Blog - Woods Services

Third Annual Run for Woods is Best One Yet!

May 10, 2017

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

April 20, 2017

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.

Woods Makes Mark in Latest Edition of Social Innovations Journal

March 24, 2017

Yesterday, Woods Services was in the spotlight at the Social Innovations Journal (SIJ) launch of issue 32: Social Impact and Innovative Models to Support Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and Their Families Throughout the Lifespan. Keynote speakers included Woods’ own Dr. Scott Spreat who presented a brief history of the field as well as studies concerning the employment of people with disabilities both in workshops and in the community that showed a significant drop in employment of people with I/DD when workshops are closed.

Woods CEO, Tine Hansen-Turton, who is the co-founder of the Social Innovations Journal, moderated a panel discussion with topics covering aging in place for people with I/DD; technology improvements that facilitate quality of life enhancements for people with I/DD who have physical, cognitive, emotional and communication challenges; different kinds of supportive living arrangements for people with I/DD; and the harmful impact of the American Health Care Act (AHCA) on Medicaid and Medicare that many of our staff and the individuals we serve rely on.

Numerous staff from Woods and our affiliates submitted articles for this issue of the SIJ that speak to the innovative programs and supports we offer. Please take the time to read their articles and thank them for the great work that they do! You can read their articles at http://www.socialinnovationsjournal.org/editions/current-edition.

Rally for Work Choice at PA Capitol Building

March 7, 2017

On Monday, March 13, more than 1,000 people with intellectual or developmental disabilities (I/DD) and their families, friends and advocates from across the state will rally in the Pennsylvania Capitol Building in Harrisburg in support of the “My Work My Choice” initiative.

The Pennsylvania House Human Services Committee, chaired by Representative Gene DiGirolamo (R-Bucks), has also scheduled a hearing for the same day to hear testimony concerning the proposed new regulations by ODP.

The rally takes place in the Capitol Building’s East Wing Rotunda at 10:30 a.m. and will be kicked off by Representative Eric Nelson (R-Westmoreland County). Legislators from throughout the Commonwealth will also be speaking as well as several individuals employed in workshops and their family members. The rally will end shortly after 11:00 and will be followed by the House Human Services Committee meeting at 11:15 in room G-50 in the Irvis Office Building.

In the Bucks County region, in addition to representative DiGirolamo, Representative Frank Farry (R) and Senator Robert “Tommy” Tomlinson (R) have been instrumental in advocating for changes to the proposals put forward by ODP.

Intellectual and developmental disabilities services are dangerously underfunded

November 18, 2016

*This blog originally appeared on philly.com

By: Tine Hansen-Turton, President and CEO of Woods Services, and Scott Spreat, President and Chief of Research, Woods Services, guest blogger

People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (I/DD), an umbrella term that includes severe chronic disabilities that can be physical, cognitive, or both, consume half of all Medicaid spending in the U.S. Yet this fact is rarely brought up in debates over health care costs and ways to innovate within the health and human services system.

Government agencies have grown comfortable with a systematic underfunding of human services. This may be because they do not understand the true costs of providing care to people with complex medical and social service needs. Supplemental funding from foundations and other private sources on which they have relied to meet some of their needs is drying up, and state budget are barely growing. A recent study of funding trends in Pennsylvania found that between FY1993-1994 and FY2013-2014, the general state budget increased by about 90%, but funding for intellectual disability services increased by only 23-24% (study available by request made to www.par.net).

A group of I/DD private provider agencies recently reported that for the years 2012, 2013, and 2014, roughly one-third of them had expenses that exceeded revenues. An agency that experiences such losses must subsidize the inadequate funding in some manner. Some agencies have dipped into their reserves. This is not a sustainable way of conducting business, and it puts needy people — the I/DD population–at risk.

The I/DD industry is not a healthy one for providers. It operates with a 1.6% margin on an annual basis, and it has no control over its prices. It can’t raise taxes like a school district, and it can’t increase prices like a hospital. It has to rely on the kindness of governmental entities, which has been notably lacking over the past 20 years.

A free market approach and an alignment of the I/DD sector with health and human services programs that permit providers set their own prices may be the only innovation that will sustain the field. Unless providers are able to gain some control over the pricing of their services and unless governmental funders recognize the health issues that affect individuals with intellectual disability, providers will not succeed, and individuals with intellectual disability will lose supports and services. While the industry is not yet dead, it may be in the throes of a terminal condition, which could put thousands of the most vulnerable people at risk in the U.S.