DSP Appreciation Week is Here!

Gerry Beagles • September 11, 2023

You will see in the September/October issue of The Leaflet where Cindy Haworth, our Associate Executive Director, and several other leadership staff at Garden Center Services, started off as direct support professionals. I myself, after a life changing experience spent volunteering at a church program supporting children with developmental and learning disabilities, decided at the age of 16 that I wanted my life’s work to be serving these incredible individuals that had already taught me so much! So as I began accumulating hours toward a degree in Special Education at Illinois State University, I started working as a direct care staff at a state operated facility for children and adolescents with developmental disabilities and/or severe behavior disorders.

I believe it is very beneficial that a number of us in leadership positions at our agency have had experience as DSPs because it makes us more sensitive and aware of what it takes to provide ongoing support to our individuals in an effective and compassionate way. I believe the agency’s mission statement, “ Advancing lives of connection, contribution, and meaning for persons with developmental disabilities and the individuals that support them.” demonstrates the understanding that there is a direct correlation between how we care for and support our employees and how well they assist and respond to the persons attending our programs. 

The September/October issue of The Leaflet is dedicated to our phenomenal and very compassionate DSPs. I wanted to take a moment here to share the responses from some questions I put forth to a few of Garden Center’s Direct Support Professionals.

What’s the most rewarding thing about being a DSP at Garden Center?

It’s about being surrounded by awesome people every day, staff and consumers alike.

The consumers are just great and GCS really has your back.

The consumers are a varied group of individuals with different difficulties and interests. They keep me teaching and learning and wanting to know more.

I also asked a few DSP’s, What do you wish you could do more of/better for our individuals?  

I would like more time and dedicated space to teach art to our individuals.

I’d like to take our folks on more adventures and to get away on vacations with them.

 Wishing there were more free activities in the area. Also, I’m hoping to find more businesses that would consider employing our people.

Please,  next week during National Direct Support Professionals Appreciation Week, find time to reach out and express your gratitude for all that our fantastic staff do.

I truly am not exaggerating when I state that Garden Centers group of DSPs are the finest to be found. They are the backbone of this agency.

Other Articles

Welcome 2025!

By Gerry Beagles • January 21, 2025
Looking forward to the new year at Garden Center.

Physical Plant Updates & Giving Tuesday

By Gerry Beagles • November 8, 2024
It’s hard to believe that soon it will be mid-November and we’ll all be making plans for our Thanksgiving celebrations. With all the tension and conflict that are present in many parts of our world, it is still very true that we have much to be grateful for. I have been emphasizing to our staff recently that my gratitude for our agency just continues to grow as I experience Garden Center Services as being a haven of safety, support, and kindheartedness for the individuals we serve and for our employees. I have frequently spoken about our services and programs and how proud I am regarding the quality of our supports and the high marks we get from the state surveys. An additional massive area of responsibility that we deal with is the upkeep, maintenance, and repair of the agency’s many properties and vehicles! We currently have 10 group homes, the 15 bed ICF, the State Road community day services program, the thrift shop/administrative offices on Kedzie Avenue, and 25 vehicles at last count! Now, knowing the wear and tear on your homes and cars, can you the imagine the impact over time on our holdings! Overseeing this huge task are the two fine gentlemen you see pictured here; Mr. Bryan Kochanny, Director of Maintenance and Transportation and Alan Maciel, Maintenance Specialist. Yes, you heard me right, TWO!! I am amazed at what these guys are able to take care of. Under the direction of Mr. Ralph Storino, Director of Fiscal Management, Bryan and Alan repair many things on their own and also manage the subcontractors that are brought in to work on more complex concerns or new installations. Just in the last six weeks or so here are some of the projects we’ve tackled; painted multiple bathrooms at the Moody CILA, completely redesigned two bathrooms at the ICF to be totally accessible, painted one of the BMA Manor apartments, laid the extensive in-ground piping needed for the new generator that will power the ICF in case of a natural disaster, and mechanical work on multiple vehicles. Please realize these are the projects dealt with in addition to all the daily crisis that come up. The other fact that I can share with you is that there is very little state funding provided to cover the extraordinary expense of these physical plant needs. We spend hundreds of thousands of dollars each year to keep our properties safe and looking nice, and it is our fund development efforts that help make this possible, which is a great opportunity to talk about Giving Tuesday! This year, Giving Tuesday will be on Dec. 3rd. This is a day identified nationally when individuals and businesses are asked to consider making charitable donations to non-profits as a way of kicking off the Christmas Season of caring. Here at Garden Center Services we would certainly appreciate it if you would choose our agency as one of the organizations you donate to. Thank you, and on behalf of myself, Cindy, and the Board of Directors, May you all have safe, healthy, and joy filled holidays. Gerry

Fulfilling Our Mission

By Gerry Beagles • June 21, 2024
Inside this month’s Leaflet you will find an article speaking about the accrediting body, the Council on Quality and Leadership (CQL). We decided to seek out this accreditation to ensure that the focus of our programs and supports at Garden Center Services will always be on each individual that we serve, and will be driven by what each person wants as we give the utmost respect to the inherent rights and personal choices that every individual has. We believe that we have a really strong and positive culture at our agency, but we can always do better, and I am very pleased and proud that we have taken this step and are now accredited by CQL. This formal status is recognized widely as an agency’s commitment to offer the best practiced programs and services to this population and will be helpful as we go forward applying for grants and financial assistance from charitable foundations and major gift donors. I also wanted to gratefully announce that the Illinois’ legislature has once again demonstrated their understanding and support of disability services in our state by voting in a $1.00 an hour increase for our Direct Support Professionals in the coming fiscal year budget. Even though Governor Pritzker’s original projected budget contained no increase for services like ours, the intense work and advocacy of our professional associations, our families and supporters, our staff themselves, convinced the House and Senate of the importance of providing a decent living wage for those employees that provide compassionate assistance to persons receiving services. In terms of fulfilling our mission statement here at Garden Center, I am also pleased to share that all the final items have been addressed regarding our Permanent Supportive Housing project that will be located in the town of Worth will begin construction this August! This beautiful apartment building will provide a home for 16 individuals with disabilities that can live independently in the community with minimal support. I am very grateful for the support that we have had from so many for this project, and really appreciate how this enhances Garden Center’s view as an agency fully committed to all persons with disabilities. Finally, I want to express so much gratitude for everyone that found ways to support our recent fundraiser, the Sunny Smash softball tournament. Or, as some of us have been saying, the Soggy Smash tournament, due to the rain that visited us on the day of the event. I’m pleased that even with the drizzle and rain we were able to get some games in, had numerous raffle prize won, enjoyed delicious food provided by Calabria Imports and Cravings Ice Cream Shop, and people were able to stick around and enjoy each other’s company. Even with the inclement weather we overshot our financial goal and raised over $45,000 for the agency programs. I want to specifically give a well deserved shout out to Anne McFerron and Shannon Voves, the two staff that put a lot of time and energy into planning and running the event! Please be safe out there and continue to enjoy what I hope will soon be a cicada free summer.  Peace, Gerry
Show More
Share by: