Sensory Room Thrives
What a joy it is when other companies recognize the value of what RTC does day in and day out. Thanks to the generosity of Kentucky Fried Wishes and the Mary Ellen Morris Fund through the Columbus Foundation, we have a sensory room! The sensory room is a safe space for clients for both sensory avoidance and sensory seeking.
Since 2006, the KFC Foundation has provided more than $36 million to support, empower, and serve joy to over 16,000 students, restaurant employees, and non-profits. Their charitable programs focus on education accessibility, financial and hardship assistance, and community giving. RTC was blessed to have our local franchise support us in getting this $10,000 grant.
Mary Eleanor Leonard Morris was born in West Liberty, Ohio on April 8, 1892. She went to Oxford College for Women in Oxford, Ohio, where she met her husband, James Relle Morris. Married in 1914, they settled in London, England, where both did extensive volunteer work in hospitals in the lead-up to World War II, administering to American Soldiers. Upon her mother’s death in 1936, Mrs. Morris returned to West Liberty to help her father. Mr. Morris’ work eventually took him to California, and Mrs. Morris divided her time between California and Ohio. When Mr. Morris died in 1967, Mrs. Morris returned to West Liberty permanently. Through her estate, Mrs. Morris created this fund to support work in her home community in Logan County, Ohio. This incredible woman continues to bless Logan County through the Columbus Foundation, which provided another $10,000 for the sensory room.
We are grateful to have this space, especially now. We have welcomed nine new clients in recent weeks, which is exciting, but as with any big change for our clients, it can also be overwhelming. The sensory room offers a quiet space for them to use when needed.
The Studio recently had a young man with great energy in the morning. He just wanted to run around the room. Amber Leftrict, ADS Supervisor for The Studio and Pos+Abilities, took him to the sensory room to jump on the trampoline. The smile on his face while he was jumping was contagious! After he released that extra energy, he was able to go back to his program and join activities.
The bulk of the Kentucky Fried Wishes grant went to the Budii, an interactive projector with thousands of options to engage clients. It has been designed to provide a diverse selection of meaningful person-centered activities for all adults with learning disabilities, regardless of age or ability, with all the elements necessary to stimulate, engage, relax, and provide enjoyment. And yes, they really enjoy it!
RTC Champion, April McIntire
The October Champion is April McIntire, Support Specialist in Pos+Abilities.
April brings her unique blend of heart and compassion to share with the clients in Pos+Abilities. She clearly enjoys her job and makes every day fun for those she serves. She is an asset to the team at RTC, working with joy and a smile every day. We are so glad she chose us to share her talents.
April enjoys the clients, staff, and environment at RTC. She especially enjoys watching the clients open up and explore their personal “pos+abilities.”
When April isn’t at RTC, she enjoys reading and watching her children in their sporting events. She is also excellent at trivia and enjoys caring for all the neighborhood cats.
Thank you, April, for all you do to make RTC better!
New Employees
Did you catch the antics of Raoul, Tobias and Carrie? These new employees provided some joy and laughter in October as they learned about RTC, helped in different areas, wreaked havoc (Tobias) and marketed our haunted halls.
Raoul spent a lot of his time learning the ropes at RTC. He jumped in to do others jobs, because he knows the value of hands on learning. Carrie was more interested in the admin side of the RTC. She memorized the handbook and learned about the funding and financials. Tobias, well, let’s just say he has a mischievous side. He crashed a 50th birthday party, stole a rug from a client in The Studio, skipped work for coffee and so much more. He shined in the outside entertainment though, they all did! If you want to see more of our new employees, check out our Facebook page.
Richwood is OPRA Best Community Partner
We talk all the time about our partnership with Richwood Bank and Richwood Coffee. Today, we get to share that they won the Ohio Provider Resource Association’s Best Partner Award. Yay!
As you know, Richwood’s Coffee Beneficiary program has made so much difference in the lives of the clients at RTC. They have had the opportunity to enrich their lives in multiple ways including visiting museums, painting with goats, movies, ceramics, visiting a plethora of attractions, buying their own pumpkins, and so much more. None of those things happen without Richwood Coffee. We were so proud to watch them receive this award at the OPRA fall conference award ceremony. Congratulations, Richwood Bank and Richwood Coffee. You are a blessing to RTC and so many other organizations!
13 Days of Halloween
13 Days of Halloween is a favorite at RTC. Everyday clients and staff dress up according to the schedule. This year we had all the fun Halloween costumes you could think of; witches, princesses, super heroes, animals, skeletons, zombies, vampires, bats, jack-o-lantern, ghosts and monsters. There were also days for favorite movies, decade and of course the costume to wear on trick-or-treat.
Haunted Halls
After a five-year hiatus, RTC Haunted Halls returned this Halloween season, and it was fantastic! 656 people walked our halls, both scary and fun in just 90 minutes.
The event start time was 4:30 and there was a line of people eagerly waiting to get their scare on at 4:10. They were not disappointed. Several groups enjoyed it so much they went through multiple times.
This was a huge undertaking and wouldn’t have happened without many volunteers and some key staff. A big shout out to Lori Barber, Christy McGill, Kylee Purtee, Tonya Reed and Jenna Easton for the vision. Also thanks to Justin Cluck, Drew Keenan, Russ Foust, Teresa Frey, Tim Coppler, Molly Bailey, Somer Sherman, Jillaine Harrigan, Courtney Frederick, Jaine Hill, Sarah Cavanaugh, and Mike Predmore, for supporting the vision. And finally, to all our volunteers, you made it fabulous!
Wes McGill
Dave McGill
Lilly McGill
Jordan Reed
Blake Loomis
Kyle Owp
Jacob Hawke
Joe VanVorhis
Jill’s niece
Nancy Evans-Donley
Jack Costin
Bellefontaine Fire Department
We are already planning for Halloween 2025!
October is always a busy month at RTC for our programs. There were visits to the pumpkin patch, pumpkin cookie baking, costumes, pumpkin decorating and a homemade spaghetti lunch. The programs also did their typical projects like Meals on Wheels, walking group, Fierro works outs, GRACE and other volunteering. Sprinkle in 13 Days of Halloween and Haunted Halls and you have a busy month!
