Summer Activities Update

August 28, 2014

Greetings Fellow SPIN Employees,

I hope you have all had a healthy summer with some time to enjoy some of your favorite summer activities and treats! Throughout SPIN we are all now preparing for fall and the “Back to School” season. We are feeling some growing pains throughout our organization, but don’t worry –it’s a good thing! Every service area is growing, so we are taking on a two-year capital improvement plan involving renovations to all buildings in our Northeast campus including Norcom.

If you’ve been at 10501 Drummond Road, you may have noticed the construction. We are constructing a new Human Resources Suite from previous warehouse and other office space so that we can move HR to 10501 Drummond to create two new classrooms in our Northeast Children’s Center. During the month of September, HR will move into their new accommodations. Stay tuned to emails and the portal for updates on the actual move dates.

In order to pay for the capital plan, we have been busy writing grants and planning fundraising. I am happy to report that we are approved to receive a $254,000 grant from Fund for Quality to renovate the Children’s Center! Please consider supporting SPIN as you receive information through our Annual Membership Campaign, our Grand Raffle and the upcoming Softball Tournament.

Of course growth also means that the Drummond Road parking lots will be very tight beginning September 2nd. We are preparing by resurfacing the lots at 10521 and 10541 over Labor Day weekend, creating 10 new spots. We still expect to be tight on parking spaces, so we have been looking into other solutions including the potential to create a parking lot in the front of 10501 and/or leasing nearby parking. In the meantime, if you work at Drummond or just come for meetings or other work, please be patient with the parking situation. Overflow parking is available on Decatur Road, so please plan some extra time before you have to arrive for a potential walk.

As you all know, funds to our services have been reduced since 2012. I spent some time over the summer in Harrisburg, communicating with government leaders about the need to restore funding. One thing I can count on is that when I talk to leaders about SPIN’s quality services, I have all of you backing me up by providing the highest quality People-First services to all the children, adults and families we support. We are well-known and highly regarded because of your work and dedication.

Welcome back to all the Teachers and Teacher’s Assistants who were off over the summer! Our teaching staff returns on September 2nd and the children begin coming back on the 3rd with all returning by September 8th. Construction to create the two new classrooms is also scheduled to begin later in September. It should be a busy, bustling time throughout our Children’s Services at both campuses!

As always, this summer, we excelled at many things: summer camp and STAP programs, Lifesharing, Residential and Behavioral & Developmental Services licensing, celebrating our 1-Year Anniversary in Lehigh, opening a new home for a woman in our BHU, just to name a few. As we anticipate September, I look forward to National DSP Recognition Week beginning September 7th and our Staff Appreciation Picnic on September 11th. I hope to see as many of you as possible in the coming weeks.

My Warmest Regards,

Kathy Brown McHale