dFs News

dFs News
5454 East State Street
P.O. Box 1027
Hermitage, PA 16148
724-346-2123
www.diversifiedfamily.org
Editor: Nancy J. Tusinac, M.Ed., Program Director
Layout Design: Chris Maurice
Winter 2010
Diversified Family Services- Continued 2005-2010
By Marilyn Klemens
This is the last installment in the four-part series on the history and growth of dFs.
In 2005 dFs was providing services to about 150 clients through the efforts of 100
employees with funding of almost 4 million dollars. Due to our agency growth, we
were extremely crowded in our old office. In response to our need, many of our
employees donated to the building campaign. Our board members also understood
our need for more space and donated $15,000 as individuals, and additionally raised
$15,000 through our first Celebrity Doodles fundraiser.
Through these efforts and other donations we raised over
$100,000 towards the down payment on the building.
We received tax-free financing for our project from the Mercer County Industrial
Development Authority, through a mortgage with First
National Bank. With our funding in place, we had a
ceremonial groundbreaking in August of 2005 with
our “gold” shovels. While construction was underway,
business continued as usual at our former site.
Construction was completed in May, 2006. Then we had the overwhelming
task of moving 10 years worth of belongings and records! We celebrated our new facility with an Open House
on June 8th. An Honor Guard from Hickory VFW conducted a flag raising ceremony to start the festivities.
Reverend Douglas K. Dayton, Board Vice-President, gave the invocation. James W. Stevenson, Board
President, welcomed everyone and gave a brief historical overview of the building project. Members of the
Board had the joy of cutting the ribbon to officially open our new building.
In This Issue
The Early Years 2005-2010 .......................... 1
Years 2005-2010 ........................................... 2
Star of the Month .......................................... 3
New Employees ............................................ 3
Summary of Surprise Staff Awards............... 3
Open House ................................................... 4
We Need Your Help......................................4
Pink for Cause .......................................................... 4
CHAPS Chatter ........................................................ 5
Client Holiday Party/Parade Info ............................. 5
Pictures .................................................................... 6
Dr. McElree Honored............................................... 7
Special Events .......................................................... 7
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After the ribbon cutting, CHAPS clients invited the guests to watch
them perform a skit about relocating to the new building. Employees gave
guests guided tours of the new building and guests enjoyed refreshments.
About 150 people attended the event.
In July, 2006 we opened a 4 person
group home in Venango County. This
was quite an opportunity for dFs as we
expanded our presence as a regional
provider. In 2007 dFs was the honored recipient of the Shenango Valley
Chamber of Commerce Phoenix Award in the nonprofit division.
During the past three years dFs has continued to grow as a regional provider
as we now provide ODP services in Mercer, Crawford, Lawrence & Venango counties. We have also
experienced significant growth in our Habilitation Aide services. Currently we serve 185 individuals and their
families each year, employ 200 staff and have an operating budget of over 5.5 million dollars.
This has been a special year as we’ve reflected on our
accomplishments and growth over these 25 years of providing
services to people with intellectual disabilities & their families.
Highlights of the past year have included: the commemorative
agency calendar; the client appreciation picnic and carnival and the
provider dinner. The most significant event was our 25th
Anniversary Dinner at the
Corinthian.
dFs was honored to receive both a
citation from the PA House of
Representatives and recognition from
United States House of
Representatives. It was my great
pleasure to share our agency history
with our guests and to publicly thank
our board members and employees for all
they have done to support this organization over these years.
I’d like to close with this quotation from our recognition award from the US House of Representatives: “The
United States House of Representatives does hereby honor Diversified Family Services as being an invaluable
asset to the greater Hermitage community and hereby commends their endless humanitarian efforts, all their
dedication, hard work and encouragement that have helped to guide countless families and individuals with
intellectual disabilities toward a path of self-reliance, and consequently shown them that they can truly have a
better life.”
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Contributed by: Stacey Llewellyn, Personnel Assistant
Dave Guido, TAA was selected as August’s “Star of the
Month.”
The “Star of the Month” for September was RPS, Michele
Groover.
Board Member, Dr. Frank McElree, was selected as
October’s “Star of the Month”.
Doug Aller
Carmella Blackwell
Lakisha Bridges
Ciara Buck
Durene Carter
Cindy Chambers
Nelsea Davis
Jennifer Dixon
Amanda Dollman
A certificate was placed in the office waiting area in honor
of each “star.”
Each “star” receives a token of
appreciation. In addition, each “star’s” name was added to
the “Star of the Month” plaque that is located on the “dFs
Wall of Fame.”
Congratulations to all recipients of this award!
Direct Care Professionals
Tom Durisko
Whitney Hall
Lynette Hartley
Amber Kellner
Kimberly Lampkins
Cassandra Minshull
Keith Moulin
Patrick O’Connor
Sam Plyler
Steven Proctor
Deland Quarles
Rhonda Reimold
Johna Rerko
Theora Scott
Brandi Shrawder
Erica Smallwood
Jeremy Spangler
Linda Strickler
Patricia Zinz
By Andrea Davidson, Quality Improvement Coordinator
July, “Good Housekeeping” was a tie between Buhl Court and Clarksville, both
received a score of 100% on the Infection Control Inspection.
August , “Best Use of the Digital Camera”-West First Street,
Venango County
September,
Buhl Court for
“Kitchen Cleanliness”
CHECK THIS OUT !!!
dFs is now on Facebook: visit us at www.facebook.com/diversifiedfamily
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By Carol Medford
Clients have been gathering together recently to learn about themselves as well
as to share ideas with each other. Thank you to HCQU staff who assisted us
with providing a series of trainings on relationships. This fall clients explored
how they feel about themselves as well as others through topics such as
understanding feelings and emotions, accepting themselves and others, and
building relationships. These sessions were well attended, and the participation
was very enthusiastic.
This coming spring another series of classes, which will center on acquiring
practical skills, will be offered. Diversified Family staff will lead these groups
on making good decisions, acquiring conversation skills, and learning about rights as well as responsibilities.
We hope that the clients will continue to find these opportunities to be both educational and fun.
By Carol Medford
On Thursday October 14, 2010, dFs held an open
house at the main office. A sign out front
announced that we were open to the public in the
afternoon for tours. That morning, staff busily
geared up for the festivities by creating
informational displays and sprucing up their offices,
while the clients and staff in CHAPS prepared food.
Once everything
was ready, staff
greeted visitors in
the lobby and took
them throughout the
building. The tours
ended in the
conference room,
where our guests could learn about the variety of
services offered by dFs as well as eat the
scrumptious homemade treats arranged and waiting
for them. Everyone had an enjoyable time. The
day was one more way for us to show that we excel
at teamwork, and we are proud to work for the dFs
family.
On Friday, December 17th dFs will be at Macy’s
from noon to 8 pm offering gift wrapping services
to Macy’s Shenango
Valley Mall
customers. We will
work in 3 hour shifts
with 3 people per
shift so we need 9
spirited souls to
volunteer their time (the last shift 6-8 will be only 2
hours but will also include clean-up). The gift
wrappings are $5.00 and $8.00 and dFs keeps all
the proceeds. Macy’s provides the
wrapping supplies. If you are a gift wrap guru
please volunteer your time for this fund raising
opportunity for dFs. To volunteer please call 724346-2123 and give your name and phone number to
the operator. THANK YOU !!!
by Stacey Cannon, RN
dFs participated in Passionately Pink for the Cure, raising $142.00 for the Susan G Komen
Fund. Employees contributed $5.00 to wear a pin and pink along with jeans on October 21st.
There was also a raffle for items that were donated by Stacey Cannon and Tiffany Johnson.
The winner of the raffle was Residential Program Supervisor, Michele Groover.
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Written by Ken Avery, TAA
Diversified Family Services’ (dFs) Community
Habilitation and Pre-Vocational Services department
(CHAPS) is a growing environment. CHAPS serves as a
way for clients to succeed in building the skills
necessary to perform in a competitive employment
setting, should they choose to pursue that opportunity.
There are many ways the CHAPS staff prepares the
clients for a future in the work place, from knitting,
vending machine sales, card making, and also sewing the
trendy Capri Sun bags.
Our media
department is
gradually becoming
a popular
opportunity for the
clients. This is a
great opportunity to
support their efforts
by purchasing
media services.
Currently, the most popular service offered through the
media department is the Digital Photo Converter, which
turns your memorable photos into data discs that can be
viewed either on a computer or a DVD player. The
clients not only enjoy performing the work, but they also
enjoy being able to view a history through pictures of the
staff members.
Another well-liked service includes our TEAC Multi
Music Player/ CD Recorder that can convert old records
and tapes into compact discs, which clients especially
enjoy this because they listen to a variety of different
types of music ranging from Beethoven and Mozart to
the Beatles and Beach Boys.
Last, our JVC DVD Video Recorder serves as a cost
efficient way to convert VHS home videos to a DVD
disc. This is a very popular service because VCRs are
becoming increasingly outdated; this serves as a way to
keep all your memories while keeping up with today’s
current technology.
Each work station in the media department provides
clients the opportunity to use skills needed to pursue
employment in the community; whether its problem
solving; such as finding the correct way to properly
place an oversized picture into the scanner, or attention
to detail like focusing on the correct recording speed is
selected when attempting to fit a home video onto a
DVD. Through working in the media department the
dFs clients not only receive training to learn the
necessary skills to perform in the work place, but also
have the opportunity to be involved with technological
advances that we all enjoy.
By Christina Sheirer
Come and join us for our 2010 dFs Client Holiday Party! The party will be held this year at the
dFs office on December 14th 2010 from 11am-2pm.Lunch will be provided and there will be
games and activities along with festive holiday music! Jay Brenner, a magician will perform.
Please join us and remember to wear your favorite holiday attire! Please RSVP to the
receptionist at the front desk by December 7th, 2010.
Support dFs this year at the Hermitage Light-Up Night Parade Saturday, November 20, 2010 at 6:00 p.m.
Look for the Christmas Tree Forest Float sponsored by dFs and featuring handmade ornaments and decorations
made by the individuals we serve. If you are interested in making a tax deductable donation, please call dFs for
a list of items that are still needed.
The official registration and financial information of Diversified Family Services, Inc may be obtained from the Pennsylvania Department of State by calling
toll-free, within Pennsylvania, 1-800-732-0999. Registration does not imply endorsement. Diversified Family Services is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization –
donations to which are tax deductible to the fullest extent permitted by law.
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Dr. Frank McElree Recognized at Annual Meeting
By Andrea Davidson
Dr. Frank E. McElree has recently resigned from the dFs Board of
Directors. At the agency’ annual meeting on September 28th, Board President Jim
Stevenson and Executive-Director Marilyn Klemens presented him with an
inscribed brick in his honor for our courtyard and also the agency’s “Star of the
Month” award.
Dr. Frank began working with our agency in 1998 as our medical
consultant. For the next seven years, he provided oversight to our health services and also wrote a popular
column for our agency newsletter titled “Frank’s Suggestions.”
Stacey Cannon, Health Services Coordinator, remembers Dr. McElree as a physician who took extra
time to really talk with both clients and staff, frequently inquiring about the staff’s family and activities. Dr
McElree’s warm personality, along with his generous deliveries of food for the office staff, endeared him to the
entire dFs family.
In 2005, when dFs no longer continued JCAHO accreditation, Dr. McElree resigned his medical
consultant position and became a member of the board. He was a faithful, generous and valuable member of the
board. He actively served on various committees, including Building Committee, Audit/Finance Committee
and Board Development Committee. Dr. McElree and his wife Gerry purchased the flag pole for the agency,
contributed to the building fund, and were staunch supporters of all three Celebrity Doodles fundraisers.
All of us here at dFs want to express our deepest appreciation to Dr. McElree for his years of dedicated
service to our agency.
Tis` the Season
The Community Awareness Committee is sponsoring a food drive to benefit the Shenango Valley Food Warehouse. For every item brought in before November 12 for the drive, a coupon will be given for a chance to win a dFs Camp chair. The more items….. the more chances………!
Come be a part of the Holiday cheer.
Join Diversified Family Services
in our First Holiday Sing Along.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
5:30p-9:30p, singing starts at 7:00p
Refreshments and Santa’s workshop
(handmade merchandise by CHAPS
clients); a children’s activity table will be
available free of charge, however
donations are welcome.
Holy Trinity Lutheran Church
3325 Morefield Rd. Hermitage, PA 16148
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Diversified Family Services
5454 East State Street
P.O. Box 1027
Hermitage, PA 16148
www.diversifiedfamily.org
“Helping Families Since 1985”
Please help fill the box NONPROFIT ORG.
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SHARON, PA
PERMIT NO. 133
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BOARD OF DIRECTORS
President ....................Jim Stevenson
Vice President ...... Audra Kosmowski
Secretary .............. Andrea Davidson
Treasurer ................... Carole Giroski
Member ...................... Jennifer Cidila
Member ............... Dana Frankenburg
Member .............. Marilyn Heckathorn
Member ............. Rosemarie Janosko
Member ....................... Ken Johnston
Member ................... Timothy Thomas
Member ...........................Meg Mirizio
Member ...................... James Shaffer
Member .................. Russell Swauger
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