A Nice Summer 2024
CP Nassau Annual Meeting: Information and Accolades
The Agency’s Annual Meeting was held on the evening of June 10 at the CP Nassau headquarters building. Mary Corbett started off the evening with a lovely rendition of “God Bless America.” Members of the Board of Directors gave reports on the state of the Agency and Karen Geller-Hittleman, Executive Director gave an overview of major things that took place over the previous year.
Board members were sworn in with the help of program participant, Charlie Fleisch. Two Board members were also recognized for years of service.
A video that featured the 75th anniversary celebrations was shown, along with a great video about the visit from the “Smiles Through Cars” group and one featuring staff in a game of musical chairs that reflected the teamwork evident at CP Nassau. Adult participants and students from the Children’s Learning Center were recognized with awards for a variety of things including perfect attendance, leadership, congeniality and achievement in sports and art. The joy and happiness of all who were recognized was so wonderful for all to experience. Over 50 staff members were recognized for years of service that ranged from 10 to 40 years!
Executive Director Emeritus, Bob McGuire offered a wonderful tribute to Karen Geller-Hittleman who was marking 40 years with the Agency, along with Occupational Therapist Betty Waring.
Residential
- The 350 residents enjoyed a day trip at Six Flag in New Jersey on a Safari ride. Two individuals were transferred out of their wheelchairs onto the seats with the help of the supportive staff at Six Flags. The other two were tied down on the wheelchair accessible area on the trolley. The trip was well planned out in advance by the manager which was no small task to do. The residents were accompanied by the manager, nurse, a per diem DSP and a LDSP. The animals were so beautiful to see and the outside air was so welcoming. The teamwork made the experience memorable and rewarding for all the residents. Which was obvious by the expressions on their faces, the kind words expressed, and the excitement exhibited during the experience. Such a wonderful day and life experience.
- Sometimes it is just nice to do something for others. Sam Caban decided to bake for his house mates to show his appreciation. With staff assistance, Sam baked sugar free cookies and apple pie.
- What a Labor Day to remember! The residents at the Greenvale IRA embarked on an adventure to the Queens zoo for a day of relaxation and nature therapy. The residents expressed how much they enjoyed spending time at the zoo, touching and feeding the animals.
- Nothing like sharing a BBQ amongst friends. The Wantagh IRA and 350 ICF teamed up and celebrated the Labor Day holiday with each other. Great food, awesome music and dancing, not to mention great team approach to making the day amazing for the residents that attended the festivities.
- The summer has come to an end and the residents in the houses are so looking forward to the Saturday weekends where they will be spending time doing arts and craft, music therapy, sing alongs and outdoor activities with the AYLUS volunteers again. They so enjoy working with the youth that comes and spend time making their weekends rewarding and person centered.
- Successful Audits at Residential Homes
Audits are done by OPWDD’s department of Quality Improvement annually at all our residences. Over the summer, three homes were audited and did very well! Congratulations to the teams at Blueberry, Seaford and Chapman houses for this achievement!
Residents Experience a GREAT ADVENTURE!!
The manager at our “350 House,” Charkera Stennett, had an idea and a plan to take residents on a safari! It took a village to make it happen and the staff, including nurses and direct support professionals who joined the group made the voyage to Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey safe, and full of fun and excitement for all!
The drive took two hours and upon arrival, meds were administered, and a portable changing table was set up in the restroom to accommodate residents. Amazingly enough, people in the restroom spoke with the staff and complimented them on their good work and how well they worked as a team.
The fun began as the group went to the boarding area for the safari trucks! The Great Adventure staff were extremely helpful and cooperative as they assisted with the people using wheelchairs and handled the tie-down locks and straps. Ben, one of the residents was assisted out of his chair and led to the best seat on the truck! CP Nassau staff members and residents, Sheila, Barbara, Sam and Ben gave a big cheer for the Great Adventure staff who went above and beyond to make the day’s experience a great one.
Barbara enjoyed looking at the animals in the big open areas and at one point held her head up to the sun with eyes closed, seemingly enjoying the beautiful breeze. Sheila’s favorite were the elephants and Sam kept pointing with great enthusiasm, telling all to see the giraffes, lions, tigers, baboons, rhinos and zebras. It was an incredible experience for residents and staff.
After the ride, the group visited the reptile exhibit and Sheila could not get over how HUGE the python was, she loved it! The group went to the gift shop, and each chose a souvenir to remember the trip. After enjoying lunch at the park, the group prepared for the ride home. When they arrived about 6 pm, the residents were tired but happy and talked non-stop about the trip. So Charkera’s vision of making this trip happen came true and she expressed whole-hearted gratitude to the staff members who worked tirelessly to make this experience special and unforgettable.
Special Teen Volunteers
The AYLUS (Alliance of Youth Leaders in the US- Roslyn Chapter) Volunteer Group had been a Godsend to the Residential Program. They have brought fun, excitement, and joy to all of the residents. They started out by inquiring about each house in terms of preferred activities and level of abilities so as to plan the things that the residents would enjoy.
The activities this summer have included baking cookies and cakes; making pizza: arts and crafts; making greeting cards: learning musical instruments; games and even a mini concert! The residents have enjoyed every minute. The volunteers (high school students) are always so patient and understanding with each of the residents and assist each to participate. The residents have formed friendships with the volunteers and eagerly look forward to their next visit. In one particular case the students helped a resident get out of his social shell and he is now one of the most active participants in the activities offered.
It brings a smile to all who have the opportunity to watch this group of students make each resident feel special and bring out the best of their talents and fill them with joy.
Clinic/Medical
HubScrub in the House!
Thanks to a grant that Ellen Naidis our Clinic Director was able to obtain with help from CP-NYS, we now have the amazing HubScrub unit in-house. HUBSCRUB is the most comprehensive disinfection system for patient care equipment with the highest levels of protection. Technologies such as; ultra violet (UV), misting, tablets and liquids for the most demanding needs.
HUBSCRUB is more than a wheelchair washer. Proven design with a wrap around rotating high pressure spray system that is very effective for all shapes of equipment. In addition, HUBSCRUB’s UV technology provides the opportunity to disinfect non-washable equipment.
The Children’s Learning Center
We had a lot of great weather this summer and students were able to join with the staff and enjoy the pool! Many therapeutic benefits along with the great fun of cooling off with friends!
Classes did some gardening and tended to flowers and vegetables. A fun Bubble day was held outside and all classes got to experience the thrill of seeing 1,000 bubbles created and many students were able to actually be inside a giant 6 ft bubble. The Scout Jamboree was hosted by the Therdore Roosevelt Tropp and included all the favorites including spin art, tepees, and the big highlight, the derby car races. We held a Promo for teen students with a “Sock Hop” theme, a Spring Fling for the younger students with same theme and all had a blast. Somes students participated in the Empire State games for the Physically Challenged at Mitchell Field in Garden City and other had a terrific time at the Field Day presented by the PT and OT departments. Challenging relays and others fun activities were specially created so that there was something for children of all abilities. The squeals of delight were so heartwarming to experience!
The amazing “Teens for CP: group visited and played Buddy baseball on our field with delighted students. The speech therapy department put together a very creative show and story time with a farm theme that elicited smiles all around. On PJ day, you guessed it, all sorts of fun and colorful pajamas could been seen through the halls of our school.
Teens for CP Bring “Buddy Baseball” to CP Nassau & It’s a HIT!
August 2nd was the perfect day to host CP Nassau’s second Annual Major League Buddy Baseball games. Participants in the Adult day programs were ready and roaring to go, all dressed in various shades of blue.
Volunteers from “Teens for CP” came with smiling faces and shirts for all. The excitement that filled the air was infectious, not a frown in sight. We had spectators on the sidelines cheering on the athletes as they hit home runs and traveled around the bases! The day was nothing short of amazing, and we all look forward to another fun-filled event with our friends next summer.
A Bubbly Day at The Children’s Learning Center!
Students from the Children’s Learning Center enjoyed some bubbly fun in July! The weather was perfect with a nice breeze blowing on the day we hosted a special visitor. “Bubble Dad” aka Chris Catanese, put on a performance in our playground area, Theresa’s Fun Place,” that was filled with; you guessed it: BUBBLES!
Chris makes all of his own, unique specialized equipment that creates tiny bubbles, big bubbles, bubbles in large quantity such as 1,000 at a time, and giant bubble that can cover a whole person, or two!
Over 200 kids along with staff got to experience the fun and simple joy of bubbles today and we thank Bubble Dad his great enthusiasm and creativity! Days like this are what make summer so spectacular!
Graduations at the Children’s Learning Center in June
Six Students from the Upper School
A wonderful graduation ceremony was held in our outdoor recreation area on Friday, June 14th for six students from the Children’s Learning Center at CP Nassau. Principal, Kevin Loughlin was the master of ceremonies, assisted by Assistant Principals Jessica Jean-Charles and Christine Izzo. Each student’s teacher spoke about them to the audience of friends and family members and detailed their special qualities and accomplishments. Certificates of achievement from the President of the United States, the NYS Attorney General and the school Chorus were presented to the graduates. Susana Isaacson from the Scouts of America organization was on hand and presented students who participated in that program with certificates.
45 Students from the Pre- School
The pre-school graduation was held in the auditorium, and it was a happy and joyous occasion as 45 of our youngest students graduated. Many will attend school in their home districts, and some will continue in our school-age program here at CLC. There was singing and a video slide show of the grads and many proud and happy family members were on hand to cheer all on and honor their achievements!
The Farm Animals Come to Life at the Children’s Learning Center
The Speech and Language Therapy Department presented their annual Pajama Theatre performance on July 18th, 2024. The speech therapists performed a stage show about the children’s book, “There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Cow,” written by Lucille Collandro.
The silly story is about an old lady who swallows different farm animals and other items, and the therapists (great sports that they are!) were dressed as cows, ducks, horses, hay and pigs as they danced around the stage! Our students watched a read-aloud video of the story on screen and then watched the performers on the stage act out lines from the book. The students participated in this interactive show by calling out the animal sounds, waving pictures of the animals, and dancing in the Barnyard Square Dance! A great time was had by all – lots of “horsing around” and the atmosphere was just “ducky!” Thank you to our wonderful team of speech therapists who are devoted to having kids learn, make progress and have fun while that happens!
You can see a video of the Pajama Day story experience here:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/DJNzDTUGwNDFPMLA8
Adult Day Services
Summer was super fun in the Adult Day Services Program!
Group Site Based Day Hab
June 20th marked the start of summer, and GSBDH was ready to soak it all up. Our first stop was the beach, we were beyond delighted to hit the board walk and see familiar faces from the community. We visited museums, parks, watched a few movies, gardened and enjoyed the fruits of our labor. We did our first health and wellness day, making a variety of healthy smoothies that we shared with Life Options and the Children’s Learning center but the best part was Summer Carnival.
We did fundraisers selling cookies, food, snacks and Icy’s throughout our program to help fund our amazing carnival. We enjoyed great food, music and activities with friends, it was hands down the best part of summer. Our only regret was not having our annual water day event because the summer days began getting cooler in Aug, but not to worry, we’re ready for summer 2025 where we will dream bigger and do even more. That’s All Folks!!
Oceanside Hub
The Oceanside Hub enjoyed a water day where all cooled off from sprays of nice water, held a baking day at which delicious banana bread was made and also held a fun BBQ. The group took trips including one to the local fire house and one to the Pet Shelter in Hempstead. They held a smoothie and salad fundraising event which is always popular with staff and participants and helps raise funds for special activities in the program.
Life Options and Site-based Day Hab also head a great summer with trips, celebrations, cookouts and activities that had something for everyone!
Development Department
Karen Kiefel – Building Dedication
On June 7, 2024 a beautiful ceremony took place as friends and family gathered to celebrate the life of Karen Kiefel who passed away suddenly on August 13, 2023. The Development building was named in honor and memory of one of our greatest volunteers and caring supporters. About 75 people gathered on a sunny day and many spoke of the great love and appreciation they had for Karen. It was a very special, heart-touching ceremony for a woman who truly made her mark in this world, though her family and all her good works, especially those done for CP Nassau.
About Karen…
Karen was known as our “Energizer Bunny,” always full of energy, always thinking of CP Nassau and always doing! See a clearance sale at Kohl’s? Karen would purchase items and then donate them for use as great raffle prizes! Have a need for extra volunteers for a project? Karen would make some calls and we’d be set with the team needed. Need someone who is take charge, work till it gets done, no excuses and full of laughs and conversation as the project gets successfully completed? Karen is your gal!
She was always so dependable and so fun to be with.
Known as the “Queen of Raffles”, Karen truly deserved the title and all the accolades! Selling raffles is not easy but she was such a pro at it. People enjoyed supporting her efforts and CP Nassau benefited from the generosity.
The Festival of Trees experience with Karen and her team is beyond compare! Such a hard-working group devoting hours and hours of back-breaking effort over many days setting up the Dept 56 shop! Karen was the inspiration for all these terrific people! Alex was always there along with an army of caring friends. She even squeezed in some time to create her incredible “Beanie Baby” tree with Tiffany each year! We can just picture her today in her Festival apron ringing up sales in her beautiful, unique shop. Thousands of dollars were raised and put to great use in programs at CP Nassau over decades.
The development team was always so happy to see Karen. She spent a lot of time in our offices helping with all sorts of projects. We loved it when she brought the grandkids! Over the years, Ryan, Tyler, AJ and Adelina visited and made us all smile! Future helpers, just like Grandma for sure!
Her family was so supportive of her and of CP Nassau – we would see them all at just about every fundraising event we held.
42nd Annual Golf & Tennis Tournament at North Hills Benefits CP Nassau
The magnificent North Hills Country Club was the site of the CP Nassau annual golf and tennis event, and a terrific experience was had by all. The weather was a typical August day, quite hot and steamy, but there were opportunities to cool off in the shade or in the clubhouse enjoying delicious food. We thank our featured tournament sponsors, Deloitte, PWC and E&M Ice Cream for their great support and generosity! We are so grateful to all the generous sponsors and golfers, tennis players and pickle ball players who made the event so fun and successful! Everyone received a great thermal bag compliments of Jovia filled with gift cards from the PGA store and other great items.
Thank you to the Mulligan Committee for all their hard work. Special gratitude to Co-Chairs, Joel Paymer, Tony DiLorenzo and Al Stiegler. A big shout out to our volunteers who gave of their time – this event would not be possible without your help and dedication. Special thanks to Alex Wolff, committee member who volunteered his time to take photos the entire day at the event!
The Million Dollar Shootout, sponsored by Ernst and Young and hosted by Club Pro, Mike Caporale was a fun highlight and later trophies were awarded to golfers with the best scores for the day. The cocktail hour included singing by Chris Wawrzonek, a participant in programs in CP Nassau as guests mingled and enjoyed the sumptuous buffet.
There were many incredible auction items and raffles prizes, we thank everyone who donated those and we congratulate all the winners! There were three winners of $5,000 in the three Century ticket raffles.
The Mulligan Club presents a scholarship each year to deserving students from Roosevelt High School. Vesey Street Capital Partners funded this and the students selected were Christian Robinson and twin sisters Mehah and Myah Roberts.
Delaney Bartling is a high school student who has volunteered with CP Nassau and was a golfer at the event. Delany has cerebral palsy herself and is a successful golfer, playing on the varsity team at her high school. Delany spoke to the group at the reception and all were spellbound by her message of courage and determination.
Thanks to everyone who had a part in making this event enjoyable and successful!
Stevens Martinez, Nassau County Regional Rep for the Office of the Governor Visits CP Nassau
Stevens Martinez, Nassau County Regional Rep for Governor Hochul visited CP Nassau yesterday. Stevens has been communicating with various leaders and program participants here, including a Zoom meeting with NY State’s first Chief Disability Officer, Kim Hill, and yesterday this was his first in-person visit.
Representatives from our Children’s Learning Center and OPWDD Adult Services gave an overview of CP Nassau, including some of the challenges we face. Kevin Christman, program participant and President of the Self-Advocacy group, praised the work and dedication of staff and stressed that more funding is desperately needed to recruit and retain employees to continue our mission.
Stevens toured a couple of classrooms and joined in with students and faculty enjoying music therapy. Psychologist, Sophia Ginos, assembled a group of participants in our former “Café Connections” and explained what a great purpose it served for program participants and students to get work experience, while providing an area for people to convene and grab a snack. We presented Stevens with some handmade gifts, part of our ongoing “Kindness Rocks” effort and included a basket for Governor Hochul as well! We are grateful to Stevens Martinez for his interest and support!
Stevens invited CP Nassau to participate in the Disability Pride event in Albany with the Governor in August and Maura Wachsberger from the Life Options area was able to attend with participants from the self-advocacy group, Kevin Christman and Barbara Seaman.
SCI-Mini-Con Held to Benefit CP Nassau
Thank you to everyone who came out to support the CP Nassau’s Sci-Fi Mini-Con. We raised just over $6000 for the Cerebral Palsy Association of Nassau County and we could not have done it without the support of our Volunteers, Sponsors, Guests, Vendors and Attendees! We would like to start with our three biggest contributors, our main Sponsor Jovia Financial Credit Union, the Long Island Ghostbusters, and the 501st Legion: Empire City Garrison. Together they made up more than half of that total and really made this a tremendous success for the Agency. We would also like to thank the Saber Guild – Endor Temple for doing their Jedi Training and their fantastic Lightsaber show. Our 2 headliner guests, actor William Ragsdale and actress Catherine Mary Stewart were both a huge draw and helped make this a real Sci-Fi Con, and the Mightiest Mini-Con to date! Below are some photos from the event – Thank You everyone for the support! Thank you to all our Guests, Attendees, Sponsors, Vendors and Volunteers for helping make it possible.
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