Laraway Receives Green Mountain Fund Grant

     According to the National Institute of Outdoor Leadership, "the goal of therapeutic recreation is to create adaptations so that people with disabilities have access to activities that they wouldn't otherwise have---and to reap the social, mental, emotional and physical benefits of those activities along the way."
     Laraway is very grateful to the Green Mountain Fund of the Vermont Community Foundation for a grant to enhance recreational offerings for children and youth in our programs.  Funds received will underwrite the cost of activities including a ropes course, theater activities, and crafting supplies to allow our clients to tell their personal narrative in creative ways. 
     "We so genuinely appreciate the generosity of the Green Mountain Fund," said Katherine Stamper, Laraway Development Director.  "These funds translate into activities that age fun, engaging and therapeutic."

Laraway Selected for Leadership Lamoille Project

     Laraway submitted a successful proposal to the Lamoille Area Chamber of Commerce and was subsequently selected as a project site for the 2014 Leadership Lamoille Class.  The leadership program is for business professionals who are emerging leaders within their organizations.  The intensive, ten-month program introduces participants to major facets of the greater Lamoille Region and the state of Vermont.  They also work on a service project for a designated non-profit.
     Laraway's submission--"Start Here, Go Anywhere"--is designed to answer fundamental questions regarding how an employer can attract, retain, and develop employees, interns and volunteers.  As one of Lamoille County's largest employers, Laraway is committed to recruiting and retaining quality personnel. 
     "I look forward to working with Leadership Lamoille representatives on this project," said Development Director Katherine Stamper.  "We've experienced significant growth in staffing to meet a burgeoning demand for services.  We are grateful to Leadership Lamoille for sharing their expertise!"

 

Rotary Club of Stowe donates to Laraway

The president of the Rotary Club of Stowe visited Laraway Youth & Family Services to present a  generous donation check of $500. The club is comprised of community leaders who partner for the purpose of service to the Lamoille County Region.  Chartered in 1935, the Rotary Club of Stowe has a distinguished record of community support and philanthropy.

“We are honored to maintain our supportive relationship with Laraway,” says George Lewis, President of the Rotary Club of Stowe. Laraway provides critical services for so many families in Lamoille County and beyond.”

            “This donation will support Laraway’s internal youth grant program, allowing kids in our care to experience a recreational opportunity that might not otherwise be available to them,” says Greg Stefanski, Laraway’s Executive Director.

Laraway responds to the needs of at-risk kids and their families by offering innovative, strength-based services through alternative education, therapeutic foster care, and public school based support programs.

Rich Farrell elected Vice President of VCORP

     Rich Farrell, Assistant Director of Substitute Care at Laraway Youth & Family Services, was elected Vice President of the Vermont Coalition of Residential Providers (VCORP).  The coalition is comprised of people, resources and programs focused on the well-being of Vermont’s children and families experiencing out-of-home care placements for kids.
     “Any opportunity to improve the lives of the children and families we work with is a privilege,” Farrell says. 
     

Laraway responds to the needs of at-risk kids and their families by offering innovative, strength-based services through alternative education, therapeutic foster care, and public school based support programs.

Houses of Gingerbread and Spice

 

The gingerbread houses perched in Laraway's conference room beckon with a gentle prod.  Peppermint spirals, white chocolate drops, and other confections wrapped in colorful foil are artfully arranged and cemented with royal icing. 

Colors tease and tantalize, but it’s the sweet fusion of ginger and nutmeg subsumed in a sea of molasses, eggs and flour---real, genuine gingerbread---that draw folks in with their holiday aroma.

 Chris, a student at Laraway School, has been building the edible edifice featured in the image below.  He and his classmates have been working with Aaron McGee, Walter Wendling, Dave Ward, Cherise Boutin and James Marsh to design, build and even wire with lights and music these culinary masterpieces. 

As we prepare for the holidays, the learning continues.  We offer you greetings of the season.

Season of Introspection

       A flock of geese, cloaked in darkness, offered up their rhythmic chant, bodies bent southward in a gesture of longing for places warmer. They fly over Laraway, reminding us that winter is near.
       Summer is the guest that never overstays her welcome.  She announces her arrival shortly after Memorial Day, lingers for a while, and slips away like water through our fingers.  Steamy afternoons and sweltering nights are replaced by mist-chilled mornings and extra blankets at bedtime.  Autumn's darkness makes the ritual of rising for school and work just a little bit harder.

           There's a crispness in the air.  Laraway's gardens and fields are resting, taking a break from staff and kids' planting, tending and harvesting.

            And, yes, the snow will come, sometimes fast and furiously, sometimes daintily like a gentle sprinkling of salt, altering the landscape and encouraging us to look more deeply within.  And the children and youth at Laraway will ski, snowshoe and search for animal tracks on their journeys toward learning, healing and becoming whole.  Here's to a season of introspection.

 

Senator Bernie Sanders' Staff visit Laraway

     Phil Fiermonte and Abigail Kiablick of Senator Bernie Sanders' Office recently visited Laraway.  Greg Stefanski was delighted to take them on a tour of our facility while updating them on our work with children and families.
     A highlight was an informal gathering, modeled on the Senator's signature "Town Hall Meetings" in which Fiermonte and Kiablick met with several Laraway School students and staff to learn about the issues that matter to them.  Providing adequate support for military families and easing the path to college for students of limited financial means were among the issues discussed.
     Fiermonte reported on an essay contest the Senator's office is sponsoring and invited Laraway students to consider participating. The Senator is asking Vermont high school students to tell him what they think about the state of the country and its future.  Essays are to be 250 to 500 words about students' views of the state of the Union, as the President prepares to address Congress and the nation in January.  Finalist essays will be entered in the Congressional Record. The winner will get a visit from Senator Sanders at his or her school where Sanders will conduct a Town Hall Meeting.