wash was on two separate days, March 23 and April  5. On March 23, Tibbetts sought the assistance of our recreation department.With this help in hand, nearly 30 wheelchairs were washed and repaired. April 5 yielded a similar result.

 

Tibbetts began in a field far different than Beechwood. Originally a hairstylist, she would cut hair for clients. Her interests grew; she joined the staff and is now studying to become a Physical Therapy Aide at Harcum College.

Beechwood NeuroRehab’s Clubhouse Creates “DIY with Jen” Videos

November 12, 2020

 

The Brain Injury Clubhouse at Beechwood NeuroRehab provides our clients here at Woods a unique opportunity to develop work skills through five different programs: Culinary & Nutrition, Maintenance & Horticulture; Communications; Community Resources and BeechTree (making and selling of body products). While the Clubhouse’s physical location has been closed due to the pandemic, our members haven’t missed a beat with connecting with each other virtually in creative ways.

 

Jen Love, one of our outpatients in the Community Resources Unit, has been filming a series of tutorials called “DIY with Jen” since June to inspire her co-members to tap into their creative geniuses and gain valuable life skills through crafting, which will prepare them for days back in the Clubhouse when the time comes.

 

Jen’s tutorials are posted to the Beechwood Clubhouse and Beechwood NeuroRehab Facebook pages, with the help of editing from Caroline Francis, communications unit coordinator, and filming from Jen’s one-to-one aide, Chris. Jen has shown us everything from how to create spooky Halloween home décor to making a weighted blanket for your pet, a sugar scrub for your skin, tabletop coasters from felt and pebble rocks, and so much more!

 

We sat down with Jen recently to get to know her a little more, as well as learn about the inspiration and process behind filming the DIY projects.

 

Q: What is a typical day like for you, and what do you like to do for fun?

 

Jen: I volunteer at the Women’s Animal Center. It’s the first animal center in the United States. I do that a few hours for two days out of the week. I walk dogs, feed all the animals, do laundry, clean all the kennels, clean all the dishes, do paperwork of any sort that they ask, fill up food bowls, wash dishes, wash kennels, wash litter pans, take out trash…there’s a lot.

 

I also have a lot of pets at my house. It’s my own little urban zoo. I have two dogs, three guinea pigs, one rabbit, a turtle and several fish. And I also dog sit.

 

Q: Tell us a little bit about the DIY projects. What inspired them, and how did they all start?

 

Jen: The very first one, Amanda [Elliott, unit coordinator] had asked me to do. And I was like, “OK.” And then I didn’t think I was going to have to do anymore. But then one of the new interns had asked me to do it. And I said, “Alright.” And so I started doing more of the videos, and my aide Chris and I started coming up with ideas for DIYs that would help us in our day-to-day lives and tasks, or that would maybe interest some people.

 

Q: How involved is the process of filming these videos?

 

Jen: There’s a lot of trial and error. Chris is the one who’s recording them. We’re doing a lot of testing, and sometimes the ones that we want to do don’t end up making it to the cut. So we end up just coming up with something else because it doesn’t work out.

 

Q: It seems like you have a natural talent for these kinds of projects. Have you been doing these crafts before filming the videos? Were you crafty as a young child?

 

Jen: I wouldn’t know if I was crafty when I was a kid because I don’t have any memories of myself before age 21. But, afterward, I didn’t get into crafting until, I’d say, about five or six years ago when I made my own hammock.

 

Q: What has been your favorite project to create thus far?

 

Jen: The one for my turtle tank, when I was making my filter. That one was the hardest, but it was the best one. It was my best, cheapest DIY. It was hard, and you had to use your brain for it.

 

I had the bucket, I had the bat, and I had the tubing. I just had to go purchase some more silicate and a plastic screw. And I had to purchase some more fish charcoal, but I had everything else. It was pretty nice to do things on the cheap and still be able to say, “Oh wow, I can MacGyver this!”

 

Look out for more upcoming “DIY with Jen” videos on the Beechwood Clubhouse Facebook page, and follow @Clubhouse_Beechwood on Instagram!

Reading, Leading and Succeeding: Adam Greene Provides Woods with Online Storytime

October 20, 2020

Closures and safety procedures have changed routines during the coronavirus pandemic, and we are missing things we used to love to do.  For Adam Greene, one of the things he loved was reading books to students at Woods Services’ Gardner Education Center three days a week and for children at the Barnes & Noble bookstore in nearby Fairless Hills two Saturdays a month.  Volunteering to read aloud is something Adam, a resident of Woods’ Beechwood NeuroRehab program, has been doing regularly for several years.

 

“It has been absolutely a pleasure for me because I love to read the books that I do, and I love even better to see the kids enjoy the stories I’m telling,” Adam said.

 

Prior to the pandemic, Adam would spend whole days going from classroom to classroom at the education center, Adam’s occupational therapist, Samantha McKenna, MS, OTR/L, CBIS, said.  Teachers and students welcomed him into the classroom and also invited him for lunch, which enabled him to spend more time in their company, Adam shared.

 

Samantha noticed Adam was feeling disconnected and disappointed when, in March, due to COVID-19 precautions, these visits ended.  Now, his interactions were limited to his two roommates, the staff in his residence, and the therapists.  “He just wants to see people,” she said.

 

She thought, what if we did the reading online in order to give him a productive routine?  Thanks to her creative idea for using technology, Adam’s volunteering started a new chapter.

 

Now Adam’s routine includes setting the scene in his at-home studio by closing the blinds to make his space is camera-ready and sitting in what he and Samantha call his “Mr. Rogers chair.”  Where he once chose books from the school library or received recommendations from the Barnes & Noble staff, he now selects from among a stack Samantha took the lead in gathering from other therapists.  Samantha video records Adam reading and sharing the pictures from the books and then facilitates posting the online storytime to the Woods Facebook page.

 

Adam’s book choice for his debut recording on June 3 was “But Not the Armadillo” by Sandra Boynton.  He’s also read “Children Make Terrible Pets” by Peter Brown, “The Foolish Tortoise” by Richard Buckley and illustrated by Eric Carle, and two books by Dr. Seuss – “Oh, the Thinks You Can Think” and “Great Day for Up.”

 

His online reading also included a poem by Joyce Alcantara titled “You Will Never See Me Fall.”  Adam has an interest in poetry and is currently working with Samantha on writing a poem.  “It’s fun because I have a poem that I wrote when I was a younger person.  That’s what started my love for poetry,” he said.

 

While Adam waits to get back to the in-person reading, which he admits he would like best, he acknowledges one of the successful outcomes of moving forward this way is something that Samantha has shared with him.  “I know it goes out to a wider number of people and more people get to see me and hear my speaking,” he said.

 

Four months since his online storytime debut, his 10 recordings combined have received more than 7,100 views, 1,200 engagements (like, love and care emojis as well as comments and shares), and have been shared more than 50 times, including by Adam’s family and friends, Woods staff, and on the Facebook pages of Archway Programs, Beechwood Clubhouse, Beechwood NeuroRehab, and the Langhorne Borough government page.  Samantha relays the Facebook feedback with Adam while they are out on walks together and reads him the comments from each post.  He noted it is so pleasant to hear the names of the teachers again and remember their times together face-to-face. Clinically, Samantha added this has helped Adam with emotional regulation at a time when it’s needed more than ever.

 

The joy he gives back to the online audience is evident.  Among the praise he received is this comment from Facebook user Jeanine Beverly who wrote on his debut post, “Adam, thank you for my brighter-because-of-you day!  It really is what you are best at.”

 

Then, on a recent post, Mindy Ellen Goldstein commented: “Awesome!!! Thank you for sharing this!!!”

 

Adam replied:  “This is what I love to do.”

 

See below for links to Adam’s storytime posts on the Facebook page, and like Woods Services on Facebook for future read-alouds.  Woods has started posting the text for the books to make the online storytime accessible to those with hearing challenges.

 

“But Not the Armadillo” by Sandra Boynton posted on June 3

 

“Children Make Terrible Pets” by Peter Brown posted on June 16

 

 “Oh, the Thinks You Can Think!” by Dr. Seuss posted on June 25 

 

“You Will Never See Me Fall,” by Joyce Alcantara posted on July 17 

 

“The Foolish Tortoise” by Richard Buckley and illustrated by Eric Carle, posted on August 14

 

“Great Day for Up” by Dr. Seuss on August 25 

 

“I am Yoga” by Susan Vede on September 4

 

“Go Away, Dog” by Joan L. Nodset on September 16 

 

“Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You?” by Dr. Seuss on September 26

 

“Hope is the Thing with Feathers” by Emily Dickinson on October 19

 

Woods Winter Wonderland Welcomes Langhorne Community

December 23, 2019

Winter-Wonderland-Choir

Together with our community, Woods celebrated the holidays during our third-annual Winter Wonderland on Dec. 6 and 7. Hundreds joined our Woods family as we shared holiday fun from free visits and photos with Santa to checking off wish lists, thanks to our 15 merchants.

Our Tree Lighting Made Winter Wonderland, Langhorne, and the Season Bright

As the clock struck 6 p.m. on Friday, we sang the songs of the season with choirs from Woods and our community. Speaking of community, Julie Bartl of our Presenting Gold Sponsor, Johnson, Kendall, & Johnson, helped begin our tree lighting ceremony. She stood beside our CEO Tine Hansen-Turton, State Representative Eugene DiGirolamo, and Woods resident Nathali J. They all spoke to the value of Winter Wonderland and inclusively supporting those with challenges and disabilities.

The tree was ready to be lit. Hansen-Turton gathered every person who was on the stage to flip the switch.

Then, silence fell as the tree lights flickered. Help was needed.

Sirens sounded from a distance as Langhorne-Middletown Fire Company firetrucks carried a special guest. Santa was arriving.

He pulled up to much fanfare as he exchanged greetings with the crowd. Now with Saint Nick’s assistance, the tree sparkled, and the crowd clapped and cheered.

2019 Winter Wonderland

Baby, It Was Cold Outside, But Common Grounds Café Was Delightful

Following the lighting, families, and residents explored the site that spanned outdoors and indoors.

In the warmth of Common Grounds Café, there were treats and food. Artwork by Woods residents was available as gifts. We’d be remiss not to mention Jeremiah J.’s calendar, crafted with the help of his occupational therapists. His work was among our social enterprises, including Yellow Daffodil, Woods Wear, and BeechTree, which were well-received by our community in Langhorne.

The halls were decked with handmade snowflakes and creative decor, leading to free events, including writing letters to Santa, decorating Santa hats, and painting ornaments. These festive family activities and giveaways were made possible by our generous sponsors.

Our Sponsors, Donors, and Volunteers Lit Winter Wonderland

  • Presenting – Gold: Johnson, Kendall & Johnson, Inc.
  • Silver: Hangley Aronchick Segal Pudlin & Schiller
  • Bronze: Delcrest Medical Services, PFM, Barry & Michelle Sharer
  • Friendship: Allied World, A & K Industrial Corp., Dilworth Paxson, LLP, Elliot’s Vending Company, Epstein, Becker & Green, P.C., Fenningham, Dempster & Coval LLP, Mindy, and Richard Goldstein, Roscommon International
  • Activity Sponsors: RFP Solutions, JR Michalski Heating and Air Conditioning, Patient First, Harry Lawall & Sons, Rotary Club of Langhorne, Rob’s Automotive.
  • We received other donations from American Kitchen, Blockhouse, Huggins Actuarial, and Lilly Silberstein
  • We also give special thanks to the Rotary Club of Langhorne & Neshaminy High School Interact Club for volunteering to run Santa’s Workshop for Woods residents.

Winter Wonderland was Stuffed, Thanks to the Food Trucks at Woods

Chickie’s and Pete’s and Have A Ball, crowd favorites, were dishing out food. When lines got long, Winter Wonderland goers could help themselves to free soft pretzels and hot chocolate. Common Grounds Café baked scrumptious cookies.

These served as fitting appetizers while waiting for free photos with Santa.

Meeting the Clauses

Heading into Winter Wonderland, our community expressed a desire to have free photos with Santa. Not only was every family able to grab selfies with Santa, but they also received a gift from Kris Kringle. Local shoppers at PetSmart of Newtown donated stuffed animals to this effort.

Winter Wonderland goers snapped hundreds of photos with Santa and the Mrs.

The Season of Appreciation

Woods is deeply grateful. This thankfulness reaches to all parts of our community: volunteers, visitors, merchants, sponsors, staff, families. Without your support, Winter Wonderland would not be possible. We sincerely hope you enjoyed our time together as much as we did.

Volunteers were also busy at our Secret Santa drop-off. You overwhelmingly ensured every person enjoying the holidays at Woods would receive presents this season, nearly 1,000 in all.

Now, you can be a part of Winter Wonderland 2020. Please take our survey, regardless of whether you attended or not.  We would love to hear from you.

We wish you and your family well in the new year!

About Woods

  • Our History
  • The Woods System of Care
  • Meet the Woods Services Leadership
  • Meet the Woods Services Board of Trustees
  • The Woods Clinical Approach
  • Woods’ World
  • Blog

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Health, Wellness & Therapeutics

In an effort to improve communication, daily living skills and educational outcomes for both … Read More >

Vocational & Adult Day Services

We are committed to eliminating barriers and creating possibilities for achievement.   We … Read More >

Learning

Our school programs help students meet educational, emotional, behavioral and medical needs, while … Read More >

Having Fun

We exist to drive greater achievement for the individuals we serve.  Whether living  on our campus, … Read More >

Continuum of Care

We offer our individuals a full continuum of supports through our affiliates and various programs … Read More >

Copyright © 2023 Woods | Routes 413 & 213 | P.O. Box 36 | Langhorne, PA 19047-0036 | Ph: 215.750.4000 | E: communications@woods.org

  • .
  • About Woods
    • Our History
    • The Woods System of Care
    • Meet the Woods Services Leadership
    • Meet the Woods Services Board of Trustees
    • The Woods Clinical Approach
    • News & Events
  • Services
    • Short Term Residential Treatment
    • Health, Wellness, & Therapy
    • Vocational & Adult Day
      • Holland Enrichment Center
      • The Woods Enterprises
      • Yellow Daffodil
      • Common Grounds Café
      • Woods Wear
  • Education
    • An Overview of Education
  • Research Institute
  • Work With Woods
    • Employee Testimonials
    • Benefits of Working at Woods
    • Staff Development
    • Teach with Woods
  • Support Woods
    • Make a Gift to Woods
    • Join the Heart of Woods
    • Give through your Donor Advised Fund
    • Give through EITC
    • Leave a Legacy
    • Honor a Friend or Loved One
  • Admissions
    • Tour Woods
    • Email Admissions
    • FAQ
    • Meet the Admissions Team