It is with heavy hearts that we share the news that a very special member of the Woodfords community, James Bradford Rich, passed away in late June. More than 55 years ago, Woodfords was founded by Alan and Katrina Rich who sought better, more specialized educational services for their Jimmy. Jimmy was the first student in Woodfords’ inaugural class, joined by the children of the four other founding families. Alongside the work of the founding families and countless volunteers, the Rich’s dedication to provide opportunities for Jimmy to maximize his potential is how Woodfords’ school grew to serve more than 200 students at the peak of its enrollment. As Woodfords’ very first consumer, Jimmy and his family’s belief in his potential are the foundation that the organization was built on, and still grounds the mission of our work today.  

Woodfords recently invited Rep. Drew Gattine of Westbrook to celebrate the successful passage and funding of LD 1309, a bill that provides educational funding for Maine’s early intervention preschool programs. This funding is a critical life line, and will allow providers across the state to stabilize and rebuild their preschool programs after years of chronic underfunding. Rep. Gattine, with bi-partisan support, championed this critical piece of legislation throughout the session and was a pivotal voice in our advocacy efforts. Rep. Gattine was welcome by a large crowd of Woodfords' early intervention teachers holding glitter filled signs and thank you artwork made by students. Rep. Gattine spoke about the success of the funding approval and recognized the incredible impact of the advocacy efforts of the many staff and consumer families who participated by contacting their legislators. It was an inspiring moment shared by all. Thank you for your hard work Rep. Gattine! 

Get ready for the twists, turns, and adventure of our 2023 Auction Gala on Saturday, September 23 from 6 pm – 10 pm at the Sheraton Sable Oaks in South Portland! With more than 200 silent and 20 live auction items to bid on, plus special entertainment, and our famous Wall of Wine you are sure to have a night you will never forget! Tickets will go on sale in August, stay tuned on our website for more details!

Don’t forget that this coming Saturday, July 22 is our annual Family Fun Day event from 9:30 am – 12:30 pm at the Maine Wildlife Park! Park entry and lunch are included for all Woodfords consumers, staff, and their families. The event is rain or shine, if the Park is open, we’ll be there. Help us “paint the park purple” by wearing purple or your favorite Woodfords gear. See on you Saturday! 

Last month we hosted our first ever Cornhole Classic where 250 people shared a rainy afternoon at the Gorham Sports Center. The tournament saw 53 teams who participated in a 4-game round robin to qualify for the final elimination tournaments where Woodfords’ first Cornhole Classic Champions were crowned. A big shout out to Abracadabra Productions and Party Palooga, sponsored by Five County Credit Union for entertaining our spectators; and to Jumpin’ Joe from Wicked Cornhole who made sure the tournament ran smoothly! Overall we raised a net total of $6,500 for Woodfords’ programs. Thank you to our volunteers and sponsors: Capozza Floor Covering Center, Clark Insurance, J.B. Brown & Sons, Locations Real Estate Group, Delta Dental, and Phoenix Welding for helping to make our first-ever event a smashing success! 

This past spring, Woodfords closed on the purchase of a 22,000 square foot facility in Manchester, formerly owned and occupied by the Kennebec Valley YMCA. This purchase marked the first step in the agency’s strategic plan to significantly increase service delivery in Central Maine where services for children, youth, and adults with disabilities remain difficult to secure and maintain. Currently, Woodfords leases a small office space in Manchester that has proudly anchored the agency’s Central Maine service delivery for many years. Before transitioning to the new location, Woodfords intends to significantly renovate and update the facility to meet its specific programmatic needs and enable the agency to offer a more robust continuum of programs and services to the community. Woodfords is proud of this milestone moment in its history and looks forward to watching the Central Maine expansion continue to unfold.

Tammy, a consumer in our Adult Case Management Program, had always dreamed of holding a consistent job where she could enjoy work and maximize her potential as an employee. Specifically, Tammy dreamed of landing a job at Goodwill. With the encouragement of her Woodfords Case Manager, Nancy Gavel, Tammy looked into Goodwill’s job openings and ultimately applied to work in one of their group homes. Through this application, Goodwill was able to vet Tammy and learn more about her skills and experience and ultimately refer her to their work experience program. Goodwill’s work experience program gave Tammy the opportunity to ‘try out’ a job at their Mill Creek retail location in South Portland. After Tammy’s successful completion of the program, she was hired on as a regular employee at the Mill Creek store. Tammy enjoys organizing the shelves around the store and working the register where she can interact more directly with customers. She proudly walks across the Casco Bay Bridge to get to and from work every day and is so thankful that she was given the opportunity to prove herself as a capable worker and land her dream job with Goodwill!

For the first time, Woodfords’ Pre-K & K-5 Schools have collectively been included on the 2023 WinterKids Downhill 24 Outdoor Fund Ballot in the non-profit organization category! Cast your vote now to help our schools win a grant of up to $10,000 to enhance our student’s outdoor learning experiences! Voting is open NOW through Friday, July 28^th and the winners will be announced in August.