The FREEtimes - Newsletters

2011

2011 Volume 1  - FREE BECOMES A LEADER IN TECHOLOGY INNOVATIONS 

The world is shrinking and growing at the same time and FREE is distinguishing itself as a leader in technology designed to cope with this emerging reality.  The agency recognized the advantages of using "smart technology tools" but also examined their compatibility with FREE's culture which prizes team building and face-to-face communication.  Was communication via teleconferencing user friendly?  What technical problems had to be overcome?  Could team members be motivated to try something new and use the technology with ease?... 

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2010

2010 Volume 3  - DREAMS COME TRUE AT TRI

In 1965, The Rehabilitation Institute (TRI) opened its doors to provide vocational rehabilitation services to the mentally ill and discharged mental patients.  At a time when no one understood the undeveloped potential of those who had been locked away in institutions, TRI's founders, Dr. Edmund C. Neuhaus and Louise Friedman started one of the first training program of its kind in the nation.   On October 8th, 2010, forty-five yeras and 10,000 graduates later, more than one hundred fifty former staff, program participants and colleagues gathered at TRI to celebrate the founders' vision and foresight...

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 2010 Second Quarter - CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTER OF THE HAMPTONS OPENS

The scene for the latest expansion of the FREE family is the Child Development Center of the Hamptons.  Begun as a sister agency in 1997 to provide innovative school choice and a "richly individualized educational experience for all children", CDCH, as it is familiarly known, will continue as an essential educational and therapeutic resource for children and families on the East End of Long Island under the sponsorship of FREE.

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2010 First Quarter - BEACH PLUM RESIDENCES OPENS

The newest addition to the FREE Family is the Beach Plum Residence opened on December 16, 2009.  Home to four men and two women, Beach Plum is located on a tree lined, quiet community road in Suffolk County.  Four of the Beach Plum residents moved into the house from their family home.  Two members relocated from other FREE Residences.

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2009

2009 Fourth Quarter - DIRECT SUPPORT PROFESSIONALS STAND TALL

The Direct Support Professional (DSP) is the "back-bone" of widespread and diverse services provided to people who face health challenges, both mental and physical.  A great deal more needs to be done to ensure that the Public-at-large becomes aware of the im-measurable difference DSPs make to people with disabilities.

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2009 Third Quarter - EASTENDHOUSES CELEBRATE 30 YEAR ANNIVERSARY
In 1977, the year that FREE began, the original Board of Directors envisioned residential alternatives to hospitalization and immediately started to plan for this. Although FREE was originally founded to support persons with mental illness, within the founding year, the agency expanded its vision to embrace persons with developmental disabilities.
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2009 Second Quarter - FREE’s Family Wellness Center Receives Article 16 Certification
FREE’s Family Wellness Center (FWC), a multi-specialty outpatient medical center, certified by the NYS Department of Health (DOH) under Article 28 of the mental hygiene law, recently received joint certification by the NYS Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities (OMRDD) to provide specialty therapy outpatient clinical services to individuals with developmental disabilities. The FWC received a deficiencyfree survey in April 2009, a testament to its high standards of service delivery. The FWC’s Article 16 Clinic began providing Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, Speech Therapy and Psychotherapy services on May 1, 2009.
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2009 First Quarter - Government Cutbacks and Receding Economy
The Nation’s budget deficit has dramatically impacted funding for all not-for-profit agencies that provide residential and day services for consumers with disabilities. FREE began to plan for fallout from the State’s budget crisis last year. But the economic slowdown that has affected so many families has created additional challenges in fundraising and planning.
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2008

2008 30th Anniversary - FREE Honors Barbara L. Townsend with a Lifetime Achievement Award
Family Residences and Essential Enterprises, Inc. (FREE) celebrated the long and distinguished career of Barbara L. Townsend, our former Chief Executive Officer, at the Thirtieth Anniversary Celebration of Life Gala. Hundreds of attendees honored Barbara and remembered her multitude of accomplishments. Barbara’s leadership, role-modeling, compassion, and determination were among the most important factors in the agency’s ability to flourish over the past twenty-two years, even during periods of diminished funding and times of hardship and trauma.
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2008 Third Quarter - FREE Employees Take Living Wage Issue To Congress
The week beginning September 8th was designated National Direct Support Professionals Recognition Week by the U.S. Senate. Under the leadership of The American Network of Community Options and Resources (ANCOR), hundreds of direct support professionals, individuals with disabilities and their families from across the country assembled to visit their elected representatives in Washington, DC on September 9th.
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2008 Second Quarter - Going for the Gold
Thirty-six Special Olympic athletes from Saddle Rock Ranch outshone the sun on June 1st when they participated in the annual horse show held at Thomas’ School of Horsemanship in Melville. This was Saddle Rock’s finest hour and was the culmination of three months of training, hard work, and dedicated attention to detail. Well over 100 people associated with Saddle Rock – instructors, volunteers, parents, staff (and, of course, horses) had eagerly awaited this event and knew something was in the air that day.
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2008 First Quarter - Our Mission...Our Vision...Our Future...
The recent Thirtieth Anniversary Celebration of Family Residences and Essential Enterprises, Inc. (FREE) was a time of reflection on our past accomplishments and an expression of belief in our future.
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