IN OUR CIRCLE . . . Spring Update from Ardmore Enterprises | May 18, 2021
IN THIS ISSUE
Do More 24
At Ardmore Days
Reemerging
Hello Ardmore
Annual Meeting
Click Here to go to our website and download as a PDF or view as JPEG.
Do More 24 is Wed, May 19
The annual 24-hour online fundraiser

Your participation in Do More 24 will open doors (literally) for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Now that flowers are blooming and people are emerging from winter rest and from the COVID-19 quarantine, we need your help to create safe, social outdoors spaces for the people who have chosen Ardmore for residential services.

Your donation will enable us to purchase appropriate outdoor furniture, improve landscaping and fortify hardscapes at the homes so residents can congregate safely with their friends and family. Here are few ways you can DO MORE to make this campaign successful:

  1. Make a donation. Any amount—$24, $124, $500, even $10—will make a difference in the life of someone we support. Donate though our Do More 24 page or directly through our PayPal page.
  2. Ask two friends to make a donation to Ardmore via DM24. Just two friends! (Well, it’s okay to ask more.) People are more likely support a cause important to you, if you ask them directly. Forward an email (this one), make a call or send a text with Ardmore’s DM24 link.
  3. Share on your social media Ardmore’s DM24 page or Facebook page. That’s an easy way to show your friends what you care about.

Donations are accepted all day Wednesday up until 11:59 pm. But you don’t have to wait. Click now to Do More.

Do More 24, powered by United Way of the National Capital Region, is the DMV’s largest online fundraiser
At Ardmore Days
Dig in and sponsor a team

Traditionally, April at Ardmore has been our designated annual National Volunteer Month engagement activity where we gather to work the soil and beautify the exterior of a group home. Last year, April at Ardmore was cancelled due to COVID-19 and this year, we decided to ease back in with a mini version.

On May 1st, we put on masks, donned work gloves and headed out to one of Ardmore’s community homes, which is home to four men with disabilities. We raked, trimmed, dug, planted and watered. We also learned much and are ready to take on more.

We will continue with AT ARDMORE DAYS, a community volunteer experience to clean up and beautify the landscaping of two more homes before mid-July. But, not only to make the yard look nice; more importantly to Create Safe, Social Outdoor Spaces for the people we support to gather and connect with their family and friends.

Dig in and join us as a Team Sponsor. We will be setting up dates and combining teams over the next two weeks. Interested? Contact Tammie Harris to sign up and get more information.

See photos from the May 1st event. Thank you to The Dawson Team of volunteers, our Ardmore Family Crew, the residents of the home, and our Green Thumb Sponsors: Beltsville Lawns and coProductions LLC.
Reemerging

Leaving our homes
It has been more than a year since we closed ourselves in our homes because of the global pandemic. We are all ready to step outside and be active in our communities. With the new CDC guidelines, we are taking it slow and cautiously as we prepare for the people we support to re-enter the workforce and join neighbors in select outdoor activities.
Transitioning to In-person Supports
For the last three months, Ardmore’s Day & Employment teams have been working on our plan to transition back to in-person supports. We are engaged in conversations and collaborations at local, state and national level and updating safety protocols for a phased-in approach.

Our service delivery will look different than pre-COVID-19. However, we will be working with each person (in the future as we have in the past) to customize the supports that best meet their personal goals and needs to live a fulfilling life. To optimize the delivery of person-first supports, our new service module will continue to include a hybrid of in-person, virtual, and tele-support.
Hello Ardmore!
Virtual Monthly Ardmore Family Meeting

In January, we introduced a new way of communicating with the people we support, their families, our staff, and our board of directors. Hello Ardmore! is an invitational monthly Zoom meeting to keep our Ardmore Family informed and engaged, to acknowledge accomplishments and to celebrate and explore whatever we can—our birthdays, national holidays, community events, even the emerging of the 17-year cicadas.

Of course, COVID-19 Updates was on the agenda most months. We made presentations on our response and operating procedures, tips on staying safe and well, our vaccine clinic schedule, and the importance of vaccinations. We heard the personal and devastating impact coronavirus had on the family of one staff person. Her touching story encouraged us to live life to the fullest. It also motivated people supported, family members and staff to get vaccinated.
We applauded Agnes Johnson, Community Supports Manager, and Andrea Williams, Program Coordinator, for completing DSP-II training, a 70-hour Maryland Direct Support Professional (MDDSP) program. For Administrative Professionals Day, we saluted our indispensable Administrative Team through a thank you video.

We celebrated Women’s History Month with a salute to Beatrice Rodgers, who for over four decades has been a champion for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, their families and the professionals who support them.
As part of Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month, Kevin Jamison was interviewed live about his years with Ardmore and his experience as a self-advocate on the Board of Directors. And, Prince George’s County Council Chair, Calvin S. Hawkins, II, recognized and presented (see video) Ardmore with a Proclamation signed by himself and Vice Chair, Deni L. Taveras.

This Covid period has been stressful for everyone. At Ardmore, we take the health and well-being of both our staff and those we support seriously. Through Hello Ardmore! we dedicated time to discuss coping with loss and grief and virtually lit candles for those who died during the last year.
Last month, we discussed emerging from the pandemic cocoon and Karen Denise Smith, Community Support Specialist, shared a few of her favorite personal self-care tips. More recently, our special guest for Mental Health Awareness Month, health and wellness coach Serena Wills of Divine Wryte Wellness, guided us through relaxation and breathing exercises as part of her talk on Your Mental Health and Self-care.

Our next Hello Ardmore! is scheduled for Thursday, June 10th from 12:30 -1:15. If you are a part of our Ardmore Family and have not received an invitation to join the meeting, please email Tammie Harris.
Annual Meeting
Theme: Because I Care About Others

Ardmore’s 58th Annual Meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, June 16, 2021 from 5:30-7:00. We will share highlights from the meeting, including video of our In Community Together Award recipients and other honorees, in a July special bulletin.