At Woodhaven, nutrition is always at the top of our list when we think of things we need to work on – not because we are unhealthy – but because we know that to maintain our health, we need to watch what we eat and make wise choices. 2011 was a great year for a lot of us here, even the little changes we made to our diet really added up to a lot of pounds lost!

As 2012 commences, many of us plan to continue our commitment to making healthy choices.

To help reinforce what we learned in 2011 and keep us on track for 2012, Aktion Club invited Paula V., a dietitian from Hy-Vee to talk to us about nutrition.

Here are a few of the tips and tricks she shared with us:

1. 4 oz. of meat is the size of a deck of playing cards
2. 1 cup is about the size of a baseball
3. 1/2 cup is the size of a tennis ball
4. Fruits & Vegetables should take up about 1/2 of your plate
5. Proteins should be 1/4 of your plate
6. Whole grains and other starchy foods should only take up 1/4 of your plate
7. When cooking at home, use a salad plate instead of a dinner plate

For more tips and other information about healthy eating, check out Choose My Plate.

For more snapshots from the Aktion Club meeting, click on the photo below to see the slideshow
(or use the navigation buttons below).

Steve

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We have been incredibly blessed this year by the generosity of our friends in the community, their support made it possible for us to give the individuals we support a fantastic night out with their friends.

We are so grateful to the Columbia Cosmopolitan Club who donated the use of the Columbia Cosmopolitan Community Center for the party and to all of the others who chipped in to help us get gifts for the individuals we serve. Because of the overwhelming support we received from amazing community partners and the Woodhaven family, this year’s Christmas party was an overwhelming success.

Thanks again to all of the local businesses who helped make the night so magical: Bob Evans(catering), McDonald’s of Mid-Missouri(donated gifts), S&S DJ Solutions(musical entertainment) and to the Columbia Cosmopolitan Club for donating the use of the community center. We also want to thank all of the people who donated gift cards for the individuals we serve and our amazing staff who spent the afternoon and evening making sure everything went smoothly.

Check out the photos from the event below! (Click to see the slideshow or use the arrows to advance.)

Afton and Fakih

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“Merry Christmas, y’all!” they called to the audience.

As the choir director welcomed the crowd, the choir warmed up their instruments and settled into place. “We’re so happy to be here to share our music with you,” she said.

“This is one of the first places we played when we first got started many years ago,” she continued, while the choir finished up. “And now we’d like to play for you again.”

The first bells rang loud and clear, and the room stopped. All eyes and ears were concentrated on the sweet melody of the bell choir. As each member rang their bell, their level of synchronization was awe-inspiring. The smiles that filled the room stood as evidence of the great power of their music.

During the concert, one of the choir members, Robert, a man served by Woodhaven, shared his talent for singing with the group through a solo. While he seemed somewhat nervous during his part, the overwhelming look of joy on his face when he finished was undeniable. Watching him enjoy doing what he loves was by itself just as moving as the song he was singing.

Toward the end of the program, the choir played “Silent Night;” and rather than ask the audience to sing along with them, as with previous songs, they invited everyone to hum the tune as the choir played. The resulting collaboration left any bystanders captivated. A nurse passing through the room stopped and watched, her lips curling into broad smile.

At the end of the concert, the choir invited the audience to join them in celebrating the season with cake and prizes. It was a sweet way to wrap up such a beautiful concert.

The Bell Choir

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Christina brought a wide variety of decorations including glitter, fake snow and confetti for us to use to decorate each ornament. The possibilities were as endless as the spread that was laid out before us, covering the table.

This was a project we hadn’t really done before, so some experimentation was necessary – but despite the glue globs and glitter explosions we ended up with some amazing art for our homes.

Check out a few of the pictures from our ornament party. We hope you feel inspired to try this at home.

Bowl of Snowflakes

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Today, the Friday after our annual dinner, despite being completely exhausted, we are thrilled with how much fun it was to see many of our old friends and make some great new ones. Thank you again to our amazing table hosts for all of your hard work. We appreciate your effort and we loved meeting all of your guests.

Thank you to everyone who attended and contributed to the Woodhaven mission.
Thank you for believing in ability.

Check out the photos below to see some fun moments from the evening’s festivities. (Click on the photo to see the slideshow or use the navigation buttons at the bottom to advance.)

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The conference, which is presented by the Missouri Department of Mental Health, is in its fourth year. This year self-advocacy was an important theme throughout the sessions. We learned about what it means to be a self-advocate and how to become one.

Steve, one of the men we support who attended, was thankful he was able to go. “I learned more about how self-advocacy is important. It takes a strong person to be a good self-advocate,” he said.

Janet Lee is a Home Coordinator at one of our homes. She works with men who are mostly non-verbal. This conference gave her the opportunity to spend time with adults that she doesn’t normally get to work with. “I really enjoyed the opportunity to engage in conversation with other adults served by Woodhaven,” Janet said.

On the second day, LeDerick Horne presented as the keynote speaker. LeDerick is a nationally recognized poet and motivational speaker. He discussed growing up being labeled as disabled. LeDerick stressed that labels do not define who we are or what we are capable of achieving.

“My favorite part of the conference was listening to LeDerick. He had some great stories about growing up with learning disabilities and how he overcame them,” Jeff Kitch, a Program Manager, said.

That afternoon, we attended a session hosted by the graduates of Project STIR (Steps Toward Independence and Responsibility). This program provides individuals in Adair County with the tools to advocate for themselves and gain leadership experience.

Throughout the program they used role-playing activities to help reinforce the new skills they were learning. We watched several of those role-plays and listened to how being an advocate for themselves has changed their lives. ”It was encouraging and enlightening to see [these] individuals succeed,” Janet said.

At the end of the session, the moderator opened the floor for questions and examples of independence. Two women we serve, Becky and Rebecca, were proud to stand up and talk about their experiences going shopping on their own and taking care of themselves. It was encouraging to see them talk about how much they have accomplished and what it means to them.

“I think a conference is valuable when you can learn from it. I think we all learned a little something; it may be a little different, but we learned something from the experience,” Steve said of the sessions. “I think about things a little differently now.”

John, one of Steve’s roommates, also got to attend the conference this year. As we talked about what he learned this year, he reflected on what the conference meant to him. “I think I am a good self-advocate, but the conference gave me more self-confidence,” he said.

Every person served by Woodhaven is unique in how they react and comprehend the world. Their perception of the world and how they respond to it impacts how we get to interact with them. An important part of our work at Woodhaven is recognizing these differences and adapting our own behavior accordingly to fit their individual needs.

“[The conference’s] value is recognizing the potential of the people we serve and seeing their view of how the world perceives them – or not – realizing what burdens or weighs heavy on their minds and to determine the total comprehension of the experience from their point of view,” Janet said.

After the sessions for the day were over, we spent time together exploring the resort. We went shopping for some souvenirs and then went out to eat together.
Later in the evening, we had the opportunity to socialize with other conference attendees. There was dancing and karaoke. While none of us had the courage to sing in front of strangers, it was fun to listen and hang out with our friends. Janet, Steve and John agreed that the dancing and karaoke were definitely their favorite part of the trip.

After a long day of breakout sessions, keynotes and panel discussions, we really enjoyed getting to cut loose and spend time with old friends and making new ones. We are grateful for everything that came together for us to send so many of the adults we support this year, and really look forward to what we can learn and maybe even contribute next year.

Afton calls the meeting to order before the installation ceremony.

Membership in Aktion Club is important to the people we support. It gives them a natural connection to members of the community they wouldn’t have otherwise had the opportunity to meet. The volunteer work they do through Aktion Club is important to them. They enjoy giving back to the community and making new friends while they’re at it.

Learn more about Aktion Club

Paul offers encouragement to Aktion Clulb.

The meeting commenced with speakers Paul Pepper and James Mouser highlighting all of the community service the group had performed last year. Members chimed in to point out some of their favorite projects. Paul then challenged the club members to work even hard in the coming year to make a difference in the community. “There’s a lot more work to be done,” he said.

Nancy Whalen, Kiwanis Lt. Governor, performed the installation ceremony. She congratulated the new board members and officers as she installed them into their new position. After the installation ceremony, Kiwanian Brenda Kidwell presented each of the out-going officers and board members with a certificate honoring their hard work and dedicated service to the club and the community.

Steve was elected president for the 2011-2012 session.

Thanks for inviting us, Aktion Club!

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