Watch and let us know what some of the challenges & opportunities are that your organization faces when affecting change.

Diana led by explaining the mission of Ashoka: to find & fund change makers. Ys know what it means to tackle tough social problems head-on. Kevin was clear–our world is broken, but we can and must be a powerful force for positive social change.

Watch and let us know how you are leading from where you stand. If you were there, let us know what you thought of the meeting.

Now, moving offices is not generally a very big deal, but we made an important decision to keep Redwoods in Morrisville, NC, and move to a new suite in our current building. Over the past 15 years, our company has evolved and our culture has changed. Our new space reflects our evolution: built with sustainable materials in an entirely open environment, it will catalyze collaboration, ensuring that we will continue to serve our customers and our communities in new and innovative ways for many years to come.

On the day of the move, we were joined by the Morrisville Chamber of Commerce and the Mayor of Morrisville. You can hear the remarks made at the morning ribbon cutting ceremony.

You can see photos of our new office.

Our address will change to reflect this new suite number. Please update your records and send all correspondence to the following address:

The Redwoods Group
2801 Slater Rd, Suite 220
Morrisville, NC 27560-8477

Thank you for your continued support of our work.

Lifeguard Slip, Trip and Fall Prevention

Photo by Dave Dugdale
(learningdslrvideo.com)

Prevent lifeguard injuries by following these guidelines.

• For YMCAs
• For Jewish Organizations
• For Camps

Safely Filling Pools

Follow these guidelines to prevent pool overflow.

• For YMCAs
• For Jewish Organizations
• For Camps

To get a first hand account from a volunteer, check out Faiza’s blogpost. Thank you to everyone who gave of their time to make a difference. How are you making a difference? Please share some of your recent volunteer efforts in the comments.

In 2010, the CEO of the Lakeland Hills YMCA received a late night phone call that a fire had started in his Y. Upon arrival the fire chief said to him, “You were lucky.” Looking around at the flooded building, charred sauna and smoke filled hallways he wondered, how is this lucky?

He was lucky because the Y installed an automatic sprinkler in the sauna the previous year. A fire started around 10:45 PM in the sauna. Actual damages to the building were about $100,000 to repair. The fire chief estimated that without a sprinkler repairs would cost around $1,000,000. But more importantly, the Y was closed for one day. A few of our customers have been forced to close for more than two months after a sauna fire.

Listent to Jim McCrudden tell the story in his own words.

“In no way, shape or form did I ever feel we would ever use the sauna sprinkler. In fact, my biggest fear was that this thing is going to go off sometime, it’s going to flood the place, and there’s not going to be a fire. But little did I know it was going to go off, but in the form of a real fire.”

- Jim McCrudden, CEO, Lakeland Hills YMCA

RESOURCES TO PREVENT FACILITY FIRES

How to Prevent Sauna Fires

How to Prevent Dryer Fires

“Fire Brings Out the Best in Staff” – Lessons from a news story after a dryer fire

“Fire Teaches Alarming Lesson” – Lesson from a news story after a dryer fire

When an incident happens, it’s important to act quickly and purposefully. Everyone in your organization needs to know what to do. Timing is critical. In this webinar, learn how to create an employee culture that reacts properly and promptly.

WATCH THE RECORDING

Watch the Webinar [Video]
Listen to the Webinar [MP3]
View the Slides [PPT]
Print the Slides [PDF]

RESPONDING TO EMPLOYEE INJURIES

Mission First: Employee Safety website

Injury Investigating & Reporting
Injury Review & Actions
Introduction to Workplace Incident Reporting
How to Complete the Workplace Incident Report
Workplace Incident Reporting Form

The Redwoods Institute: Online Training

Online Training for YMCAs
Online Training for JCCs
Online Training for Camps

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FROM WEBINAR

Tom Massey

Chaplains at Work (video)

Corporate Chaplains of America

DAXKO T2 Consulting

Kevin Washington

YMCA Street Intervention Program

Chicago Crime Trends

YMCA of Greater Boston

Baron Herdelin-Doherty

YMCA of San Diego County

Mission First: Employee Safety – Step 4: Respond
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
2:00-3:00 PM Eastern

This webinar is free and open to all staff. When an employee is injured, it’s important to act promptly and properly. Everyone needs to know what to do. We’ll discuss how to create this culture among your employees and provide some resources to help you accomplish it.

Our panelists will share their own personal stories and draw on their experiences to create best practices for your organization.

BARON HERDELIN-DOHERTY, YMCA OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY

On the evening of May 31, 2011, Baron Herdelin-Doherty was riding his bicycle when an SUV driver lost control of her vehicle on the highway, went up an embankment, crashed through a fence and hit him and another man. Baron was severely injured and the other cyclist was killed. Less than a year later, Baron has recovered and gives credit for his survival to the first responders.

Baron is the CEO of the YMCA of San Diego County. In our webinar, he will recount his accident and share the learnings that have helped his Y focus on responding to employee injuries.

KEVIN WASHINGTON, YMCA OF GREATER BOSTON

In the 1992 Kevin Washington moved to the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago as the Senior Executive Director. One of his focuses was a program on gang intervention. The Street Intervention Program (SIP) mediated gang disputes, promoted non-violent solutions, and met with youth at school and on the street to provide guidance and a safe alternative. The program had aspects of gang prevention, but truly focused on the need for someone to respond to gang violence.

Kevin Washington, now the CEO of the YMCA of Greater Boston, will share what it took to respond to this need, how he found the right staff for the job and what learning he’s applied in Boston.

TOM MASSEY, DAXKO T2 CONSULTING

Tom Massey founded Triangle2 in 2000, which was acquired by DAXKO in 2011. Prior to Triangle2, Tom was a senior consultant for the YMCA of the USA and head of the program division. Tom has also held several management positions in the Y. Tom brings a vast experience with YMCAs and child-serving organizations, and has seen the spectrum of employee safety practices.

In our webinar, Tom will present a new model for responding to employee injuries and change who the person responding should be. The model is already used across the county at many organizations, including the Coca-Cola Company.

What questions do you have for our panelists? Write them in the comments section below and we’ll be sure to ask them on Wednesday. You can also ask questions live in the webinar.

In the report you’ll find five inspiring stories of our stakeholders rising up, a letter from our CEO, Kevin Trapani, and a letter from our CFO, Brian Keel, summarizing our financial performance.

You can view the report fullscreen by clicking the Expand button in the image below. After reading, please share your thoughts with us in the comment section.

View it on Issuu.
Download a PDF.
Our audited financials.