The Northeastern Pennsylvania Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP NEPA) annual National Philanthropy Day awards program recognizes outstanding achievements by individual, foundation and corporate philanthropists, fundraising volunteers and professional fund raisers.

Moses Taylor Foundation was kindly nominated by Saint Joseph's Center for the 2021 National Philanthropy Day Outstanding Foundation Award. This award honors a foundation that demonstrates outstanding commitment through financial support and through encouragement and motivation of others to take leadership roles in philanthropy and community, national and/or international involvement.

AFP NEPA honored Moses Taylor Foundation and those who hold high ethical standards and best exemplify commitment and dedication toward helping society. These awards are given in recognition to those individuals and organizations whose life-time or long-term achievements have made a significant impact upon society.

See the video highlight below.

Healthy kids set the stage for strong communities, and students who don’t feel well can’t reach their full potential. That is why school-based health is a strategic focus area for the Foundation, and we are committed to supporting school nurses who are at the intersection of health and education. School nurses are highly trained medical professionals, yet most people don’t fully understand their role. 

We’ve created this video — "A Day in the Life of a School Nurse" — to help illustrate the varied, robust, and important nature of their jobs. Please share the video with anyone you can — administrators, educators, parents, and others! 

Also, WVIA will be highlighting the crucial role of the school nurse on their Keystone Edition: Health program on Monday, November 22 at 7:00pm. Be sure to tune in and spread the word about the program. You can learn more about Keystone Edition Health and watch the episode preview here. 

Social Media Assets Library

Join us in sharing posts and graphics that help elevate and create awareness about the important role of NEPA school nurses.

Library includes:

• Written post suggestions
• Downloadable graphics for Facebook
• Downloadable graphics for Twitter

Click to access social media assets

To learn more about Moses Taylor Foundation's efforts to support school nurses, click here, or reach out to me anytime via email or at 570.207.3731.

Thank you!

Christine Marcos
Senior Program Officer
Moses Taylor Foundation
cmarcos@mosestaylorfoundation.org

In a letter published in Sunday Times Leader, October 31, 2021, Interim President & CEO Dr. Mary Sewatsky submitted the following editorial:

School nurses are unique resources crucial to the health of students in our community. As students and families settle into “back to school” time while continuing to navigate a global health crisis, I’d like to shine some light on their important role.

Naturally, a school nurse’s role is more visible than ever due to the pandemic, yet it is still a profession oftentimes misunderstood. School nurses handle much more than playground scrapes and calling parents when a student feels ill. The school nurse is sometimes the only health professional a child sees regularly.

School nurses like Heights-Murray Elementary School’s Tracey Glynn-Roulinavage, included in the Times Leader’s October 19 article, “Fulfilling a vision, literally and figuratively,” have been on the front lines of children’s health for decades. They handle in-school screenings, help students manage chronic conditions, connect families to crucial resources, instill life-long healthy habits, and more.

Moses Taylor Foundation has had the privilege of meeting with dozens of school nurses, administrators, and local health experts to better understand the school nurse’s role as part of our commitment to supporting school-based health.  To formally identify challenges and opportunities to support school nurses, the Foundation partnered with the National Association of School Nurses to conduct a needs assessment in our 11-county region in Northeastern PA. This report, which can be downloaded at right, highlights the incredible dedication, resourcefulness, and optimism within such a complex profession — as well as barriers that prevent school nurses from being as effective as possible and strategies to overcome those challenges.

The Foundation is committed to helping overcome the barriers identified, and I invite the entire community to join in supporting our regional school nurses by learning more about their role and acknowledging their resilience, expertise, and value.

Dr. Mary Sewatsky

Interim President & CEO, Moses Taylor Foundation
msewatsky@mosestaylorfoundation.org

Moses Taylor Foundation partnered with the National Association of School Nurses (NASN) to complete the first needs assessment focused on school nurses in our 11-county region of Northeastern Pennsylvania. Numerous school nurses and other stakeholders took part in the assessment, which sought to identify barriers and gaps faced by school nurses in their efforts to improve student health.

Click on the report to download.

School nurses are crucial to student health, learning outcomes, reduced absenteeism and the greater health and welfare of communities. However, they also face challenges, and occasional misunderstandings, as the only health care professionals within the school setting. 

Formally identifying barriers and proposed solutions with this needs assessment was an essential step on a longer-term strategic journey for the Foundation. We have named “expanding school-based health through support for school nurses” as one of our key strategic initiatives, and the needs assessment was used to develop our corresponding strategy to best go about this work in the coming years.

“The work of school nurses has evolved far beyond the common misconception of band-aids and ice packs.  In fact, school nurses are on the front lines of children’s health, helping to manage chronic conditions, connecting families to crucial resources, instilling life-long healthy habits, and more.  We are honored to help shine a spotlight on the important work they do and to work with partners to assist in amplifying their efforts,” stated Christine Marcos, Senior Program Officer, Moses Taylor Foundation.

Kathy Verbel, Past President of the Pennsylvania Association of School Nurses and Practitioners and a school nurse within the Stroudsburg School District, was instrumental in assisting with the needs assessment. 

“The voice of the school nurse can often get lost, yet we have a unique role and perspective at the intersection of education and health.  We are excited to have this outlet to share that insight and for the partnership of Moses Taylor Foundation in our efforts to improve the health of children."

-Kathy Verbel, Past President of the Pennsylvania Association of School Nurses and Practitioner

“Despite the challenges school nurses face, they are overwhelmingly resourceful, passionate and committed to their profession. They regularly go above and beyond to care for students and families and are a tremendous asset to our community. We look forward to continuing to engage partners within the local educational systems and the community as we champion this work,” added Dr. Mary Sewatsky, Interim President and CEO, Moses Taylor Foundation.

Click here to learn more about our school-based health focus area.

Over the past months, many of us have experienced increased social isolation and have a better understanding of the impact lack of connection has on our health. However, for many older adults in our community, chronic isolation was part of life long before COVID, resulting in serious mental and physical health impacts. 

A cross-sector collaborative of more than 30 organizations led by the United Way of Lackawanna & Wayne Counties has been working together on a plan to address older adult isolation in our community. The collaborative would like to share the highlights of their plan and open the floor for additional community input before discussing next steps for implementation.

Zoom Conversation: Reducing older adult isolation in Lackawanna County
Wednesday, September 15 (online) 9AM - 10AM

Register now to join us for the conversation

On National School Nurse Day, and every day, Moses Taylor Foundation is thankful for all the school nurses who work on behalf of children’s health.

Words to remember:

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

“Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.”

“Science investigates; religion interprets. Science gives man knowledge, which is power; religion gives man wisdom, which is control. Science deals mainly with facts; religion deals mainly with values. The two are not rivals.”“We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right.”

“There is nothing more tragic than to find an individual bogged down in the length of life, devoid of breadth.”

“Property is intended to serve life, and no matter how much we surround it with rights and respect, it has no personal being. It is part of the earth man walks on. It is not man.”

“The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.”

Older adults face income disparities, housing issues, isolation, and more that can affect their health. The pandemic has illuminated the struggles of this at-risk population. What issues are the aging members of our community facing, and what are we doing to care for them? Watch WVIA’s December episode of Keystone Edition Health: Senior Services. Click to learn more about our strategic initiative around Reducing Older Adult Isolation.

Click below to launch the video.

Tech Talk with Johnson College Podcast Episode 7, “The Pandemic’s Influence on Healthcare and Mental Health” is now available.

In this episode of Tech Talk with Johnson College, Dr. Katie Leonard talks with LaTida Smith, President and CEO of the Moses Taylor Foundation. LaTida shares her insights on the importance of normalizing and valuing mental health, the influence of the healthcare system during the coronavirus pandemic, and how people can seize opportunities in the healthcare field – especially locally. Dr. Katie and LaTida also discuss the partnership between Johnson College and the Moses Taylor Foundation. This partnership formed because of the myriad of healthcare opportunities Johnson College offers. Plus, the desire of both organizations to educate people in the healthcare industry.

To listen to the podcast, click below.