Last month we celebrated more than 450 incredible staff with Woodfords’ annual Employee Appreciation Week. Post cards of appreciation, fun raffles, Woodfords pride, and Wake up with Woodfords Waffle Parties filled the week! The fun week culminated with Woodfords Night 2026, where we announced our 2026 Employee Award winners, raffled off 25 themed baskets donated by Board and Management Team members, and raffled off three jackpot prizes to our luckiest ‘gamblers’ in the audience! A big shout out to Casino to You, All-In Entertainment, and the Italian Heritage Center in Portland for helping make this year’s party another great success!  



Our 2026 Employee Award winners are: 

The Woodfords Wildcat Award

Lori Adler

BHP School-Based, Southern ME & Foster Family Support Worker, TFC

Aimee Brown

Coordinator, Shared Living

Ami-Lyn Hight

Assistant Lead Teacher, ECS, Waterville

Venancie Minani

DSP, Expeditions

Allyssa Vitalone

Lead Teacher, SPPS, Westbrook

The Rookie of the Year Award

Molly Cadogan

Physical Therapist, SPPS, Westbrook

Debra Poli

Coordinator, Shared Living

Alexandra Shampine

Ed Tech II, SPPS, Pineland

JoAnn White

DSP, Expeditions

Austin Woodbury, BHP, School Based, Southern ME

The Luminary Award

Ashley Butler

Care Coordinator,

Behavioral Health Homes

Alana Dunham

Field Supervisor, RCS, Central ME

Edward Laboke

Assistant Coordinator, Residential

Poni Woja

DSP, Residential

The Alan & Katrina Rich Excellence in Advocacy Award

Stacey Jensen

RN Consultant, Training

Juley Nickerson

Case Manager, Adult Case Management

Shelby Shurtleff

Senior BHP, School-Based, Central ME

The Visionary Award

Amanda Berry

Licensing & Placement Coordinator, TFC

Erin Demers

Senior BCBA, SPPS, Pineland

Shannon Howe

Coordinator, Residential

April is Occupational Therapy month! To celebrate, the Occupational Therapists (OTs) in our Westbrook School have put together a special sensory themed Amazon Wish List. Occupational therapists play a vital role in our special purpose Pre-K and K-5 Schools, helping students learn, grow, and develop in a wide variety of areas. Please join us in supporting our OTs’ significant contributions to our students by purchasing an item off of their wish list! 

Registration is now open for Woodfords’ annual Cornhole Classic Tournament! This year the tournament will be held on Saturday, May 16th at the Gorham Sports Center. Two-person teams participate in a round robin leading into two single elimination rounds—one for the highest scoring teams and one for social teams. Play will be managed by Real Wicked Events. Registration opens at 12 p.m. Bean bags fly at 1 p.m. Walk in registration if space permits; the fee for walk in teams is $75.

Thank you to this year's sponsors for their support of the tournament:

Aging Kingdom Homecare

Christopher Signore,

Garnsey Brothers Insurance

Minuteman Press

Orlando Insurance Agency

Precision Garage Door Service

With eleven months of construction completed, the agency’s new Central Maine Community Service Hub in Manchester, Maine, is nearing completion! As we move into Spring, we are excited to furnish and outfit the space to bring our vision for this hub to life. The building features 6 preschool and K-5 classrooms, a life-skills lab, a large training center, and space for professionals to significantly expand school and community-based programming in the region.

None of this progress would be possible without the generosity of our community members. Your continued support will enhance the services that will enable the inclusion of Central Maine’s most vulnerable community members for decades to come.

Mark your calendars! J.McLaughlin, a boutique retailer located in Wells, will be hosting a Sip & Shop event on Saturday, April 18^th to support Woodfords programs and services again this year. Join us for the in-store Sip & Shop where a portion of all sales made that day will benefit Woodfords! We are so grateful for the continued support and partnership with J.McLaughlin! 

Pike Industries, one of the largest asphalt and aggregate material producer in New England, has donated $500 to support our Extended School Year (ESY) summer program in Central Maine this summer! Pike has been a generous partner to the program since it’s development and we appreciate their continued support!  

Woodfords’ consumers and their families are invited to register for our 2^nd annual Sensory Skate Night on Saturday, May 2^nd from 5-7pm at Happy Wheels in Westbrook! Happy Wheels is hosting a private event for Woodfords’ consumers and their families that will feature lower lighting and lower volume music. Parents, caregivers, and providers can join on to the rink with or without skates to support their skaters. This event is open to the first 175 skaters and their families who register. Please complete the registration form, and include information for all skaters. The form will ask you for your “registration name,” this is the name you will use to check in at the event.

Throughout the month of April, Happy Wheels will be raising funds to support Woodfords and this event with a register round up! Anyone who makes a purchase at the rink will be asked if they want to round up their total to the nearest dollar to support the agency! We appreciate Happy Wheels’ continued partnership and support! 

New this school year, Woodfords’ Westbrook Preschool has launched a fun and exciting opportunity for staff from various programs and departments to participate in school life through story time and talent sharing. Readers and sharers have included senior leadership, program directors, administrative staff, program staff and more! Students and staff have enjoyed the opportunity to connect and learn from one another, with many volunteers returning on a regular basis! These pictures only show a fraction of the joy and laughter created by launching such a simple, yet meaningful opportunity. School staff thank all of their volunteers! 

Woodfords Family Services

is committed to the support

and inclusion of people

with special needs and their families in Maine communities.

Woodfords Family Services is accredited by the Council on Accreditation (COA), whose program of quality improvement is designed to identify providers that have met high performance standards and have made a commitment to their stakeholders to deliver the very best quality services.