Your Handi-Crafters E-Magazine for JANUARY 2017

Dear Friends of Handi-Crafters,

Since 1961, Handi-Crafters in Thorndale, Pennsylvania has been eliminating

employment barriers for individuals with disabilities and special needs.

Not only are we the largest disability-focused employer in Southeastern, PA,

we are an efficient Production Management Enterprise meeting the

needs of our customers from across the globe.

We invite you to celebrate our mission, enjoy our work and share our stories .

PA ODP proposes critical changes to waivers. MAKE YOUR VOICES HEARD !

This month we were blindsided by proposed regulatory changes from Pennsylvania's Office of Developmental Programs (ODP). These changes could be very drastic in their execution and could be detrimental to the operation of Handi-Crafters and our mission to provide meaningful employment for clients who receive waiver funding from ODP.

Parents, friends, caregivers, advocates of supported employment, please continue to write letters voicing your opinions. More information on the proposed changes can be found here.

We have included the list below of key legislators to which you should call and address your correspondence. You can also join the Handi-Crafters Facebook page where we provide sample letters, and links to other agencies/groups providing employment services like ours. For more information, contact Executive Director, Amy Rice. amy.rice@handi-crafters.org

Thank you to our great friends at KEY BANK!
Mark your calendars, A lovely Benefit Evening awaits...
EXCITING SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE

Give a listen to Paul Jost!
For more information contact:

Call April Ennis-Pierson at 610-384-6990 x 206 *

april.ennis-pierson@handi-crafters.org

Gary Arrington; "I'm Half The Man I Used To Be"...

Gary Arrington has been working at Handi-Crafters for a little over a year and he isn't the same guy he was when he started his new job. "I've lost a person and a half" says Gary. Who told you that? "My Gym Coach!" You see, when Gary started at Handi-Crafters he weighed 366 lbs. He wasn't as light on his feet and he didn't really feel that good, he says. Today, he is down to 225 lbs and feeling great! He attributes his weight loss to his gym routine of walking on the treadmill, lifting weights and peddling on the stationary bicycle. He also says he's "knocked off the fast food" trading in the cheeseburgers for a 10" wawa hoagie with pickles on the side and lettuce and tomatoes, instead. Arrington, says this quest to slim down came from his Doctors advice because of his diabetes.

"That's gone, Arrington said. "Or, its much better now that I am half my size and it's under control." Arrington just turned 51 years old and has a positive outlook. He loves coming to work and he's proud of what he has done for himself over the past year!

Love Is In The Air!!! (And, the smell of roses!)

February is right around the corner and so is Valentine's Day.

We just wrapped up a "crazy fun job" for our awesome customer, Crazy Aaron's Thinking Putty and just in time for the Valentine's Day.

Walking back into our workshop last week...we had to STOP AND SMELL THE ROSES, literally! We cut, weighed, packaged a very quick, batch of 3,300 tins of Crazy Aaron's FIRST-EVER scented Thinking Putty called, Love Is in the Air! And, boy was it LOVELY.
Crazy Aaron's calls the putty; "Great for inspiration and relaxation, this glimmering pink putty enchants with the scent of fresh-cut roses."

We love to package thinking putty for Crazy Aaron. Each week we output thousands of tins of the cool putty product which is sold worldwide.
Love It! Order your tin today.

Handi-Crafters, 2015-2016 Annual Report. Now Available...

Special appreciation to Brilliant Graphics and Bentley Systems, both companies have kindly and generously

made our publication available.

View the electronic version of the report.

WCU Golden Ram's Baseball Visits HC...

We were again very honored to host A Day Of Sharing on Martin Luther King Day with The West Chester University Men's Baseball Team. The team spread out their helping hands in the workshops and enjoyed a great morning at work with Handi-Crafters.

Head Coach, Jad Prachniak, has led his team to support Handi-Crafters after learning about the team's Bat Boy, Tim Hoge's day job. "We are very happy to be associated with Handi-Crafters. The guys like the opportunity to see what Handi-Crafters provides, its a win for all. AND, we certainly like to support Tim, he is a very important member of our team!"

The Golden Rams went 37-14 last season and we wish them all the best this year.

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Thank You!

We appreciate you taking a minute to review our monthly E-Magazine.

The distribution of our monthly E-Magazine is typically scheduled for the first or last Monday of each month.