APRIL
2014
T
Garden Center Services
HE LEAFLET
The View From My Chair A MESSAGE FROM OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Shari & Gerry
INSIDE THIS ISSUE THE VIEW FROM MY CHAIR Page 1 GARDEN CENTER FAMILY Page 2 MUSIC at GCS Page 3 AROUND GCS Page 4
It seems like the only experience of Spring we’re having so far is connected to our fund raising events. Last week, myself and staff were busy manning a booth at the annual Chicago Flower and Garden Show. The theme of this year’s show was “Do Green, Do Good”, and this was certainly true for Garden Center Services as our agency was identified as one of the five non-profits that will receive a donation from the sale of tickets for the Flower Show’s opening night Gala. At the show, we had sales of almost a thousand dollars from products made by our artists from the Garden Gallery & Studio and we made some awesome new contacts!
We’ve also had a taste of Spring as we’ve been “planting seeds” for next Friday’s 4th Annual Potting Party to be held at 115 Bourbon St. Restaurant. Please join us for a wonderful evening of great music, refreshments, and raffles that will generate funds to help us keep doing the right things for the individuals we support. Events like these are so vital as we strive to supplement the inadequate and late funding we receive from the state of Illinois. In the governor’s budget address presented on Wednesday, community providers could either benefit by a $30 million increase, or we could be hit with a $143.7 million decrease. If the current state income tax rate remains in place, providers will receive $30 million for a half year to provide a $1 and hour wage increase for Direct Support Staff (that they desperately need and deserve) coupled with a maintenance budget. If the tax increases expire, there will be no DSP increase and DD Waiver
program funding will be cut by $143 million. This, of course, would devastate the community structure and is too horrible to contemplate. I may be contacting you in the coming months to communicate with your legislators how important it is that they support an increase to our funding and not allow any cuts to our already inadequate state funding. As I believe that hope springs eternal, I would like to leave you with the following quote:
“Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come.” Anne Lamott