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Day of Service: Honoring Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Legacy
Martin Luther King, Jr, the slain civil
rights leader, once said: “Life’s most
persistent question is, ‘What are you
doing for others?’”
Laraway Youth & Family Services’
staff embraced this question, marking
the federal holiday with a day of service
on campus. Blankets were crafted for
children in shelter. Cards were written
and games were created for seniors in
assisted living. Toys were made for dogs
waiting to be adopted. These and other
March 2016
Board Members
David Bergh, President
Anne Smith, Vice President
Sarah Squirrell, Treasurer
Kyle Senesac, Secretary
Matthew Baughman
John Connell
Rick Holcomb
Mary Moulton
Greg Stefanski, M.Ed.
Executive Director
offerings of goodwill honor Dr.
King’s legacy.
Laraway actively engages youth
in service projects. You can find our
young people assisting at the local
food shelf, walking dogs at the
animal shelter and, now, personally
delivering staff-crafted items to
local social service agencies.
Giving back teaches all of us
gratitude. This is the work of
community building.
Natural Supports
Special Educators. Behavioral
Interventionists. Science and Math
Teachers. Case Managers. Land
Steward. Licensed Psychologists.
Laraway is fortunate to be staffed
with highly experienced professionals
from a wide variety of backgrounds.
The expertise they bring to work each
day means our kids and families
receive some of the best educational
and treatment supports in this state
and beyond.
Time has shown that our kids
benefit greatly from increased
connections with natural supports
such as family, friends, coaches and
volunteers from the community. The
combination of professional and
natural supports can be very powerful
in getting through difficult situations.
Consider the example of requiring
surgery- I want the best professional
to perform the surgery, but I want my
closest natural supports to visit me at
the hospital and bring me soup when I
get home. It’s the combination of
professional and natural supports that
leads to the most effective healing.
Please consider how you might
support our work with kids and
families. We’re seeking professionals
to fill staff and foster parent vacancies
and we now are offering wonderful
volunteer opportunities.
Happy Spring- hope to see you at
the April Jam Session in Hyde Park!
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Greg’s Letter
A Day of Service
Thank You to Supporters
Have a Back-up Plan
Celebrating Duncan Tingle
Empowering Youth
Strengthening Families
Building Community
SAVE THE DATE!
Jam Session & Desserts
Benefit for Laraway Crisis Fund
Friday, April 29th
7:00 p.m.
2nd Congregational Church
28 Prospect Street
Hyde Park, Vermont
$10 Donation Requested
For more information:
(802) 635-2805 x 106
Businesses / Organizations
Donald P. Blake, Jr., Inc.
Brock & Brock, PLLC
Butternut Mountain
Farm
Charlmont
Coal Headwear
Concept 2
Costco
Craftsbury Outdoor
Center
Deb’s Place
Ebeneezer Books
First Congregational
Church, Morrisville
Forget Me Not Shop
Great Outdoors
Hannaford
Hello Gorgeous
Hoagies-Morrisville
House of Pizza
Jay Peak Resort
Jimmz Pizza
Johnson Hardware &
Rental
Judevine Maple Farm
Lamoille County
Sheriff’s Department
LCYC
Lenny’s
Light Logic
The Mill Foundation
Morrisville House of
Pizza
MSI
Northern Highlights
No School Snowboard
Shop
Oblio
Paine’s
Pick N Shovel
Piecasso
Pizza on Main
Price Chopper
Red House
RG’s Turning Heads
Ross Environmental
Rotary Club of Newport
Shaw’s General Store
Smugglers’ Notch
St. John’s in the Mts.
Stowe Family Dentistry
Stowe Mercantile
Tangles
Turtle Fur
The Bagel
Tops-Hardwick
Vermont Arborists
VFW-Morrisville
Wheel House Designs
Wider than the Sky
In Memory of
Jim Thompson
Robert Anderson
Dave & Betty Brown
Robert & Nancy Comolli
Patricia Connor
Denise & Jim Daignault
Sandra & Walter
England
Margaret Fanning &
David Cate
Shaun & Laurie Fielder
Scott Fortney
Karen Gordon
Patricia & Max Gray
Roberta & Gary Hamblin
Denise Keefe
Lori Lacroix
Virginia & Jennifer Milne
Jason Owen
Pamela Perry
Raymond & Lorraine
Roy
Taylor-Pelletier Family
Chuck & Betty Welch
Mary & Walter Wells
BCEMS
Elmhill, Inc.
John Fricke &
Associates
Wildcat Busing, Inc.
In Honor of
Cat Gallagher
Amena & Philip Smith
Jane Kennelly
Christina Kluckowski
Jennifer & Elm LaPoint
Lori & Paul Ledak
Janice Lovell
Suzanne & Tom
McDevitt
Larry & Mary Ellen
McGee
Lucinda & Jeff
McKechnie
Lisa & Valar Mihan
Ken Moore
Sid & Marian Nichols
Meg & Jamie O’Brien
Jollie Parker
Judyth Pendell &
Warren Azano
Dan Regan & Judith
Mathison
Nick & Pat Racheotes
Casey & Howard
Romero
Barb & Mike Sadowsky
Patricia Schwarz
Sarah Squirrell & Chris
Piatek
Anne P. Smith
Shap Smith & Melissa
Volansky
Brenda Snow
Theresa Snow
Richard Spanier
Kermit & Hazel
Spaulding
Katherine Stamper
Robert Stearns
Greg & Jennifer
Stefanski
Kay Stephenson
Karl & Rose Strohmaier
Rhonda Stuart
Duncan & Nancy Tingle
April Tuck & Ronald
Carter
Jarod Waite
Lee & Sharon Weltman
Sen. Rich Westman
David & Peggy Williams
Sue Wisehart & Howard
Duchacek
Page 2 THANK YOU TO OUR DONORS!
Thank you donors!
If your name was
inadvertently
omitted, please
contact
Katherine Stamper [email protected]
802-635-2805 x 106
Individuals
Jim & Jennifer
Adkisson
Lela & Donald Avery
Pat & Rich Albrecht
Matthew Baughman
David Bergh
Charles & Linda
Berry
Julie Bomengen &
Roger Murphy
Susan & Jeff Bond
Rev. Elise Braun
Suzanne & Gordon
Brown
Jake & Donna Burton
Susan & Tom Carney
John Connell
Jack & Melanie
Dennis
Rebecca Dennis &
Nate Perham
Everett & Melanie
Dickinson
Naomi Dumbleton
Paul & Mary Dupre
Idoline Duke
Charles & Pat Eyler
Betsy Field & Paul
Rogers
Maggie Flynn
Carl & Elaine Fortune
Sharon Fortune
Sally Fraize
David Goodman &
Sue Minter
Nancy & Jon
Groveman
Scott & Sally Johnson
Linda Jones
Ben & Joyce Judy
Dorigen Keeney &
Carl Powden
Franklin Kellogg
Will* stands out in a positive way, with a quick smile and handsome good looks. He looks you in
the eye when he talks to you. He has a strong work ethic. He is accepted to college. At age 18, he carries
a hard-won maturity, honed by difficulties he worked to overcome. He’s also a very talented artist who
draws and channels his creativity into producing lavish desserts in the kitchens of some of Stowe,
Vermont’s finest restaurants.
“I started doing art when I was five,” Will says. An elementary school teacher in Vermont’s
Northeast Kingdom recognized his talent, offering extra encouragement. His preferred medium is
pencil….or the tools of a pastry chef. His desserts reflect his careful hand and artistic flair. As an honor
student, Will has taken multiple art classes at the public high school he attends. He’s presently enrolled
in AP Art, a college-level course.
Issues at home, not of his own making, landed Will in foster care when he was 11. He came to
Laraway four years ago. He receives weekly community support services. Dan Stearns has been one of
his Laraway mentors since 2011.
“Will is a great artist,” Dan says. “He also has a strong interest in learning. He is open-minded
and an active learner. He chooses not to watch television, instead reading articles he’s interested in. He’ll
speak up when he wants something. He takes the lead, figuring out things for himself.”
Figuring things out includes finding and maintaining jobs in area restaurants since age 15. He
developed advanced skills at restaurant fry, sauté, salad and dessert stations. The exquisite dessert
pictured below is an example of Will’s work.
Navigating the college admissions process can be daunting for any teenager. Navigating as a
youth in foster care without traditional parental support can be even more daunting. Will found people
who could guide him. He made sure he took his SATs. He met crucial application deadlines. College
acceptance in hand, this GMO-skeptical teenager plans to study nutrition.
Will graduates from high school soon and will be moving out of state to attend college. He owns
a car, purchased with earnings from his restaurant jobs. The car is paid in full, insured and even has a
refrigerator.
“I have AAA,” Will says. “And I always have a back-up plan.”
Will understands the need to be self-reliant. He also possesses the wisdom to build positive
relationships with people who are strivers, like himself.
As Will prepares to leave Laraway, he offers bits of
wisdom for peers in foster care: Get a job. Find something
therapeutic to do (e.g., art, working, good conversation). Be
frugal. Focus on school. Steer clear of trouble.
Life is not a fairy tale. Youth exiting foster care face
significant barriers they must overcome. Fortunately, Will is
smart, motivated and talented…and, he carries a AAA
membership, an apt metaphor for the “roadside assistance”
we sometimes need on the highway of life.
*Name changed to protect confidentiality
Will: “Always have a back-up plan.”
Page 3 March 2016
MISSION
Providing opportunities for children and families to recognize their
individual strengths while supporting them to grow and contribute
within our communities
P.O. Box 621
275 VT Rte. 15 West
Johnson, Vermont 05656
Phone: 802-635-2805
Fax: 802-635-7273
E-mail: [email protected]
www.Laraway.org
Laraway...It’s about the kids
“Duncan has been a
friend to our kids, a
mentor to staff and Board
members and an advocate
for our kids and our work
in the community,” said
Greg Stefanski,
Laraway’s Executive
Director. “Duncan’s
experience and energy
are powerful. Thank
you, for sharing!”
Duncan Tingle, pictured
at left with his wife Nancy,
retired from Laraway’s Board
following 10 years of
exemplary service. While
President, he guided us
through a successful capital
campaign to purchase and
renovate the magnificent
Johnson farmstead that is
our main campus today.
Duncan also served as
Treasurer, asking all those
really important financial
questions.
Duncan Tingle: Gratitude for fine leadership
Laraway is a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to identifying and building on the strengths of
children and youth with emotional, behavioral and mental health challenges, through
alternative education, therapeutic foster care and public school based behavioral
intervention supports.
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