Friends and Supporters,
Welcome to the TCFD Newsletter. May was an incredible month, where we continued to establish strategic connections, celebrated new life on the farm, and watched with awe and anticipation as our Children’s Specialty Hospital continued to take shape.
As always, we are grateful for our amazing staff for bringing joy to all of our residents and students in so many ways.
Here’s a few brief highlights from the month of May:
Children’s Specialty Hospital Update
The development of the Children’s Specialty Hospital is moving along at a great pace. The new roof is weather-tight. This month, we anticipate the walls and ceilings to be sheet rocked in the ASD “Neighborhoods” as well as in the classroom wing.
In the area specially designed for the medically fragile, a “porte cochere” will be constructed for non-ambulatory vehicles to stop and discharge patients and families, store-front glass will be installed on the lower level, and new windows on the upper two floors. Windows in the patient rooms will be “operable” which means they can be opened outwardly – a valuable option we learned about during the pandemic. The Hospital is expected to be complete in early 2023.
In May, a team from NORC, an independent research institution at the University of Chicago, completed a 2-day full site visit to The Center. The team toured the entire agency and conducted more than two dozen interviews with staff members and residents – part of a project to evaluate and formally document TCFD’s model of care, including how it can benefit a wide range of older adults.
The project was made possible by a John A. Hartford Foundation grant. “This work will allow us to further develop our strategic priorities, as well as to better share our success with others around the world,” said Helena le Roux Ohm, TCFD Vice President of Strategic Partnerships.
The NORC team will continue to conduct interviews in the coming weeks with additional staff and families.
Thank you to the Mother Cabrini Foundation for their support of our Children’s Specialty Hospital!
Representatives from the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation, a generous supporter of the Children’s Specialty Hospital, tour the renovation and development.
NYU Visits TCFD!
In May, we had a wonderful visit with a team from the Steinhardt School of Education at New York University. Steinhardt is home to 195 degrees and programs including: Education, Speech, Occupational, Physical and Music Therapy, Rehabilitation, Psychology and Nutrition.
They were so interested to see our unique, multi-disciplinary approach to caring for and teaching our community of complex residents and students.
The 2021 TCFD Annual Report is Out!
For an inspiring look at our agency-wide work in 2021 – please review our 2021 Annual report at: https://bit.ly/TCFD2021AnnualReport. Pass along to your colleagues, family, and friends!
Congratulations to our Medical Director, Dr. Philip Wilken!
Please help us congratulate The Center for Discovery’s Medical Director, Dr. Phil Wilken, who has been named the “Pediatric Preceptor of the Year” from 3rd year students at Touro College where he teaches.
We agree with his students! He is also our “expert & mentor,” and has been a fearless leader through the uncertainty of the pandemic. Congratulations, Dr. Wilken!
Our Integrated Arts virtual training series is well underway!
Please check out the latest mini-series: Planning & Organizing Seasonal Activities, Preparing your Garden for Spring, and Activities for Sports Fans. You can find these videos on our YouTube Channel at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdtZwycD_iGL-viQKnulz7g.
Life Abounds Here on the Farm!
Between lots of newborn baby animals and fields sprouting with tons of vegetables, we are surrounded by new life here at The Center. Over at our Sweet Hill campus alone we recently welcomed 16- dairy kids, 12-Boer kids, and 16- lambs.
Our students and residents, along with Educational, Clinical, and Farm teams, have been working hard tagging the goats, setting up fencing, and moving all animals out to their pastures. They have also been cleaning up beds, planting seeds and seedlings in the medicinal gardens at the Thanksgiving Farm & Community School. The teams are also working on other small gardens and boxes on the South Campus and outside of our residential homes.
Our popular Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) program had a bounty in its first week of the season – offering fresh lettuce, arugula, spinach, kale, bok choy, scallions, yellow onions, radishes and TCFD’s famous bread.
Sweet Success!
A bake sale by our amazing Self-Advocate Group was a huge success last month.
On day one alone, our advocate chefs sold out of the “Goodness Great Chocolate Cakes” in 5 minutes and had to go back to their kitchens to make more for the next two days. Representatives from six residential homes took part in baking and selling the chocolate cakes, “Royal Bars,” “Marvelous Macaroons,” and “Pina Colada Cakes.” The earnings of $450 will go towards self-advocacy events this summer! (All recipes were of course approved by our DNA® Department.)
We are so proud of their work and the ongoing support they receive from our staff!
Paw-rific Birthday Bash!
Our Animal Assisted Intervention and Education (AAIE) facility dogs turned 2 years old last month – wow! Birthday hats, some bacon, peanut butter and a few presents were enough to make Sully, Millie, Hurley, and Monti very happy. They even shared with big sibling Leland (royal blue hat).