On Friday night, November 16, the city of brotherly love was host to a special night for Devereux. Old friends from around the country and new friends from businesses in the greater Philadelphia area gathered to help us celebrate.
We were gathered to recognize the 95th anniversary of Devereux, a venerable Philadelphia institution built by education pioneer and humanitarian, Helena T. Devereux. We also celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Institute of Clinical Training and Research (ICTR), another one of her extraordinary visionary ideas. Throughout the evening’s celebrations, I couldn’t help but wonder what Miss Devereux would think, looking out at a sea of 400 faces who were all there to honor the legacy she created.
This legacy is the nation’s largest, non-profit provider of behavioral healthcare in the country for individuals with intellectual disabilities, behavioral disorders and mental illness. We touch more than 15,000 people each year. What a testament to the woman who cared enough about the forgotten children sitting in the back of the classroom!
During the evening, we recognized Devereux’s outstanding employees, recipients from each center, of the Tom Donovan Culture of Caring Award, as well as Margo Volkmer the quality management coordinator for Devereux Texas, who was the 2007 Weaver Falberg Fellowship Promise Award recipient. Margo will be using scholarship money from her award to pursue a master’s degree in healthcare administration.
We honored a very special former ICTR intern and former Devereux chief clinical officer, Dr. Howard Savin, with the first ICTR Distinguished Alumni Award. In addition to his work with Devereux, Dr. Savin was a pioneer of the managed behavioral health industry in the 1980’s.
We also honored some very special friends of Devereux, the Genuardi Family. For eighteen years, the Genuardis have offered Devereux their unwavering support in numerous ways. The prestigious Helena T. Devereux Humanitarian Awards was given to a very special family and very special friends.
The evening was made even more memorable by the hundreds of friends who came to support Devereux. These friends, along with a cadre of generous event sponsors, helped to net $245,000 for the evening. With the generous match provided by the Tom Hays and Skip Genuardi challenge grant, the evening’s grand total was $490,000 raised for Devereux’s Pennsylvania campaign.
I thank all of you for making it a tremendous night for Devereux.
