I’ve got the best job in the world!

Acceptance is created from an empowered movement that educates others to embrace diversity and love life by seeing beyond abilities.

-Annie Hopkins

If you count the two years I spent volunteering at the Special Religious Education Program at Blessed Sacrament parish in Springfield, I have been working with and advocating for adults with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities for over 50 years. It has been an incredible journey and it’s been heartening to experience the positive changes in how individuals with special needs are talked about, are spoken to, and are supported in community settings.

I started my paid employment in the field as a direct support staff at a state operated developmental center in Champaign, IL. Though a number of my fellow co-workers truly cared about the individuals we served, it was still very difficult to provide the individuals with the quality of life they deserved in such an isolated and restrictive environment. I painfully remember a number of episodes where I had to sit with individuals as they calmed themselves after being alarmingly distraught because they weren’t allowed to take part in normal activities in the community.

Over time, certain high profile cases and the civil rights movement led to new laws and Acts. In early 1972, Geraldo Rivera, an investigative reporter for WABC-TV in New York, was called by an activist physician recently fired for speaking out about the abysmal conditions at Willowbrook. Rivera’s exposé, Willowbrook: The Last Great Disgrace, garnered national attention, and was an indictment of institutionalization and treatment of persons with developmental disabilities.

The establishment of the Protection and Advocacy (P&A) title in the 1975 amendments to the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act (DD Act) was a civil rights achievement of several leaders including the late Elizabeth Boggs, Ph.D.

David Ferleger, a long-standing champion of the rights of people with developmental disabilities, filed the landmark Halderman v. Pennhurst State School and Hospital case in 1974. The Pennhurst decision was the first federal court decision to hold that there is a right to community services for people with disabilities.

Litigation in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s questioned both the purpose of institutions and the confinement of people in institutions, and progressively led to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) language that the United States Supreme Court was later to use in the Olmstead decision – declaring that to needlessly confine a person in an institution is segregation, that segregation is discrimination, and the ADA forbids such discrimination.

It’s incredible to see how our own agency has changed since its’ beginnings in 1956. Our spirited individuals are living and working in their communities and in many ways adding to the social fabric of their neighborhoods! We have persons with paid jobs; individuals are volunteering at a number of community sites including our own Second Chance Thrift Shop; when persons aren’t participating in a well rounded curriculum at our day program, they are constantly going out and about enjoying all that our wonderful communities offer.

And I am very excited to see how the next chapter unfolds! People will often ask me if I’m thinking about retiring and my response is, “Are you nuts? I’ve got the best job in the world!”

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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