Welcome 2025!

Gerry Beagles • January 21, 2025

Looking forward to the new year at Garden Center.

It’s so hard to believe that we are already halfway through the first month of 2025! I guess it’s a good time to check how many of our New Year resolutions are still in place! 


On behalf of myself, my wife Cindy, and our Board of Directors, I want to wish each of you a safe, healthy, and joy-filled 2025. I want to use my article for this Leaflet to mention a number of exciting goings-on at Garden Center Services that will be happening over the coming year. But first, let me take a moment to express my deep gratitude for the incredible outpouring of moral and financial support that so many of you provided during this past year. The lives of the individuals that we are honored to serve are truly made better by your generosity!


One of the positive changes that you will observe throughout this year will be the enhancement of our services as we implement the recommendations made by the accrediting body, the Council on Quality Leadership. The Council represents and advocates for the highest standards pertaining to the supports and programs for individuals with intellectual/and or developmental disabilities. We were very proud to have obtained accreditation status last year and will work hard to maintain it in the coming years.


I’m happy to share with you that sometime next month we will finally be closing on the Garden Apartments project. Once that occurs, then as soon as the weather permits, the digging will begin! The final result, a year to a year and a half later, will be a beautiful, sixteen-unit apartment building that will become home for persons with disabilities that can live somewhat independently. It makes me very proud that our agency is so committed to doing whatever it takes to help provide a home for those that otherwise may be without. Truly living our mission! 


We are also looking for a home to purchase that would be the initial site of the shared living program that we’ve been wanting to start. This is a living arrangement model where one or two individuals that are funded for residential support choose to move in and live with a family that is committed to being their caregivers as they now all share a home together. The house we’re purchasing can be rented by the couple or family that would be welcoming the individuals into their home.


In terms of living our mission, at Garden Center Services we are also very committed to taking care of our employees. For a couple of years we have been providing free counseling to the staff through an on-line program named TalkSpace. Now I am pleased to share with you that starting this January, 2025, our employees can register for a membership at the Burbank Recplex with the costs being covered by the agency! They will also have the opportunity to sign up family members at a discounted rate. They will cover the cost of any family members on their own.


Finally, I’ll mention the Spring Fling that we’re working on putting together for March 30th. We’ve heard from a number of you that it would be nice to have an agency sponsored dinner again where old and new friends of Garden Center could gather, break bread together, and hear more about our great agency. The event will differ from our past galas, as there’ll be no models or raffles. But we hope folks will enjoy seeing one another, sharing a good meal together, watching a professionally produced film about our agency, and listening/dancing to a live music trio! More info to come!


Whew! These are just some of the highlights of things happening at your agency! Looking forward to seeing you in the coming year. 


Looking forward to seeing you in the coming year. 


Peace,

Other Articles

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

Taking Care of One Another

By Gerry Beagles • May 23, 2024
Every year, since 1949, the month of May is designated as Mental Health Awareness Month. This observance is used to shed light on the importance of mental wellbeing by raising awareness and addressing the challenges faced by all of us due to the stress and insecurities of being human. I do feel that this is true now more than ever because of all the divisiveness and self-centeredness we seem to be bombarded with. I am so grateful for this agency and the core values of respect, empowerment, and compassion that I observe multiple times each day through the interactions of our dedicated employees and the individuals supported through our programs. I have just celebrated my twenty first anniversary as the Executive Director here and in so many ways it has come to feel as a second home. But as is true with most homes, there may be individuals that are struggling with such troublesome difficulties or losses that it can drain their positive energy and will. I am always amazed and heartened how our staff can show up each and every day, no matter what they may be dealing with, and provide caring assistance to the persons we serve. One of the ways we have chosen to support our employees’ mental health and well-being has been by providing them and their families with an on-line counseling program called Talkspace.  Our staff, and their family members (13 years old or older) are eligible to receive two live, web counseling sessions per month and unlimited texting with their therapist. This program has been well-received by our staff and we are hopeful to fund a third year of Talkspace therapy for our staff through the funds we will raise at this year’s Sunny Smash Co-Ed Softball Tournament, but we need your help! Please visit www.GardenCenterServices.org and sign up to Play, Volunteer, or Sponsor the event to help us provide these valuable supports for our dedicated and caring staff.
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