Columbia/Hellam/Wrightsville IN THIS ISSUE: SUSQUEHANNA HERITAGE POSTS SCHEDULE page 2
/townlively
JUNE 24, 2020
SERVING THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES SINCE 1954
VOL LXI • NO 21
New School Will Open In Columbia Philip Goropoulos, president CHI St. Joseph Children’s Health (CHI), is firm when discussing the beliefs of the organization’s board concerning the new St. John Neumann School for Children and Families that CHI is building on Locust Street in Columbia. “Everything we offer should be available to everybody,” said Goropoulos. “Every student will have every opportunity within the center. Nothing will cost extra. It will all be included.” The school, which will initially accommodate 60 children ranging in age from six weeks to 5 years old, will embody a new perspecive on
Michelle Keim, food service and nutrition manager, is excited about the progress being made on the kitchen at St. John Neumann School for Children and Families. Developing good nutritional habits will be part of the school’s health and wellness curriculum.
care. “Our family-focused approach to child care revamps the traditional model,” said Goropoulos, who noted the goal will be not just preparing children for school, but helping get them ready for life by making health and wellness part of the curriculum. Special benefits at the school that will be offered to all students and families will include a family wellness coach and a family wellness caseworker. Carol Johnston, family wellness coach, will meet with every family that comes into the center. “(Johnston) will help families learn to work within the community and with one another,” said Goropoulos, who added that every family will have an assessment. “We will evaluate how the child is doing, what family dynamics look like, and areas of potential improvement, challenges they might be facing, and strategies (they could utilize),” said Goropoulos, who added that families will have access to these services as long as they are enrolled.
COBYS Celebrates 40 Years Of Service When COBYS Family Services held its 40th anniversary banquet celebration at Middle Creek Church of the Brethren on March 12, most of the presentations were made by video. “We didn’t do that because of COVID19,” said Anne Stokes, director of
development for COBYS, who was the program’s master of ceremonies with executive director Mark Cunningham. “It was just an easier way to do them.” One of the video appearances was made by Glen Faus of Manheim, who served as director of COBYS from 1980 to 2001. Faus was in the audience at the event.
COBYS Family Services celebrated 40 years in the Lancaster area at a banquet on March 12. The numbers being held up represent the more than 60,000 unique points of service COBYS has provided over four decades to children, adults, and families in the area.
Also honored at the banquet were Dennis and Ann Saylor of Manheim, who, as resource parents for COBYS, have provided foster care for 116 children over more than three decades. Stokes noted that the large gathering included close to 600 meals at two separate seatings. “We do a meal at noon and the same thing in the evening,” said Stokes. COBYS was founded in 1980 by the Atlantic Northeast District of the Church of the Brethren, with one caseworker and one executive director placing teenagers in foster homes. In its 40-year history, the organization has served more than 60,000 people in a variety of settings. Recalling that in the past COBYS provided congregant care, Stokes stated that the organization once owned a See COBYS pg 4
Heather Ha, program manager at St. John Neumann School for Children and Families in Columbia, showcases the new cubbies that were installed at the school, which, despite the shutdown, was due to be completed in June. The school is now scheduled to open in November.
Lancaster Farm Sanctuary Moves To Mount Joy By Francine Fulton
In order to better accommodate its current group of rescued cows, sheep, goats, pigs and other farmed animals, as well as to provide space for even more animals in need, the Lancaster Farm Sanctuary recently relocated to a larger facility. The nonprofit sanctuary, founded in the summer of 2017 by Sarah Salluzzo and Jonina Turzi, was previously located at 558 Milton Grove Road South in Elizabethtown. The sanctuary’s new address is 1871 Milton Grove Road, Mount Joy. Although the new location is only 2 miles away from the previous farm, the new property has much more pasture space. “The previous farm was about 5 acres but only 3 was habitable, because there was a creek and wetlands,” explained board
member Sara Petrosky. “The new farm is almost 18 acres, and almost all of it is pasture.” The biggest benefit of the new location is that the sanctuary will
The Lancaster Farm Sanctuary, which was opened in the summer of 2017 in Elizabethtown by Jonina Turzi and Sarah Salluzzo (not shown), recently moved to a larger location in Mount Joy.
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See Lancaster Farm Sanctuary pg 4
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If necessary, the family could be referred to a family wellness caseworker, who will act as a resource. The idea for a school grew out of the Healthy Columbia Project CHI engaged in more than two years ago. “We used to do small grant making to organizations that were working with children in addition to our dental program,” said Goropoulos, who noted that the board was looking for ways do more for children. “(They wanted) a strategy that would transform how communities were responding to health and developing health care habits,” he recalled. Healthy Columbia worked to identify areas common to healthy communities, including housing and neighborhoods, See CHI St. Joseph pg 4
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