JAN/FEB
2026
Garden Center Services
The View From My Chair A MESSAGE FROM OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
to the commitment made by our wonderful employees to the core values of respect, empowerment, and compassion. 2025 Accomplishments Gerry, Nancy & Cindy
INSIDE THIS ISSUE THE VIEW FROM MY CHAIR Page 1 RAY BENAITIS Page 2 BUILDING ADVENTURE Page 3 THRIFT SALES Page 4
Dear supporters and family members of Garden Center Services! Cindy and I want to wish everyone a happy, healthy, and safe New Year. We thought it would be helpful for this first Leaflet newsletter of 2026 to reflect back on some accomplishments our agency made over the past year. I want to share with you that while generating this list I truly experienced strong emotions such as pride, gratitude, joy, and weariness. The fact that we made these positive strides in a time that is so affected by needless disharmony, misinformation, and blatant self-interest is a true testimony
We filled open leadership positions with top notch individuals: • Ray Benaitis accepted the Director position for oversite of Supportive Housing, Quality Assurance, Thrift Shoppe, and Maintenance & Transportation. • Elle Liberty accepted the Clinical Director position to support our Qs. • Zach Apt accepted a position as our newest CILA Q. • Kelly Drudi accepted the position to be our new onsite Nurse Practitioner. We also had some established staff move into new positions: • Sheryl Kincinas accepted the Director position to
support our clinical services including Nursing and the Behavioral Health Program. • April Watkins accepted the position of ICF Administrator. In addition to these staff changes, here are other strides that were made: • Acquired license for our own Behavior Health Clinic. • Moved forward with construction of our first Supportive Housing Apartments and purchased the land for our second. • Started our first Host Home and added a new CILA home. • Continued moving toward our goal of all residents having a private bedroom with five more added! • Had our first Sunny Days initiative resulting in three days of celebration of the people we support! • Updated two ICF bathrooms and flooring. • Updated flooring, painting continued on page 4