Celebrating 75 Years of Matheny

Celebrating 75 Years of Matheny

On Thursday, October 13th, we were thrilled to be joined up on the hill by parents, supporters, and community members to celebrate 75 years of Matheny magic! It was wonderful to reconnect with old friends, see some new faces, and share both our history and the exciting plans on the horizon.

Thank you for your support! We cannot wait to continue telling the Matheny story – for the next 75 years, and beyond!

If you were able to join us on Thursday, we hope you had as much fun as we did! If you were unable to attend, we hope you enjoy these video and photo highlights!

75th Anniversary Video

75th Anniversary Slideshow

Event Photo Album

Miles for Matheny 2022 – Full Photo Album

Check out our full Miles for Matheny 2022 Photo Album! Thanks to everyone who helped make this wonderful event happen! It was great to gather with our community and supporters.

*All photos by Keith Bratcher. Thank you, Keith!

Miles for Matheny 2022 – Special Picture Frame!

Did you attend Miles for Matheny 2022? If so, did you stop by for a picture in our special 25th Anniversary picture frame?

Find your photo here, and be on the lookout for even more snapshots from this awesome event next week. Thank you for being there, supporting us, and helping us capture these beautiful moments.

The Faces of Matheny – Miles for Matheny 2022

Saturday, June 4th was the 25th Annual Miles for Matheny!

We couldn’t have asked for a better day. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts to everyone who showed up this weekend to show love and support to our amazing students, patients, and families! For this special Faces of Matheny feature, we are showing you some of our favorite moments from this beautiful Miles celebration. More photos to come later this week.

Special thanks to the Bernardsville News for their coverage, and to CBS 2 News New York and meteorologist John Elliott for their live broadcast from Miles at the Far Hills Fairgrounds! Check out the videos below.

Thank You To Our Miles for Matheny Sponsors!

Less than a month until our 25th Annual Miles for Matheny!

This exciting event wouldn’t be possible without sponsorships from families, supporters, and businesses in our community. Please join us in thanking:

  • The Lavine and Gordon Families, one of our devoted and enthusiastic Matheny families.
  • The Poses Family Foundation, which is dedicated to bringing about significant positive impact in five focus areas, the largest being learning disabilities, through a combination of business disciplines, nonprofit expertise, funding and passion.
  • Pfizer, one of the world’s premier biopharmaceutical companies who pursues breakthroughs that change patients’ lives.

Thank you to these incredible people and organizations for supporting us as we work to enrich the lives and nurture the unique abilities of our students and patients.

There’s still time to register! Join us on Saturday, June 4th!

Miles for Matheny 2022 – 25th Anniversary!

In the spirit of excitement and optimism, you are invited to join us on Saturday, June 4th for the 25th annual Miles for Matheny event.

Miles is an uplifting day that allows our residents to interact with, and be celebrated by, the surrounding community. Especially on this milestone anniversary, this year’s event is sure to be a joyful day for our patients, students, residents, families, and friends. At Miles, absolutely everyone is welcome to participate and free to be themselves.

In 2022, we are planning to hold all events in person and everything will be done with the health and safety of the people we serve in mind. We are hopeful and excited to bring back the Lu Huggins Wheelchair Walk to the park. The day’s events include 12.5, 25, 35, and 50-mile, and “Hills of Attrition” cycle rides, a 5K Run, Kids Fun Run, and of course the beloved Wheelchair Walk.**

We’re thrilled that this year’s Miles for Matheny will be held at the J. Malcolm Belcher Fairgrounds in Far Hills. It is only fitting that we celebrate our 75th anniversary in the same town where it all began when Matheny was known as the Burnt Mills School for Paralysis Correction. Walter and Marguerite only had a dream and a GI loan of $3,000 to create this amazing organization. Today, Matheny is a comprehensive non-profit organization offering life-saving and life-enriching services that touch the lives of hundreds of people with special needs every day.

Learn more and register today!

Arts Access Works Displayed in Somerville

In-person exhibit at Somerset County Admin Building

In the Cultural & Heritage Gallery

We are thrilled to announce that 27 paintings by our Arts Access artists are currently featured in an in-person exhibit at the Somerset County Administration Building! Coinciding with Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month, the exhibit is on display in the Cultural & Heritage Gallery from February 28 – April 22. The gallery is open to the public Monday-Friday 8:30am-4:30pm at 20 Grove Street in Somerville, NJ.

For directions, visit the county’s website: www.co.somerset.nj.us/about/county-complex-directions

We are thrilled that the Arts Access artists have this opportunity to share their work with the local community!

Learn more!

Get your Full Circle 2021 tickets today!

Come support our creative and hard-working Matheny artists at Full Circle, a multi-disciplinary fine arts showcase featuring original work created by the Arts Access artists.

This year, Full Circle is being re-imagined as a virtual event in order to ensure the health and safety of our artists, supporters, and staff. Both our fine art gallery exhibition and a multi-media stage show will be professionally filmed and live-streamed.

Viewers will see and experience acrylic paintings, digital paintings, sculpture, choreography, dramatic works, and staged readings of creative writing.

Join us! Saturday, November 6th

Full Circle 2021: Art from Afar, streaming live at 4:00 pm.

We are always proud to celebrate and share the exceptional work created by the Arts Access artists in the visual, literary, and performing arts. Please join us to see our artists demonstrate their passion and talent!

Tickets here.

The New Jersey State Council on the Arts Funds Programs for Artists with Disabilities

September 16, 2021, Peapack, NJ — Matheny has been awarded $62,694.00 in grants from The New Jersey State Council on the Arts. The money is part of more than $35.6 million in grants made by NJSCA to support over  700 of New Jersey’s arts organizations, projects, and artists  and also included $7.5 million in Coronavirus Relief Funds – part of Governor Murphy’s economic recovery efforts.

Eileen Murray, Director of the Arts Access Program, said “NJSCA’s tremendous generosity greatly assists Arts Access in our mission to bring the fine arts experience to people with disabilities. New Jersey is fortunate to have such a vibrant and dynamic arts council, and I am personally grateful for their unflagging support.”

Arts Access’ multidisciplinary program offers specialized systems of communication and assistance for individuals with disabilities that enable them to freely express themselves in the arts. Instead of defining those participating in Arts Access by their disabilities, Arts Access enables participants to define themselves by their accomplishments.

The basis for all Arts Access programming is an established method of art facilitation through which individuals with disabilities are enabled to create and perform dramatic and literary works, dance, paintings, digital art, and sculpture. Facilitators are professional NJ artists who receive extensive, ongoing training in Arts Access methodology, program philosophy, and assistive technologies. Matheny’s Arts Access program empowers individuals with disabilities, regardless of economic or other disadvantages, to participate in the arts using innovative facilitation techniques. A wide variety of artistic choices in the visual, literary and performing arts is made available. Virtual facilitation was developed during the pandemic and had become an important component of the program.

Arts Access, now in its 28th year, gives people with developmental disabilities the tools necessary to create fine art. Assisted by professional artist-facilitators, the artists use specialized systems and methodologies that have been designed to enable individuals across the full spectrum of disability to clearly communicate their ideas. The fruits of their creativity – acrylic paintings, digital art, choreography, poetry, plays, essays and more – have been showcased in many venues throughout the tri-state area.  To learn more, go to artsaccessprogram.org.

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The New Jersey State Council on the Arts, created in 1966, is a division of the NJ Department of State. The Council was established to encourage and foster public interest in the arts; enlarge public and private resources devoted to the arts; promote freedom of expression in the arts; and facilitate the inclusion of art in every public building in New Jersey. The Council receives direct appropriations from the State of New Jersey through a dedicated, renewable Hotel/Motel Occupancy fee, as well as competitive grants from the National Endowment for the Arts. To learn more about the Council, please visit www.artscouncil.nj.gov.
About Matheny – Matheny’s mission is to provide exceptional care and an optimal quality of life for children and adults with special needs and medically complex developmental disabilities. Matheny is a 501c3 nonprofit organization and is headquartered in Somerset County.  It was founded in 1946 after Walter and Marguerite Matheny’s son, Chuck, was born with cerebral palsy (CP) into a world ill-equipped to care for children with special needs. Matheny patients have a diverse range of medical conditions such as Cerebral Palsy, Spina Bifida, Lesch-Nyhan Disease (LND) and a wide range of rare diseases. Matheny is comprised of a special hospital, five community group homes, an adult day center, a non-profit private special school, and outpatient clinics serving the community. To learn more about Matheny, visit us at http://www.matheny.org or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram: @mathenymedical.

Miles for Matheny 2021

We want to give a huge thanks to all of the staff, volunteers, donors, and anyone else who made Miles for Matheny possible! It was incredibly fun to gather with our community and celebrate!

We strive to create these memorable events with the spectacular individuals in the Matheny family, and we’re eager to create even more.

We’re looking forward to next year – Miles for Matheny 2022 will be bigger and better!

 

The Matheny Community Welcomes New President and CEO, Bill Kent

March 30, 2021, Peapack, NJ —William (Bill) M. Kent, MHA, officially began working as President and CEO of Matheny School and Hospital on March 29, 2021.

Board President, William A. Krais, Esq., said, “The Board of Trustees conducted a national search for a candidate to replace our esteemed former president, Dr. Kendell Sprott.”  He added, “We are delighted to welcome Bill Kent to the Matheny family.  Bill is an accomplished leader whose depth and breadth of experience will serve the Matheny community well, and create an environment in which those we serve will thrive.”

Prior to joining Matheny, Bill Kent was President of the Lehigh Valley Hospital where, among many other responsibilities, he successfully led hospital management and operations for more than five years. His prestigious career experience includes more than 14 years as Senior Vice President at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and 13 years at the Johns Hopkins Health System.

He discussed his special connection to Matheny as a proud dad of two children – a daughter and his son, who has special needs.  When asked why he decided to apply for the position, Mr. Kent said, “Matheny was a personal calling for me given we are parents of a special needs son.  My wife and I have personally experienced the challenges of navigating and advocating for his needs throughout his life so he can achieve his full potential.  The mission of Matheny to support families with children and adults that have these unique challenges in their lives completely resonates with us.” Kent added, “The opportunity to join an organization that is uniquely providing excellent care to these wonderful people in need is something really compelling and exciting, especially at this point in my career.  To be able to make a difference in this community will be a wonderful capstone to my career. My colleagues at Matheny are uniquely special heroes – their commitment and their sense of passion to care for and support patients and families is extraordinary.”

Kent brings extensive strategic planning, operations, and facilities management experience to his new position. “Matheny is a very special place and a hidden gem.  My vision is to enable Matheny to become more widely known to this region and even throughout the country for the exceptional quality of its care and comprehensiveness of its services and programs. Part of what I will be working on is to develop a strategic plan that will help Matheny grow and reach its fullest potential as a leader in this part of the healthcare industry.”

At the start of his career, Kent says he served on the frontline in healthcare which shaped his philosophy of leadership. “I exist to serve the frontline. As President I want to make sure that my colleagues have what they need to provide the utmost high quality, safe, and compassionate care. It touches my heart to think about what my Matheny colleagues have accomplished throughout the years, but especially over this past year during the pandemic.”

Kent has published and presented on more than 35 topics ranging from patient satisfaction and quality improvement to organizational transformation and diversity. He has also served on numerous volunteer community boards including Big Brothers Big Sisters of Lehigh Valley, the Greater Cincinnati Health Council, the Life Center Organ Donation Network and the March of Dimes.  As an Eagle Scout, he also served as district chairman for the Boy Scouts in Baltimore.

Please Welcome Bill Kent

Please join us in welcoming William M. (Bill) Kent, Matheny’s new President & CEO! We are so excited to have him join us!

Before joining Matheny, Bill Kent was the President of the Lehigh Valley Hospital, based in Allentown, PA. Mr. Kent joined Lehigh Valley Health Network (LVHN) in December 2015. In his role as President, he was responsible for overall hospital management and operations for LVHN’s Lehigh Valley-Cedar Crest Hospital, 17th Street Hospital, and Tilghman Orthopedics Hospital. His responsibilities also included oversight of the Lehigh Valley Children’s Hospital, service lines including burn, neurosciences, orthopedics, trauma and perioperative services, support services and supply chain management.

Prior to joining LVHN, Mr. Kent served as Senior Vice President for Infrastructure and Operations over 14 years at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. Additionally, Mr. Kent was employed for 13 years with the Johns Hopkins Health System. While at Johns Hopkins, he held several senior leadership positions including President of Johns Hopkins Community Physicians, a subsidiary operating primary care practices throughout Maryland.

Mr. Kent graduated from Wittenberg University with a biology major and earned a master’s degree in health administration from the Washington University School of Medicine. Upon earning his master’s degree, Mr. Kent completed a two-year administrative fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

Mr. Kent has served on numerous community boards including Big Brothers Big Sisters of Lehigh Valley, the Greater Cincinnati Health Council, the Life Center Organ Donation Network and the March of Dimes. Mr. Kent is an Eagle Scout and served as district chairman for the Boy Scouts in Baltimore. While at Cincinnati Children’s, he developed a health careers exploring program for high school students. Additionally, he participated on the Cincinnati Mayor’s task force (including the United Way) to develop a plan for increasing economic inclusion and supplier diversity in the greater Cincinnati region. Mr. Kent is married and has two children.

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