Posted on June 5, 2019
I recently shared some exciting news with our team members that I would now like to pass along to all my readers.
On March 28th, after several months of exploration and collaboration, Penn-Mar Human Services entered into a formal agreement with Westminster, Maryland-based Change Inc., to pursue the merger of their organization into the Penn-Mar Human Services family. Change Inc. provides many of the same supports as we at Penn-Mar, among them, customized employment, day services with a focus on community participation, personal supports and respite care.
When the agreement is formally finalized in July, pending approval from both of our Boards, Change Inc. will become a division of Penn-Mar Human Services and will continue to operate their current programs and supports in the same locations where they currently exist. They serve approximately 160 individuals with disabilities through a staff of approximately 120 team members.
I will continue to serve as President and CEO of Penn-Mar Human Services, the newly expanded organization. Mike Shriver, Change Inc.’s current CEO, will serve in the role of Executive Director of the Change, Inc. division and join Penn-Mar Human Services’ leadership team. It is expected that full integration of our two organizations will continue throughout the next 12 months.
This merger is an extraordinary opportunity to take two organizations who are really good at what they do and put our collective teams together to create a world-class organization.
I have known Mike Shriver for many years and some of you may remember him as the former CEO of Penn-Mar from 1984 – 2000. Mike actually hired me back in 1988 to begin building Penn-Mar’s residential program. Still one of his best decisions! (Just kidding).
Throughout the years, Mike and I have maintained a friendship and professional relationship. There is an inherent amount of trust between us. We share the same values and our organizations exhibit similar cultures. We are both motivated by what is best for those we support, our team mates and our communities. Mike and I have a similar spirit of innovation and out-of-the-box thinking. We are also extremely fortunate to have Boards of Directors who are fully supportive of our mission and vison. There is still much we can learn from one another.
As we progress through this process, I will do all I can to keep you informed along the way. We have put a Transition Team in place to facilitate the merger of our two strong entities in a way that integrates the best of leadership, operations, processes and culture.
Our goal will be to create an organization that will be a national model for innovation, effectiveness, and sustainability as the IDD provider community continues to evolve.
During the merger and integration process, the Transition Team will operate as ONE team and ONE organization focused on our unified mission and vision.
This opportunity will allow our organizations to produce a higher level of efficiency and improved outcomes both now, and in the future, for all those we support.
Simply put, we believe our organizations will be better together and this merger allows us to advance our mission of “Transforming Life into Living” on a wider scale with wider influence.
Stay tuned . . .