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21 Rosewood Services Members Participate in State Advocacy Conference
SACK Strength – For the second consecutive year, Rosewood Services brought the most representatives to the Self Advocate Coalition of Kansas Conference in Wichita last weekend. Pictured left to right, back row: Ivan Smith, Codie Hardie, Shaun Ledesma, Austin Orozco, David Edwardson, Destiny Thomas, Josh Trimmer, Darren Brown, Michael Manka, Jim West, Johnathan Howe; middle row: Caitlyn Stinger, Shae Griffin, Cierra Roberts, Ella Haberman, Beth Mattocks, Abbey Stanley, Chris Devine, Stacey Buchwald, Jeannie Triplett; front row: Tonya Burton (sponsor), Tahcoa Strachan (staff), Frankie Pelster (sponsor), Pam Babcock, Joe Smeragliulo (staff), and Kristy Perez (staff)
For the second year in a row, a record-number 21 members of Rosewood Services participated in the Self Advocate Coalition of Kansas Conference last weekend, June 13-15, in Wichita. They were joined by two sponsors and three staff members, representing the largest group that attended the conference this year. That designation was quite fitting for Rosewood, given that this year’s theme was titled “Inclusion Matters.”
Attending their inaugural conference for Kansans with disabilities were Rosewood’s Johnathan Howe, Austin Orozco, and Cierra Roberts. They were joined by the group’s veteran conference attendees Pam Babcock, Stacey Buchwald, Darren Brown, Chris Devine, David Edwardson, Ella Haberman, Codie Hardie, Shae Griffin , Shaun Ledesma, Michael Manka, Beth Mattocks, Ivan Smith, Abbey Stanley, Caitlyn Stinger, Destiny Thomas, Josh Trimmer, Jeannie Triplett, and Jim West.
Also attending were Rosewood SACK Conference sponsors Frankie Pelster and Tonya Burton, along with Rosewood staff Tahcoa Strachan, and first-year staff attendees Joe Smeragliulo and Kristy Perez.
“Taking such a large group, our staff did an amazing job ensuring all of our members got where they needed to be at the correct times,” said Pelster. “There were no major hiccups this year, strictly because of their expertise; I’m grateful to their commitment and attention to detail. My 12-year-old granddaughter, Tiecyn, attended with us this year and proved to be a big help to us. She’s grown up around our folks and is now understanding how we help to enhance the lives of our members.”
Super Smiles – Rosewood conference attendees (left to right) Caitlyn Stinger, Pam Babcock, and Cierra Roberts have some photo fun during the “Oral Health” workshop on Saturday afternoon, June 14th, at this year’s SACK Conference in Wichita.
For the third consecutive year, the SACK Conference was held at Drury Plaza Hotel, Broadview. However, Pelster said one challenge was that her large group was moved to a hotel three blocks away because this year’s conference attendance exceeded the number of rooms available at the hotel, and conference organizers wanted to keep respective groups together. She commended her exceptional staff with overcoming the small obstacle with no issues, despite having to cross traffic to and from the hotels.
“Medicaid Advocacy,” along with “Oral Health Kansas,” and “Healthy Relationships,” were three of the most popular workshops, said Pelster. She added that several Rosewood members opted to also attend the SACK Annual Meeting, to stay up to date with the organization.
Most of Rosewood’s SACK Conference attendees are members of Rosewood Miracle Workers AKTION Club. However, serving as the Club’s sponsor, Pelster said AKTION Club membership is not a requirement of someone to attend SACK Conference.
“For one reason or another, some of our individuals aren’t involved with AKTION Club, but they still have an interest in learning about self-advocacy, and I think it’s a wonderful opportunity for them, so we do what we can to get them to the conference,” explained Pelster. “We used to take one van with 6-to-8 members and two staff, but as our clients kept finding value with this conference, we kept finding a way to bring more of them each year. We’ll keep on trying to bring as many as we can, as long as they show the interest. We feel that SACK ties in so well with AKTION Club because with both, we are trying to build leadership, involvement and community inclusion.”
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Find more about Rosewood Services online, RosewoodServices.com
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For more information, contact Frankie Pelster, AKTION Club Sponsor, EmploymentSpecialist@rosewoodservices.com, 620-796-2242.
June 20, 2025
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Story by: Michael Dawes, director of PR, Rosewood Services, 620-792-2536, MichaelD@rosewoodservices.com
