Pinebrook Bulletins
Legislative Breakfast
With state budget debates between the Governor and the State Legislature intensifying, three local organizations – Pinebrook Family Services, Children’s Home of Easton and The Impact Project, Inc. -- hosted an informative and spirited legislative breakfast meeting on May 14, 2010.
“It is evident that this strong turnout today is due to your passion and conviction to ensure that the safety and well-being of the Commonwealth’s children and youth are always kept at the forefront, especially during the current state budget discussions,” said Bob Jacobs, Executive Director of Pinebrook Family Services.
The essential need to maintain and fund services for at-risk children and their families was the focus of the event. As the economic environment continues to strain nonprofit organizations, they are faced with serious challenges as the demand for services continues to skyrocket.
“Resources are finite, but needs are anything but finite,” said Mary Rita Goodman, Vice-President of Pinebrook’s Board of Directors. “How do we survive’ you ask? Well, we ask ourselves that same question.”
“A continuum of services is required, not a one-size fits all,” said Joseph Coyle, Vice-Chair of Children’s Home of Easton’s Board of Directors. “We provide different interventions based on different needs” which requires financial resources. “Funding for our organizations needs to be a priority.”
Additional speakers included Gregg Dowty, President/Executive Director of Children’s Home of Easton; Bernadette Bianchi, Executive Director of Pennsylvania Council of Children, Youth, and Family Services; Joseph Abraham, President/Executive Director of The Impact Project, Inc.: and The Honorable J. Brian Johnson, Juvenile Dependency Administrative Judge, County of Lehigh.
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High Fidelity Wraparound Initiative --
Pinebrook Family Services Launches Pilot Program for Youth
Pinebrook's High Fidelity Team: (L to R) Sharon Arangio,
Rachel Dreibelbis, Blanca Sandoval, Stephen Miller,
Robin Bennett, Elizabeth Tkaczuk, Roger Trinh and
Damon McCaulley
On October 23, 2009 a crowd of more than 50 community partners helped to launch Pinebrook Family Services’ High Fidelity Wraparound Initiative. Made possible in partnership with Lehigh County through HealthChoices Reinvestment funds, High Fidelity Wraparound is a team-based program that serves children and youth aged 16 to 21 with special mental health needs and their families. The primary goal of this statewide initiative is to help youth in the Greater Lehigh Valley to live and work more productively.
In a true sense of community spirit, Pinebrook is thrilled to be collaborating with local partners from the fields of education, the faith-based community and human services, including child welfare, mental health, substance abuse, and juvenile justice. By working together, the High Fidelity Wraparound Initiative strives to strengthen families, which benefits the entire Lehigh Valley, as strong families foster stable communities.
For more information go to Behavioral Health Services.
Gang Awareness Workshop
Hand signs and distinctive graffiti. Code words, tattoos and identifiable attire. Signs of encroachment in schools. These and other information about the alarming inroads that violent gangs are carving in the Lehigh Valley was shared by Officer Jason Werley, Gang Intelligence Liaison, Northampton County Department of Corrections. The free Gang Awareness Workshop, a follow-up to Pinebrook's Bullying and Truancy Workshop in October 2008, was conducted at Pinebrook's Allentown main office on May 13, 2009. For more information, call Pinebrook's Development Department at 610-432-3919.
New office site for Northampton County regional office
After months of searching for larger and more efficiently designed office space, we moved our regional office to 1101 Northampton Street, Suite 201, Easton. The new site allows Pinebrook to offer a continuum of behavioral/mental health services, as well as other community-based services such as our Transportation and Visitation Program (TVP) which, in the 07/08 fiscal year alone, provided over 1,500 units of family visitation service to Northampton County residents, covering over 100,000 miles of transportation. In order to more effectively serve the residents of the Greater Lehigh Valley area, Pinebrook now has offices in Allentown, Easton and Bangor.
