Special athletes

Volunteer Sophie Robbins, a resident of Bridgewater, with Matheny community resident Josh Handler.

Matheny students, patients and group home residents brought home a total of 44 medals from the Somerset County Special Olympics, held Saturday, May 3, at Bridgewater-Raritan High School in Bridgewater, NJ.

Participation in Special Olympics is an important part of Matheny’s recreation therapy program, which provides a range of recreation choices to improve physical, emotional, cognitive and social well-being. Students, patients and community residents are encouraged to take part in several adaptive sports teams throughout the year, including track and field, adaptive karate and power wheelchair soccer.

Volunteer Taylor Black of Franklin Twp. with Matheny community resident Alex Martinez.

Matheny School teachers Tina Carey, left, and Karen Deland, right, presented The Friends of Matheny president Liz Geraghty with a poster expressing the school’s appreciation for everything the group has done.

The Friends of Matheny is an organization of volunteers dedicated to providing support for Matheny’s students and patients. Since its beginnings in 1983, The Friends has raised more than $3 million to help sustain Matheny’s programs and services. At a recent informal reception in the Matheny staff dining room, to mark The Friends’ 30th anniversary, Matheny employees thanked several members of The Friends for everything the group has done.

The Friends’ gifts through the years have ranged from the purchase of adaptive and therapeutic equipment and technology for The Matheny’s School’s classrooms to the renovation of our main lobby and the furnishing of a special family dining room.

Some of The Friends who attended the ‘thank you’ reception: Standing, from left, Karen Thompson, Edana Desatnick, Linda Horton, Kathy Sisto, Dorothy Carter, Colleen Blaxill, Nancy Hojnacki, Helen Fallone and Jean Wadsworth; seated, Liz Geraghty, left, and Gail Cunningham, Matheny coordinator of volunteer activities.

Matheny resident Jaime Barnes with, clockwise from left, Madeleine, Elenore, Chelsea and Matthew Mitschele.

Jaime Barnes has been a resident at Matheny for more than 10 years, and her sister, Chelsea Mitschele, has participated in Miles for Matheny every year. This year Chelsea and her husband Matthew created a Team Jaime page on the Miles for Matheny website to encourage family and friends to come out to Liberty Park in downtown Peapack, NJ, on Sunday, June 1, for what Chelsea describes as “a really inspirational day” and to contribute money to Jaime’s team page. Chelsea believes the event is uplifting because “you see the residents of Matheny out in the community, and you see all the support they receive from everyone who’s there.”

This year, both Chelsea and Matthew are planning to run in the 5K before moving over to cheer on the participants in the Lu Huggins Wheelchair Walk. Their three-year-old daughter Eleanore will be competing in the Kids Fun Run. As of May 9, Team Jaime had raised $525, but the Mitscheles were hoping that number would rise after they reached out to more family and friends.

In addition to the Wheelchair Walk, 5K and Kids Fun Run, activities at Miles include five different Cycling courses and The Friends of Matheny’s “Breakfast of Champions.” All funds raised help support the Matheny Center of Medicine and Dentistry, where more than 800 of New Jersey’s teens and adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities have access to the best medical, dental and therapy care possible. Major sponsors include the Poses Family Foundation; the Golub family; Partlow Insurance;
Peapack-Gladstone Bank; Porzio, Bromberg & Newman PC Attorneys at Law; BP Fueling Communities; Delta Dental of New Jersey Inc., WCBS-TV and WCBS Newsradio 880. For more information about Miles for Matheny, log onto www.milesformatheny.org or call (908) 234-0011, ext. 260.

To help support Team Jaime, log onto the team web page.

Amber and Daniel Mollino.

In August 2011, Daniel Mollino was in Teaneck, NJ, making repairs to some overhead lines for the cable company he worked for when he fell about 20 feet, suffering a traumatic brain injury. He was rushed to Hackensack University Medical Center, his life in danger. Miraculously, he survived, but with some long-term effects from the injury such as double vision, loss of hearing in his right ear and continuous pain. That, however, won’t prevent Daniel and his wife, Amber, both residents of Ringwood, NJ, from riding the 25-mile cycle course at Miles for Matheny on June 1. Matheny is special to the Mollinos because Amber’s brother, Chet Cheesman, lives in a Matheny community residence in Franklin Township, NJ, and has been a Matheny resident for more than 30 years.

Chet, Amber points out, has thrived at Matheny. “He’s always been involved in a lot of activities, particularly the Arts Access Program and its annual celebration, Full Circle. He’s always very positive, very happy.” Arts Access provides individuals who have disabilities the freedom to create in the visual, literary and performing arts. Chet’s outlook on life, given his disability, was perhaps a help to Amber as her husband was recovering from his accident. “Our daily lives have taken a turn from the way they were before,” she says, “but when you live with someone who has to deal with personal struggles every day, you realize the small stuff doesn’t matter.”

As a regular cyclist, Daniel has discovered a product called Elete, a liquid additive that athletes add to their water bottles to replenish electrolytes in the body. He has arranged for the company to provide 500 individual Elete dispensers for the cyclists and runners at Miles for Matheny. Thank you, Daniel!

Peapack-Gladstone Bank is the cycling sponsor at Miles for Matheny. Other major sponsors are: Poses Family Foundation; the Golub family; Partlow Insurance; Porzio, Bromberg & Newman PC Attorneys at Law; BP Fueling Communities; Delta Dental of New Jersey, Inc.; WCBS-TV and WCBS Newsradio 880. All funds raised help support the Matheny Center of Medicine and Dentistry, where more than 800 of New Jersey’s kids, teens and adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities have access to the best medical, dental and therapy care possible. In addition to five Cycling courses, activities at Miles for Matheny include the Lu Huggins Wheelchair Walk, a USATF-certified 5K race, a Kids Fun Run and the “Breakfast of Champions” provided by The Friends of Matheny.

For more information or to register, log onto www.milesformatheny.org or call (908) 234-0011, ext. 260. To support Daniel and Amber’s fundraising team, TBI to Victory, visit www.milesformatheny.org/TBI_to_Victory.

Chet Cheesman performing at Full Circle, the annual celebration of Matheny’s Arts Access Program.

Fat Bottom Girls cycling group from last year’s Miles for Matheny. From left, David and Fran Graham, Bethlehem Twp., NJ; Nora Godown, Chester, NJ; Jill Reuter, Nazareth, PA; Meg and Steve Slutter, Clinton Twp., NJ. Jill, Nora and Meg are sisters.

The Fat Bottom Girls Biking Club is back for a second year at Miles for Matheny. Last year, four members rode the 25-mile route, and two members did the 10-mile ride. “What I liked best about the event was its personal feel and the scenic route we rode on,” says Nora Godown of Chester, NJ. “Of course, most importantly, we all enjoyed supporting Matheny. This year, I’m looking forward to the same beautiful scenery with perhaps more Fat Bottoms riding with us. I also love seeing the Matheny students enjoying themselves and just being stars at the event.”

Godown first became familiar with Matheny when she moved to Chester and brought birthday cupcakes through the Chester Newcomers Club. “Later, my daughter volunteered at Matheny in the evenings,” she recalls. “Before becoming volunteers, my daughter and I took a tour, and I can honestly say I have never been more impressed! We were stunned by what we heard of the programs offered there and by the facility itself.”

This year, the Fat Bottom Girls have formed a team page on the Miles for Matheny website, with a fundraising goal of $2,000. All funds raised at Miles for Matheny help support the Matheny Center of Medicine and Dentistry, where more than 800 of New Jersey’s teens and adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities have access to the best medical, dental and therapy care possible. Peapack-Gladstone Bank is the cycling sponsor. Other major sponsors are the Poses Family Foundation, the Golub family, Partlow Insurance, Porzio Bromberg & Newman PC Attorneys at Law, BP Fueling Communities, Delta Dental of New Jersey, Inc., WCBS-TV and WCBS Newsradio 880. For more information about Miles for Matheny, log onto www.milesformatheny.org or call (908) 234-0011, ext. 260.

To help support the Fat Bottom Girls, log onto http://www.milesformatheny.org/fatbottomgirls.

Patrick Scaglione visits with adult resident Jess Evans.

Patrick Scaglione is very proud of Somerset County, NJ. The director of the Board of Chosen Freeholders likes to point out that Somerset “is recognized as one of the premier counties in the country,” and one of his primary goals is to work with others in government and the community “to promote the things that make Somerset County a great place to live and work.” That’s why Matheny is very excited that Scaglione will be a special guest of honor in the Lu Huggins Wheelchair Walk at Miles for Matheny on June 1.

In preparation for the big day, he recently stopped by Matheny, took an informal tour and met some of our students and patients. He visited several classrooms in The Matheny School, traveled through all three residential wings and finished at the Matheny Center of Medicine and Dentistry, where more than 800 of New Jersey’s kids, teens and adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities have access to the best medical, dental and therapy care possible. Although rainy weather prevented him from visiting the Robert Schonhorn Arts Center, he viewed some of the Arts Access artwork hanging on Matheny’s walls and visited with some of the adult patients who created it.

In addition to the Lu Huggins Wheelchair Walk, in which more than 100 wheelchair participants travel 1.5 miles around downtown Peapack with walking partners, activities at Miles for Matheny include a 5K Road Race, five different Cycling routes, a Kids Fun Run and The Friends of Matheny’s “Breakfast of Champions.” All funds raised support the Center of Medicine and Dentistry. Major sponsors include the Poses Family Foundation; the Golub family; Partlow Insurance; Peapack-Gladstone Bank; Porzio, Bromberg & Newman PC Attorneys at Law; BP Fueling Communities; Delta Dental of New Jersey Inc.; WCBS-TV and WCBS Newsradio 880. For more information about Miles for Matheny, log onto www.milesformatheny.org or call (908) 234-0011, ext. 260.

Carol Enos, left, and Gaila Call.

In January 1987, Gaila Call, a registered nurse, had relocated to New Jersey from New England. “I was pregnant,” she recalls, “and I couldn’t do any lifting. So the nursing agency recommended Matheny because the personal care assistants take care of the lifting.” Twenty-seven years later, Call is retiring as Matheny’s certified enterostomal nurse. Along the way, she received Matheny’s Employee Excellence Award (2003) and the New Jersey’s Governor’s Nursing Merit Award for excellence in the RN Post-Acute category (2005).

One of the primary reasons Call remained at Matheny for so many years was the personal connections she forged with the patients. “This is an exciting place without the kind of excitement you experience in an acute-care hospital,” she says. “You share a childhood with a lot of these people. You begin to realize the important part you play in their lives. And they have become very significant in my life as well.”

“Our specialties,” Call explains, are “wounds, ostomy [any procedure requiring an artificial opening in an organ], incontinence and bowel management. But, at Matheny, the emphasis is on wound prevention. It’s very critical here because so many of our patients are prone to wounds since they’re in wheelchairs all day.”

For the past year, Call has been working closely with her successor, Carol Enos, R.N., who received four months of specialty training in wound, ostomy and continence education at Wicks Educational Associates in Mechanicsburg, Pa. Enos was a late convert to nursing. She received a bachelor’s degree in medical technology from Douglass College (now part of the Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences). “I really love science,” she says. “But I wanted the patient contact.” So she went back to school, receiving her nursing degree from Raritan Valley Community College and doing her nursing clinicals at Matheny, where, “The Matheny mission—what they do and how they do it­—really pulled at my heartstrings.” She joined the staff five-and-a-half years ago and decided to apply for the enterostomal nursing job because “from the day I met Gaila, I always admired the job that she did.”

Artist Cindy Shanks with Morris Museum trustee Charles Pascarella and his wife Maryann.

“We couldn’t be happier to have Matheny open this exhibit,” said Geri Horn, Morris Museum trustee. “You have set the bar very high.”

The occasion was the opening reception for “Access-ABILITY,” a series of exhibitions the museum is presenting this year to showcase the expressive creativity of individuals with special needs. Seven artists from Matheny’s Arts Access Program were at the reception, and 30 pieces of visual art were on display. In addition, those in attendance were treated to readings of original work created by Arts Access writers. Arts Access provides individuals with disabilities the freedom to create in the visual, literary and performing arts.

The Arts Access exhibit was presented April 24–27. It will be followed by exhibits by JSDD (Jewish Services for the Developmentally Disabled) WAE (Wellness, Arts & Enrichment) Center Artist Showcase, July 17–20; and ECLC of New Jersey & P.R.I.D.E. (Promoting Responsibility, Independence, Decision-making and Employability) Artist Showcase, October 23–26.

Beginning Sunday, May 18, visual art by Arts Access artists will be on display at the Annual Collaborative Art Exhibition New Jersey Medical School — ARTS at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey in Newark.  An opening reception will be held from 2-4 p.m. The exhibit will also include art from three other organizations utilizing the innovative Arts Access methodology: JSDD’s WAE Center in West Orange, NJ; Hattie Larlham Creative Arts Program in Mantua, Ohio; and The Arc Mercer, Inc. in Ewing, NJ.

Artists James Lane and Jess Evans. Behind them is an untitled painting by Cindy Shanks.

Adam Schwab with Matheny adult resident Dion Alston.

Adam Schwab usually runs the 5K race at Miles for Matheny, the annual running, walking and cycling fundraiser and community event being held Sunday, June 1 at Liberty Park in Peapack, NJ. Now he’s on a mission to generate more support from colleagues at Pfizer Inc.’s Peapack site where he is a Manager and Principal Scientist in the Pfizer Global Supply group. His company has always strongly supported Miles,  helping the cause by allowing participants to park in its facility on the day of the event. But Schwab would like to see more volunteers and participants from Pfizer. He has created an online Pfizer team on the Miles for Matheny website (www.milesformatheny.org) with a fundraising goal of $2,000, and he recently visited Matheny to take an informal tour and gather up some promotional materials.

All funds raised at Miles for Matheny will help support the Matheny Center of Medicine and Dentistry, where more than 800 of New Jersey’s kids, teens and adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities have access to the best medical, dental and therapy care possible. Major Miles sponsors are: the Poses Family Foundation; the Golub family; Partlow Insurance; Peapack-Gladstone Bank, Porzio Bromberg & Newman PC Attorneys at Law, BP Fueling Communities, Delta Dental of New Jersey, Inc., WCBS-TV and WCBS Newsradio 880. For more information about Miles for Matheny, log onto www.milesformatheny.org or call (908) 234-0011, ext. 260. To help support Adam Schwab, log onto http://www.milesformatheny.org/Team_Pfizer.

From left, Isabelle, Sophia and Heather Santoro with Matheny student Shane Szott.

Every year, Heather Santoro of Gladstone, NJ, looks forward to the Lu Huggins Wheelchair Walk at Miles for Matheny because the wheelchair participants and their walking partners go right past her home on Mendham Road.

The Santoros usually have a party on the day of Miles, inviting friends and neighbors to their house to cheer on the Matheny students and patients as they pass by. But this year Heather Santoro is going the extra mile, so to speak. Her family will be making Miles for Matheny banners, and she’s urging her neighbors on Mendham Road to do the same. She also plans to distribute a flyer in the neighborhood, and there may even be a contest to see who comes up with the most creative banner.

Santoro grew up in Peapack-Gladstone and moved back as an adult about 10 years ago. She visited Matheny recently with her daughters, six-year-old Isabelle, a first grader at the Bedwell School in Bernardsville, and nine-year-old Sophia, a Bedwell third grader. Both plan to participate in the Kids Fun Run at Miles for Matheny, and Heather’s husband, Chris, will be running in the 5K. The girls also are going to take part in a special program at The Matheny School that invites them to read to some of the students. There are also plans for a community softball game.

All funds raised at Miles for Matheny support the Matheny Center of Medicine and Dentistry, where more than 800 of New Jersey’s children, teens and adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities have access to the best possible therapy and medical and dental care.

Major sponsors for this year’s Miles for Matheny, which will be held on June 1, include the Poses Family Foundation, the Golub Family, Partlow Insurance, Peapack-Gladstone Bank, Porzio Bromberg & Newman PC Attorneys at Law, BP Fueling Communities, Delta Dental of New Jersey, Inc., WCBS-TV and WCBS Newsradio 880. For more information or to register, log onto www.milesformatheny.org or call (908) 234-0011, ext. 260.

From left, Sophia, Isabelle and Heather Santoro with Matheny director of occupational therapy Donna Kelly and student Jacob Rolaf.

From left, Maryanne Tortorello, one-on-one aide Tiffany Fritz and Mary Rita Tortorello.

If there’s one message Maryann Tortorello of Randolph, NJ, would like to deliver to parents of children with disabilities, it’s “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” Tortorello’s daughter, Mary Rita, was born three months premature in 1995. When she was almost two months old, Mary Rita experienced bleeding in her brain, which developed into cerebral palsy. After three years of early intervention, she attended the P.G. Chambers School in Cedar Knolls, NJ, graduating from eighth grade in 2011. The Tortorello family visited Matheny as a possible option for high school. But the transition from the ambiance of an elementary school to that of a school located in a hospital setting with adult patients was somewhat disconcerting.

As a result, the Tortorellos tried two other school programs before finally settling on Matheny. “At Matheny, the appearance wasn’t ‘warm and fuzzy,’ but now that Mary Rita’s here, I realize the classroom teachers are ‘warm and fuzzy’,” says Tortorello. “The staff was very thorough when we came here. They spent a great deal of time with me, explaining a lot, and I explained a lot to them about Mary Rita.”

Tortorello believes her daughter is now getting “a typical high school experience. She’s changing classrooms. She’s getting a challenging high school curriculum. The problem in other high schools we tried is that she wasn’t being challenged. Honestly, they are amazing here.”

Mary Rita is now 18 years old, and Tortorello says “she loves to go to school. That makes me very, very happy. The teachers and the therapists are awesome. I can’t say enough good things about The Matheny School.”

Rich Schwenn, left, accompanying India Jones in the wheelchair walk at last year’s Miles for Matheny, along with, from left, Berkeley Heights, NJ, residents Frank Scacciaferro, Kevin Moore and Matheny occupational therapist Dominque Scacciaferro.

Rich Schwenn has been volunteering for 14 years at Mane Stream, an Oldwick, NJ-based organization that provides adaptive horsemanship and equine-assisted therapies for children and adults with special needs. Matheny brings students and adults to Mane Stream twice a year for spring and fall therapy sessions, and, about five years ago, Schwenn met Matheny student India Jones. “I sometimes act like a clown,” he confesses, “and India has a tendency to laugh very hard.” The chemistry between the two was instantaneous, and a couple of Matheny staff members suggested that Schwenn, a resident of Bogota, NJ, come to Matheny for a visit.

Says Schwenn: “I had noticed in some of the Matheny literature that the school encourages ‘friendly visits to a particular student,’ so I started coming about once a month to visit with India. In addition, I try to be there on special days such as Christmas and her birthday.” Bogota is about an hour’s drive away, but Schwenn also attends Matheny events such as the prom, held in Randolph, NJ, and Miles for Matheny, the annual fundraiser and community event held in downtown Peapack, NJ.

At this year’s Miles for Matheny, on June 1, Schwenn will be a walking partner for India in the Lu Huggins Wheelchair Walk, accompanied by his 15-year-old grandson Nicholas and 12-year-old granddaughter Olivia, who will be making the trip from Manahawkin, NJ. “They’ve heard about India,” he says, “and they’ve seen photos.” It’s important, he adds, for his grandchildren “to be in this environment, to learn that it’s not all about ‘you.’” As for his connection to Matheny, Schwenn says that “words cannot describe this experience. It’s an atmosphere that enriches me.”

For more information about Miles for Matheny, log onto www.milesformatheny.org or call (908) 234-0011, ext. 260. All funds raised will help support the Matheny Center of Medicine and Dentistry, where more than 800 of New Jersey’s kids, teens and adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities have access to the best possible medical, dental and therapy care. Major Miles sponsors include the Poses Family Foundation, the Golub family, Partlow Insurance, Peapack-Gladstone Bank, Porzio Bromberg & Newman PC Attorneys at Law, BP Fueling Communities, Delta Dental of New Jersey, Inc., WCBS-TV and WCBS Newsradio 880.

Rich Schwenn, right, with India Jones and physical therapy aide Erin McHugh.