So Many to Thank...
The end of a year is a good time to look back
and reflect on the year that was while looking forward to the
year to come. The Warren Center for Communication & Learning
was the recipient of some amazing generosity in 2003 and is
thankful to those organizations and businesses who contributed
to the fulfillment of our mission this year.
The largest single donation this year was a $40,000
grant from the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation toward our
Be a Hearing Aide program. The grant will be used to complete
the expansion of the Warren Center’s audiology program.
That expansion allows the Center to see more clients in a timely
manner and reach out into the community. Last year, over 1,100
individuals received audiology services at the center.
A second donation to the audiology expansion
was received in December, when the Gannett Foundation, the
charitable wing of the company that owns WLBZ Channel 2 here
in Bangor, gave a $2500 donation. The check from Gannett was
presented to Mary E. Poulin, administrative director and Dr.
Amanda Samoluk, our head audiologist, by Channel 2 anchor Matt
Friedman at the station’s headquarters in December. Mary
and Amanda were featured on the evening news on December 22,
receiving the gift.
The grants to the Be a Hearing Aid program will
be used to pay costs associated with the expansion of the audiology
department, including installation of the second audiology
booth and purchase of necessary equipment.
The Regional Hearing Aid Bank (ReHAB) also received
a boost this year. In a grant to the Rite Aid Foundation, we
requested $4500, enough to provide refurbished hearing aids
to ten members of our community. Rite Aid thought our program
was so worthy, they doubled the grant and gave the Warren Center
$9000!
Another donation, pictured above, came from Hasbro
Toy Company. They donated 50 toys for use in speech therapy.
This donation directly improved the ability of therapists to
provide care to kids.
The Warren Center will use the funds to provide
refurbished hearing aids to members of our community who could
not otherwise afford them. Throughout the year, the Warren
Center accepts both in-the-ear and behind-the ear hearing aids
for use in the program. The BTEs can be refurbished and reused
by a ReHAB client. The ITEs can be recycled and the Center
receives a small amount for the salvage value.
A community organization in Ellsworth called
the Angel Helpers has volunteered to assist the Warren Center
in the collection of hearing aids. They delivered a bag of
both BTEs and ITEs to the Center in the fall and are asking
the community to help us.
“We are extremely grateful to all of these
organizations for their generosity to the center,” says
Mary Poulin. “The donations they have given us will make
a difference in the lives of those the Warren Center serves
each day.”
Notes from the
Administrative Director
The Board of the Warren Center has been hard
at work in 2004. In the spring we participated in an evaluation
tool provided by the Unity Foundation. After receiving the
results we met in July with representatives from the foundation
to discuss them. All board members were present for that meeting.
Out of that meeting we developed a new mission statement. The
new statement does not change our mission in the community
but does restate and clarify it. Our former mission is on the
cover of this newsletter (because we had purchased mastheads
just prior to the change and will continue to use them until
they are gone). Our new mission statement is: The Warren Center
provides evaluations, therapies and technologies in the areas
of speech, language development and hearing to the children
and adults of Eastern and Central Maine.
In November, we met for a strategic planning
session to set goals for the next 2 to 5 years. At this session,
the Board members identified the most critical goal for The
Warren Center – to achieve long-term financial stability
for the agency. They identified six subordinate goals that
need to be accomplished in order to reach the goal of long-term
financial stability. Committees of the Board will be responsible
for each of these goals.
One specific project which is under way as a
part of this plan is a survey, which will attempt to research
the community’s understanding of our mission; how we
are viewed by the educational, medical and other not-for-profit
entities in our area; what services that we provide are most
valued by the community; and what community needs if any we
might fill within our mission that we are not currently filling.
This survey is being developed and interpreted for us by Leslie
Harrell, a University of Maine graduate student in the Department
of Public Administration. We are grateful for her time and
would also appreciate your response should you receive a questionnaire
from us as part of this survey.
With a clearer statement of our mission and a better picture
of the community’s needs within the scope of that mission,
we will be better equipped to make the decisions that will
serve our client base and lead ultimately to a financially
secure future for our agency.
Thank you to each and every one of you who has contributed
to the Warren Center with your time, talent and/or money over
these last 43.5 years. We look forward to serving you for many
years to come.
Annual Meeting
Held in December
The Board of Directors and staff of the Warren
Center met on December 9 to review the last year at the center
and plan for the next one.
The Warren Center’s annual meeting was
held at the Willette Conference Center at St. Joseph Healthcare
Park on Broadway in Bangor. At the meeting, the staff heard
presentations by Mary E. Poulin, administrative director, MaryBeth
B. Richards, program director and Wayne Woodford, the president
of the Board of Directors. The staff and board were presented
with gifts and enjoyed excellent catering provided by St. Joseph’s
dietary services department.
At the meeting, new members of the board were
welcomed, including Jennifer Eastman (pictured above), an attorney
with Eaton Peabody. The board also elected new officers for
the next year.
Making Winter Wishes
Next time you visit the Warren Center, be sure
to check out the mittens hanging in our lobby to see how you
can help.
Our winter wish mittens program is an easy way anyone can get involved
in helping children who are in individual or group therapy at the
Warren Center. When providing therapy, our speech-language pathologists
use a variety of toys, games, crafts, snacks and other materials.
Making an in-kind donation of these items can
help the Center save money and continue to provide services
to those members of our community struggling with speech and
language difficulties.
Starting in January, our lobby will be decorated
with mittens, each bearing an item that we could use along
with approximate cost and where you can purchase them. Pick
up one of those mittens, purchase the item and bring it to
the Warren Center. It’s that easy to help!
All donations to the Warren Center are tax-deductible,
as we are a a 501(c)(3) organizaiton. More information is available
by calling the Center at 941-2850 or visiting our website at
www.warrencenter.org.
Thank you so much to everyone who has helped
in the past with this valuable fundraising opportunity. We
appreciate all of our faithful supporters!
Ask the Audiologists
By Dr. Amanda Samoluk and Dr. Kimberly Starkey, Warren Center Audiologists
Why do my ears ring?
It could be tinnitus. According to the American Tinnitus Association,
tinnitus is the medical term for the perception of sound in
one or both ears or in the head when no external sound is present.
It is often referred to as "ringing in the ears," although
some people hear hissing, roaring, whistling, chirping, or
clicking. Tinnitus can be intermittent or constant-with single
or multiple tones-and its perceived volume can range from subtle
to shattering.
There are many possible causes for tinnitus, including hearing
loss, ear or sinus infections, wax build-up or certain medications.
Getting your ears examined by a licensed audiologist may help
determine the cause of your tinnitus and help you determine
a course of treatment.
Why does my voice sound different when I use a new hearing
aid?
When you wear hearing aids for the first time, you’ll
probably notice your voice sounds funny! You’ll hear
your voice amplified through the hearing aid and some people
describe this sensation as feeling "plugged up" or
hearing your voice echoing. This is normal and will usually
go away in a few days after you have given yourself a chance
to get accustomed to your new hearing aids and learned to adjust
the volume controls. However, there are adjustments the audiologist
can make to relieve these symptoms, should they persist beyond
the first few days, or it they are intolerable and need to
be addressed immediately.
How should I care for my hearing aid?
More than 75 percent of all hearing aid repairs are due to
moisture and earwax accumulating in the hearing aid. The vast
majority of these repairs are 100 percent preventable. It is
extremely important to clean the entire hearing aid every time
it is removed from your ear by wiping and brushing it. To better
protect your investment, use a DRY-AID kit every night! Electronic
dry-aid kits are the best. They include a germicidal light
that kills most bacteria and other germs. They also have desiccants
to absorb moisture and fans to circulate air around the internal
components of the hearing aid. Get in the habit of cleaning
the hearing aid after each use and keeping the hearing aid
in the dry-aid kit at night. The hearing aid is electronic
and moisture is the enemy! Preventive maintenance is the key
to trouble free, long life from a hearing aid. A well maintained
hearing aid can easily last 5 to 7 years, maybe longer.
Meet the New Warren Center Staff
The Warren Center welcomes two new staff members.
Wendy Pollard is our new business office manager, responsible
for keeping the accounts straight and the bills paid. Wendy
comes to the Warren Center with 14 years of experience in finance
and accounting at the University Credit Union and 11 years
running a small business with her husband, John. She is a graduate
of Westbrook College with an associates degree in retail. Wendy
lives in Hampden and enjoys refinishing areas of her house,
snowmobiling, gardening and riding all-terrain vehicles.
Jill Craig is the Warren Center’s administrative secretary,
one of the two people who may greet you when you enter the
center. Jill is a native of Brewer, where she still lives,
and has 20 years of banking experience. She and her husband
Brian, have three children – Amy, 25, who lives in New
Hampshire, Brian, 19, in Germany with the U.S. Army and Gabrielle,
11, who lives at home. When not at the Warren Center, Jill
enjoys writing, reading, watching basketball and soccer games.
We're
on Television!
The Warren Center has just started advertising on Adelphia
Cable. Look for our ad, which highlights our audiology department,
on Lifetime, CNN and the New England Sports Network.
Annual Campaign
2004:
A Day in the Life of the Warren Center
If you’ve ever wondered what happens at the Warren Center
on a typical day, this year’s annual campaign answers
your question.
The theme of this year’s campaign is “A Day in
the Life of the Warren Center” and we enclosed a ‘scrapbook
page’ with every mailing that shows what our speech-language
pathologists and audiologists do every day to help those with
hearing or communication difficulties.
The annual campaign is the Warren Center’s largest single
fundraising event. The proceeds go toward daily operating expenses
at the center, making it possible for us to achieve our mission.
We appreciate the faithfulness of our many donors.
If you usually receive campaign materials, and have not done
so this year, please give us a call at (207) 941-2850. We want
to give everyone the opportunity to participate in fulfilling
our mission and investing in the good works the Warren Center
does each day.
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