News at Waban
Bowling day is a pretty exciting day at Walter's house. Walter is a resident in a Waban home, where he lives with 3 other men. He and his housemates look forward to the regular Tuesday night league where they bowl for a few hours with a group of 40 bowlers. The group is comprised of various residents and friends of Waban Projects, Inc. The bowling league has been so popular with them and all the other participants that it has increased over the years from a 10-week non-competitive league only once a year to competitive and non-competitive leagues several times a year.
In teams of four, bowlers compete for the top spot and take home trophies awarded at an end-of-league pizza party. Last time, the "Pink Ladies" from Waban's Main Street apartments took the top spot. As the bowlers gain experience, they plan their strategy for the next competition by choosing teammates, hoping to build the winning team. Walter has several trophies he's very proud of and his housemate Jimmy says they "want to fill the wall up with trophies!" Jimmy even takes the competitive spirit further by walking from his nearby home to the Bowl-A-Rama, trying to get there before the home's van full of his housemates. (read more)
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A team of Waban residents and staff during league night at Bowl-A-Rama, L to R, front to back: Jason, Paul, Marc (staff), Jimmy, Jean (staff), Walter and Assistant Residential Director Dorinda Vezina, holding her baby. |
Michael, a Waban resident, gets ready to take his turn bowling. |
Secure Records Management Systems (SecureRMS), a document destruction and paper shredding company recently hired two additional sorters for their confidential information destruction business. SecureRMS, located in Sanford, ME., is a social enterprise of WABAN, a nonprofit organization that has been providing services to children and adults with developmental and other disabilities, throughout York County, for over 40 years.
Over the last 18 months, as part of their secure shredding and recycling process, the environmental impact and natural resources saved due to the tons of paper securely shredded translates to 2,131 trees saved, 877,380 gallons of water saved, 513,894 kilowatts of energy saved, 7,520 pounds of pollutants kept out of the atmosphere, and 627 cubic yards of landfill saved. The financial value of these savings equals over $640,000.00.
SecureRMS provides secure document destruction services throughout Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont and takes pride in providing high quality and nationally certified (NAID) services, at competitive prices, with the value added of creating jobs for people with disabilities and directing all proceeds to support programs for children and adults with special needs. (In photo ~ Tim H and Chris H along with Laura B and Liz H who are sitting on a 1,200 lb. bale of shredded paper)
More information about how SecureRMS can meet your document destruction needs is available on their website at http://www.securerms.com/
Businesses donate to Waban, Imelda Fund
Thursday, November 24, 2011
SANFORD — Three Sanford-based organizations received surprise donations from Priority Group, Nouria Energy, Sanford Institution for Savings and McDonald's at the Sanford Town Hall on Wednesday, Nov. 16.
A couple of weeks ago, these businesses held a grand-opening ribbon-cutting ceremony at their new locations near the roundabout at the intersection of routes 109 and 4.
At the town hall, Priority Group President and CEO Jim Howard presented a check for $2,500 to Waban Executive Director Neal Meltzer and Waban Board Chair Jerry MacConnell. Waban, headquartered on Route 4, strives to meet the needs of local children and adults with developmental disabilities. The organization serves more than 1,000 people each year through its donations and volunteer efforts. (read more)
Back to School for Senators
Last spring, thousands of children ages 3 to 5 across the state with diagnoses of Autism, developmental delay, Down Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, and other disabilities were on the brink of having their critically necessary, federally mandated, therapies and educational treatment eliminated. Changes in the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Maine Care and Department of Education (DOE) Child Development Services programs, that would result in severely restricted eligibility criteria and funding reductions up to 50%, were just weeks away from being implemented. These drastic changes would have led to dozens of special purpose preschool programs, from Kittery to Fort Kent, having no choice but to close their doors and classrooms, with hundreds of dedicated and highly skilled teachers and assistants losing their jobs.
It was at this point that Senate Majority Leader Jonathan Courtney, along with
Senator President Kevin Raye and House Speaker Robert Nutting, called and coordinated late night and early morning meetings with DHHS Commissioner Mary Mayhew, DOE Commissioner Steven Bowen, their respective staff, and representatives from the Maine Association for Community Service Providers (MACSP). Through their efforts a crisis was avoided and the safety net of services for some of Maine's youngest and most vulnerable population remained intact. (read more)
Pictured: Meg Waters,Director, Waban Fraser Ford Child Development Center; Senate President Kevin Raye; Neal Meltzer,Waban Executive Director; Senate Majority Leader Jonathan Courtney
Students from St. Thomas School recently immersed themselves in an environmental water study at Waban's TREE Center, a four-season Therapeutic Recreation and Experiential Education center where people can use the waterfront, explore the grounds and trails, study the environment, engage in leadership development and hold special functions year round in Sanford. (read more)
Richard Gould
Richard Gould, long time supporter of WABAN and a driving force in the Annual Telethon recently passed away. Donations may be made in his memory by clicking on the PayPal link below. When reviewing your donation, please select "Any message for Waban?" and note that your donation is in memory of Richard.
On September 21, 2011 Senator Courtney received a Legislative Advocacy Award from the Maine Association for Community Service Providers (MACSP) for his state-wide efforts to ensure that the services necesssary to provide the critical supports to children and adults with developmental disabilities remain viable through the difficult economic climate that our state is experiencing. Read more.....
The summer is coming to an end and that means back to school for the families of
Southern Maine. Many children will be starting school for the first time, entering kindergarten with mixed feelings of excitement, intimidation, anticipation and joy, but generally capable of the expectations that go with leaving home for a few hours and functioning in a classroom. They know their names, speak in small sentences and show levels of understanding in behavior, language, counting and playing. While many people take for granted the abilities their children have as they grow from birth to age 5, some parents begin to notice that their children need help with certain skills. Waban's
Fraser-Ford
Child
Development
Center addresses these needs for preschool children with autism, developmental disabilities, severe medical issues,
Downs syndrome and other developmental delays with the goal of transitioning to public school systems. (read more)
Connie Garnett,
Fraser-Ford
Child
Development
Center teacher, leads pre-school students and teachers to Waban's
Training
Center, where 42 children were "graduated" to attend public school kindergarten.