Dear Friends,
I hope this email finds you and your family safe and well. All of us at The Barn have been very busy the last three months reconfiguring our programs, developing comprehensive protocols to keep our children, families, volunteers and staff safe, and planning for the future amid vast uncertainly. Who could have imagined the degree to which the world has changed in the last three months?!
I’m writing today to let you know more in detail how we have responded and continue to respond to the COVID-19 crisis, especially now that we’ve entered the “green” phase.
As you’re probably aware, The Barn suspended its Individual Programs and Camp Geronimo. Our annual Spring Fundraiser was held virtually, and staff have been primarily working from home with the exception of Mr. Chris, our Facilities Manager.
We are currently running several no-cost virtual programs that are open to anyone who wishes to participate:
- Spring Brook Spotlight covers interesting Barn and farm topics, the animals and our neighbors. (Tuesdays at 11am via Facebook or Facebook Live)
- Zoom with the Animals is a live video exchange where each week a different animal is featured with little games (Thursdays at 11am via Zoom)
- Story Time with the Barn features a different Barn staff member each week reading a nature or animal themed story (Fridays at 1:00pm via Facebook Live)
- Our annual Summer Splash socialization event scheduled for July 11 will be delivered via Zoom.
This Monday, June 29, we will finally be welcoming children back to The Barn! Family Barn Visits are currently open only to our already-engaged families, but we anticipate enrolling new families in this program very soon. Each day one child/household unit under the direct supervision of at least one adult household member will be coached (from a safe distance of 6′) to participate in animal-assisted and outdoor activities.
We are also piloting a virtual Special Summer Session the week of August 3. This program will be limited to 16 children and delivered daily via Zoom so they can see and interact with each other. Each day will feature different activities such as games, music therapy, animal yoga, dance and crafts. Participating children will receive an activity box filled with everything they need to engage in the week’s activities.
(It is possible that Family Barn Visits and Special Sessions will be repeated into the fall provided social distancing restrictions are still in place.)
Save the date for our annual Hoe Down: Saturday, October, 17! This significant fundraising event will look a bit different this year, but be prepared for lots of (safe) fun, festivity and surprises! More information about the Hoe Down is coming soon!
We couldn’t have accomplished all that we did in such a short period of time without the help of several Temple University occupational therapy students assisting with our programs, as well as the diligence of University of Pennsylvania nurse practitioner students who worked tirelessly to create our comprehensive Communicable Disease Policy for Staff, Volunteers, and Participants which is serving as our primary reference resource to aid us in navigating our work at The Barn. (Please note: the link to our policy was recently removed due to ongoing recommendations for best practices requiring our need to continually make updates. Please contact me if you would like the most up-to-date information about The Barn’s Communicable Disease Policy for Staff, Volunteers, and Participants at [email protected].)
Our detailed protocols include:
- Increased cleaning and sanitization of our facility
- Requirement that masks must be worn at all times by staff and visitors
- Social distancing will be practiced in all areas of The Barn
- Required daily health screenings for staff and visitors
Moving forward, we will continue to monitor the guidelines and recommendations from the CDC, the Governor’s office, the Chester County Health Department, and other local and national experts and modify our programs and operations as needed to remain as safe as possible.
We look forward to growing the level of connection that makes our Barn community so special. Your encouragement, support, and patience are so appreciated at this time and we truly hope to see you soon!
With warmest regards,
Nan Latona
Dear Friends,
We are facing a truly unprecedented situation. The global coronavirus pandemic is affecting our families, our businesses, our communities and our way of life. During this time, I wanted to reach out and update you on how we’re dealing with this situation at The Barn.
First and foremost, our hearts go out to anyone who’s been impacted by the virus, either directly or indirectly. All of us at The Barn are focused on the health and safety of the children we serve and their families, as well as our animals, staff, volunteers and supporters- not to mention the community at-large.
Mr. Chris continues to come to work at The Barn daily to feed and tend to the animals, assisted by barn helpers Kathy and Alexa who help out on Mr. Chris’s off days. Miss Annie and I are busy working from home; however, we dearly miss the activity of our animals, volunteers and children.
At this time we have suspended our Individual Programs until further notice. Like you, we are tuned-in to the latest updates from our regional, state and national experts, which seem to change by the hour. For this reason we are unable to predict a date when we expect to resume business as usual. We recently made the tough decision to cancel our Spring Fling on April 4 and, although we are full steam ahead with preparations for this summer’s Camp Geronimo, we realize that we must remain flexible depending upon what the future brings.
To keep you and your family connected to life at The Barn, Mr. Chris will be regularly posting images and videos of our critters, so be sure to check Facebook regularly. We will also be live streaming our Baby-doll sheep – Sam and Samantha – as they get their spring haircuts! Again, we’ll be sure to announce this on Facebook ahead of time so you can tune in to watch.
Today reminds us that we’re all connected like never before. We’re called upon to be our best selves, with patience, understanding and compassion. All of us at The Barn are persevering right along with you at this challenging time. We’ll get through this together.
As we go forward, we’ll be sure to keep you updated, and know that we always value your questions, ideas and feedback.
Stay safe and well,
Nan Latona
Executive Director
Thank you to the First Crew team who selflessly gave up their Saturday on June 8 to make improvements to The Barn’s exteriors. Just in time for the start of Camp Geronimo, First Crew installed new handrails along the ramps leading to the Tree House and the barn and put new tops and seats on picnic tables.
We had blast at our annual summer socialization event on July 13th. We loved seeing new and returning families enjoying the festivities. Summer Splash was packed full of fun activities like face painting, a music station, a photo booth, and of course water games. As always, a big thank you to all of the excellent volunteers that helped pull the event together. And a shout out to the Temple University students for their creativity and compassion in designing the activities. We’re counting down the days until our next socialization event on November 2nd,2019. Save the date for our Autumn Festival!
Heather Carlino has been recognized as a 2019 Healthcare Hero by Mainline Today. “By day, Heather Carlino is a clinical lecturer at Penn’s pediatric acute care nurse practitioner program. Her other passion is Spring Brook Farm, a West Chester-based nonprofit that provides animal therapy and other activities for kids ages 6-12 with autism, cerebral palsy, Down Syndrome and other special needs. Read the article here.
Thank you to the First Crew team who selflessly gave up their Saturday on June 8 to make improvements to The Barn’s exteriors. Just in time for the start of Camp Geronimo, First Crew installed new handrails along the ramps leading to the Tree House and the barn and put new tops and seats on picnic tables.
Our dear Miss Piggy was recently featured in an interview with abc’s The View co-host, Sara Haines. Please check out her performance! It was such an honor for The Barn to be showcased this way.
The Barn at Spring Brook Farm’s Board President and cherished friend, Susan Elko, was honored on May 4th with the Chester County Fund for Women and Girls’ Kitchen Table Award.
CCFWG established the Kitchen Table Award in 2011 to honor a Chester County woman who has made substantive contributions through service and/or philanthropy to improve the lives of women and girls through her own time, talent or resources. It is named in celebration of the genesis of CCFWG in 1996: many conversations held around kitchen, board and coffee tables.
Susan Elko has an impressive history of service and philanthropy in Chester County. With over 30 years of experience in special education, educational consulting and policy development, she has devoted her career to serving others. From her work assisting women faced with homelessness to her role as Board President of The Barn at Spring Brook Farm, a nonprofit focused on enriching the lives of children with disabilities through animal-assisted activities – Susan has developed strong programming and opportunities for women and girls throughout Chester County. As a former board member and co-founder of CCFWG’s Girls Advisory Board (GAB), she has helped grow the program over the past 13 years into the transformative experience it is for high school girls today. Susan currently serves on the board of the Community Coalition, and was a former committee member of the First Presbyterian Church of West Chester and WCU’s Institute for Educational Excellence and Entrepreneurship. She also formerly served as an executive committee member for the Homeless Single Women’s Shelter Task Force, where she was instrumental in establishing a winter emergency shelter. Furthermore, Susan is an inspiring mentor, friend, colleague and true example of how women help shape the future of their communities.
To read the Daily Local News article, please click here.
Make sure you check out Emily McClure, our Executive Director, and Dr. Page Buck from West Chester University as they share the work of The Barn on PHL17’s April 21st edition of IN FOCUS: Autism Awareness.
The Eagles organization is in the spotlight for their Eagles Autism Challenge taking place on Saturday, May 19th at Lincoln Financial Field. Ryan Hammond, the program’s executive director talks about the large fundraising event which is expected to attract thousands of people who can run or cycle to raise money for innovative research on this disorder that affects 1 in 68 people. And, according to experts it is one of the fastest growing disorders in the country. Arianna Esposito, a behavior analyst from the Kinney Center for Autism Education and Support – lends her expertise to the topic. And, the Nolte Family is with us. Tom Nolte and his two sons Erik and Luke talk about their experiences with two of their sons who are triplets affected by autism. Their team – which Erik and Luke named – “Team 1 in 68” is fundraising for the Eagles Autism Challenge in May. And, Emily McClure, executive director of The Barn at Spring Brook Farm in West Chester talks about the farm as a healing alternative for people of various abilities. She is joined by Dr. Page Buck of West Chester University who explains the results of research on the bond between humans and animals and how it is helping people including those affected by autism. In Focus airs Saturday mornings at 6:30 on PHL17.
New research is finding animals may help kids on the autism spectrum relate to other people
Sabrina Opstbaum wasn’t expecting miracles when she started taking her daughter Reegan to the Barn at Spring Brook Farm, an animal-assisted intervention program for special needs children in West Chester. Like many kids on the autism spectrum, Reegan didn’t seem to connect with people, but she always enjoyed the company of animals. Read More…