The League for People with Disabilities is committed to offering individuals the opportunity to gain independence, increase self-sufficiency and to improve the quality of life.
|
|
Adult Medical Day Participants are Back at The League
|
|
On June 1, 2021, The League welcomed staff and participants back in person to the Adult Medical Day program. The program is currently operating with a limited number of participants, averaging 30 participants a day.
On August 2, the program will open up even more with an average of 60 participants are scheduled to attend daily. All participants who are attending in-person are required to be vaccinated, and virtual programming through League University is still taking place.
“Staff and participants are so excited to be back together in-person. While we have had much success over the past year with our virtual programming, many of our participants missed the person to person interaction and we are pleased to be offering that again,” said Renee Dash, Vice President of Medical Programs and Chief Nursing Officer at The League.
The League’s Adult Medical Day program is designed specifically to address the mental, cognitive and physical challenges of adults with a variety of disabilities. The program serves participants ages 18 and up who are living with traumatic brain injury, neurological impairment or disabilities resulting from stroke, mental health, congenital impairment, seizure disorders or other medical conditions.
|
|
Adult Medical Day staff and participants pictured here at The League, participating in trivia games during one of their programs
|
For more information on The League’s Adult Medical Day program:
|
|
|
|
June was Aphasia Awareness Month |
|
Did You Know?
Aphasia is an impairment of language, affecting the production or comprehension of speech and the ability to read or write. Aphasia is always due to injury to the brain -most commonly from a stroke, particularly in older individuals. But brain injuries resulting in aphasia may also arise from head trauma, brain tumors, and/or from infections.
|
This year, the National Aphasia Awareness Association invited the community to come together to in June to #PictureAphasia.
Each week participants and caregivers could share what living with aphasia is like. What does navigating daily activities, such as eating at restaurants, buying groceries, travelling, or shopping, feel like? Results from these surveys will be compiled into Aphasia Snapshots to be shared soon.
They also shared unique See It/Say It speech activities, designed to strengthen communication skills using videos and images.
Participants shared photos throughout the month in a #PictureThis initiative.
|
The League's SCALE Aphasia Program discussed several of these Aphasia Awareness topics to participate along with the community throughout the month of June.
They also provided their participants and their loved ones with some materials to spread awareness, including this Top 10 Tips sheet.
For more information on The League’s SCALE Aphasia program:
|
|
|
|
Honoring Phil and Marni Wetzler |
|
On Wednesday June 30, longtime volunteer, Phil Wetzler, and his late wife Marni, were honored in an intimate garden ceremony at The League.
Phil was acknowledged for his incredible support and commitment to The League and our participants.
Herb Kasoff, a longtime supporter of The League, participated in the ceremony honoring Phil.
|
Thank you, Phil,
for being such a dedicated friend to The League!
|
|
|
|
Celebrating The League's Milestone Donors |
|
In 2021, The League is excited to celebrate the continued support of our milestone donors!
Without your dedicated and continued support, we would not be able to provide amazing services to our participants.
The League salutes each of you, and ALL of our generous supporters!
|
The League makes every effort to ensure that donor information is listed accurately. If there is something that appears incorrect, please contact the Vice President, Development Lauren Yankolonis at [email protected] or 410-323-0300 x308. |
|
Celebrating 20 Years
David & Beth Dafner
Julie Hettleman
John & Cheryl Strom
Celebrating 25 Years
Barry & Ilene Blum
Lowry Brooks Sr.
Richard & Nancy Doran
Alan Evans
Ann Kahan
Stephen Kolodny
H. Edward Townsley
Gerald & Linda Mondell
Victor & Ellen Mullan
Gary & Susan Talles
|
|
|
|
Welcome New Staff to The League |
|
The League is hiring, and as an #employerofchoice we strive to be the best place to work for our team of dedicated staff. Since June 2021, The League has hired 12 new staff members to join our growing team.
Here are a few of our new staff members to highlight:
|
Dawn Witherspoon, SPHR, SHRM-SCP
Vice President, Human Resources & Compliance
Dawn joins The League’s Executive Leadership Team with 20+ years of hands-on progressive human resources and strategic operations experience in the health-care and non-profit industries, including 10+ years of management experience.
|
Latoya Hunter
Director of Medical Day Operations
In this role, Latoya will supervise administrative functions of the department, along with Caroline Mwangi overseeing clinical operations.
|
Lisa Thornburg, MS, CCC-SLP
Director, SCALE Aphasia Program
Lisa has been a speech language pathologist for over 30 years working at every level of care in the area of adult neuro-rehabilitation, including acute care, inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation and home health care. In addition, Lisa has management and administration experience.
Lisa was the Assistant Director of the SCALE Aphasia Program from 2008-2020, and we are thrilled to have her back on our team again.
|
Please join us in welcoming all of our new staff members! The League is hiring, and we currently have open positions. |
|
|
|
Board of Directors Updates |
|
The League’s Board of Directors is a dedicated team of volunteer leaders who generously give their time and resources to support our mission. With the start of a new fiscal year in July, The League would like to announce new additions and updates for our Board of Directors roster. |
Thank you Andy Snyder!
After serving as Board Chair since 2017, Andy Snyder will be ending his term in this leadership role, and will remain on the Board of Directors as the Immediate Past Chair.
Many thanks to Andy for his continued dedication to The League.
|
New Board Officers
In July, the following Board Members began their terms as Board Officers:
· Board Chair – Nicole Urquhart-Bradley
· Board Vice Chair – Mindy Geppi
· Board Treasurer – Ethan Nochumowitz
· Board Secretary – Barry Gordon, M.D., Ph.D.
Thank you to Nicole, Mindy, Ethan and Barry for your commitment to The League’s Board of Directors, and we look forward to working with you in these roles!
|
Welcome Kris Meyer!
Welcome Kris Meyer to The League’s Board of Directors. Kris and her husband, John, have offered years of volunteer time and contributions to The League, and we are thrilled to have her join our Board of Directors. Kris is also the Co-Chair of the 5th Annual #OMGFOOD event.
|
|
|
|
Summer Greetings from Our President & CEO |
|
Greetings,
Happy Summer!
As you can see, here at The League we have kicked off a very busy summer with the re-opening of some programs in person, several new hires, and celebrating our donors and volunteers as they continue to go above and beyond in their commitment to our mission.
I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge Andy Snyder, the Immediate Past Chair of The League’s Board of Directors. Andy joined the Board of Directors when The League merged with the SCALE Aphasia Program in 2014, and has been an invaluable asset to The League as the Board Chair for the past four years. Thank you Andy for your commitment to The League!
I would also like to take the opportunity to welcome Nicole Urquhart-Bradley as our incoming Board Chair. Nicole’s leadership qualities and passion for the mission of The League will prepare her to be a successful Board Chair, and I look forward to working with her in this role.
Finally, some more exciting news to share! One of the three goals of The League’s current three-year strategic plan is increase The League’s visibility in the community. One of the several action items to achieve this goal was to improve our signage at Cold Spring Lane and The Alameda. I am excited to share that last week, we installed new signage that not only provides a high quality of logo visibility during the day, but lights up at night. I feel confident that this sign will help make us more noticeable in our community.
|
As we continue to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, and make decisions regarding re-opening of programs, we will continue to keep you informed. For a current update, you can visit our COVID-19 Updates page on our website.
I hope you enjoyed this summer edition of The League’s E-Newsletter. Wishing you and your loved ones a very happy, healthy and safe summer ahead!
|
Sincerely, The League's new sign, which lights up at night
|
David A. Greenberg
President & CEO
|
|
|
|
Your gift to The League’s Annual Fund allows The League to continue providing important services in our community. |
|
You can also mail a check made payable to “The League for People with Disabilities” to:
The League, c/o Annual Fund
1111 E. Cold Spring Lane
Baltimore, MD 21239
|
|
THE LEAGUE'S 2021-2022 BOARD of DIRECTORS
Nicole Urquhart-Bradley, Board Chair • Mindy Geppi, Vice Chair
Ethan Nochumowitz, Treasurer • Barry Gordon, M.D., Ph.D, Secretary
Carol Dodson • Bradley Fowler • James Hettleman • Janice Jackson • Richard M. Katz, M.D. • Kris Meyer
Terri Seitz Parrish • Jason Perlow • Sharri Rochlin • Andrew Slutkin • Andrew Snyder
THE LEAGUE'S EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP TEAM
David A. Greenberg, President & CEO • Margretta Ryan, Sr. VP, Finance • Dawn Witherspoon, VP, HR & Compliance • Renée Dash, VP, Medical Programs/Chief Nursing Officer • Rhonda Johnson, VP, Customer Relations •
Lauren Yankolonis, VP, Development
|
|
For more information, you can visit our website at www.leagueforpeople.org, and follow us on our Facebook page; “The League for People with Disabilities”.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
