March is Developmental Disability Awareness Month

Wow, it’s hard to believe it’s already March! The new year has been flying by and it feels like we’ve hardly had any winter. Trust me, I’m not complaining!!

You’ll find in this Leaflet a nice article by Associate Executive Director Cindy Haworth about Developmental Disabilities awareness month. It was President Ronald Reagan that formally made this designation back in 1987. I guess my hope would be that there will come a time when the need to identify a certain month to focus awareness on disabilities will no longer be necessary. But we’re not there yet.

I’ve been thinking about ways that we could collaborate with any of you that are reading this newsletter to help us make this month an exciting and very visible celebration of the persons with developmental disabilities that we support. I myself will be reading a wonderful child’s book that addresses the challenges of growing up with a disability to a group of first graders at an elementary school, as well as holding information sessions at a couple of local high schools.

I’m guessing that there’s a number of you that are reading this newsletter that have never had the opportunity to visit our agency, or if you have, it was a while ago. This month of March would be a perfect opportunity to arrange a short visit where you could stop by and hang out with the incredible individuals we serve.

Additionally, we are always hoping to expose our participants to new experiences and capabilities. If you have a hobby or certain interest and you’d be open to sharing your passion for it with our folks, let’s work together to set up an hour volunteer session that I can assure you would be an awesome event for all involved. Additionally, if you have any group that you’re involved with, either work or personal, and you’d enjoy a short, informal presentation about developmental disabilities and disability services, just let me know. I could come on my own or bring along a couple of our program participants to assist me.

Lastly, another way you could help us celebrate Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month would be by volunteering at our Second Chance Thrift Shop. This store is bringing in some much needed revenue that supports the quality programs we provide your loved ones, but we really need more volunteers. As you are able to offer us 1 or 2 three hour shifts a week, it would be so appreciated.

For any of the reasons listed above, please contact me directly at 708-560-4400.

Thank you,

Gerry

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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