JANUARY
2014
T
Garden Center Services
HE LEAFLET
The View From My Chair A MESSAGE FROM OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
William and Gerry
INSIDE THIS ISSUE THE VIEW FROM MY CHAIR Page 1 GCS FAMILY Page 2 SHARON DUNCAN Page 3 AROUND GCS Page 4
Heading into yet another new year I always consider resolutions that would help continue my growth as a healthy, happy, and kind person. For this newsletter I want to share some agency pledges for 2014 that I believe nurtures our commitment to provide the highest quality services to the individuals that attend our programs: • That we read and contemplate daily Garden Center Services’ mission statement found on the back page of this newsletter, and that we each obligate ourselves to do what’s necessary to sustain the principles found there.
• That all staff or board members in leadership or management positions with the agency, understand and exhibit the tenets of Servant Leadership, a leadership philosophy in which an individual interacts with others in ways that will promote the well-being of those around him/ her. Servant leadership involves the individual demonstrating the characteristics of empathy, listening, stewardship and commitment to personal growth toward others. • That I and those that I work with on the following are focused and tenacious regarding the maximization our funding from the state of Illinois. We will provide the requisite communication required to Department of Human Services, to the Pre-Admission Screening entities, to families, and to one another in a timely and consistent manner. • That I and executive/ management staff at the agency will be stalwart stewards of all revenue received by the agency, making sure that the use of any monies is directly connected to the outcome of quality services, and is done in the most cost
effective way possible. • That I, the fund development team, and members of the board, will be unabashed and avid in our efforts to get in front of the right people, organizations, and foundations to tell the incredible stories of the wonderful people we support in order to secure the crucial additional funding for our programs. Your assistance in helping us live us to these pledges is asked for and appreciated! I want to thank all of you for your backing and encouragement of the last year, and tell you that I am excited about what we will accomplish in the coming year for the persons we are honored to serve. HAPPY NEW YEAR! To all from myself and the GCS Board of Directors.
GARDEN CENTER SERVICES FAMILY Kyrie started attending the growArts artisan training program at Garden Gallery & Studio this past year. She attends two days a week on her days off from her job at Wendy’s where she works as a cook. Kyrie says her favorite thing to do at the gallery is, “Definitely the painting... it is relaxing and you can create whatever you come up with.” Kyrie also enjoys sketching with colored pencil and two of her drawings were chosen as the images for Garden Center’s 2013 Christmas Cards. One of those drawings is also featured in the 2014 Garden Gallery & Studio Calendar. Painting and drawing aren’t Kyrie’s only artistic mediums. She also enjoys making movies. Kyrie uses Sony Vegas video creation software and has her own YouTube Channel where she uploads and shares the videos she makes. She is a huge fan of Japanese anime, science fiction, monster and horror films. These definitely influence her video creations. Kyrie has a video series, “Galarians Guy” in which she sets dialog from Kyrie drawing was chosen for a popular animated series against characters and scenery she creates in her GCS’s 2013 Christmas Cards editing software. Many of Kyrie’s YouTube videos have tens of thousands of views. In one, Kyrie beautifully sings Japanese monster movie themes...in Japanese. (Kyrie has studied the language for several years). She also calls herself a hardcore Godzilla fan. “I’m geeky that way”, she says. Kyrie recently attended G-Fest, a convention dedicated to Godzilla films, and Flashback Weekend Chicago Horror Fest where she met director John Carpenter who directed the famous horror movie Halloween.
Kyrie
We are so glad to have Kyrie’s creative energy at the gallery and cannot wait to see what she will come up with next!
n
Berwy
Burbank
On December 13th, GCS honored staff at our annual Christmas party. We are so grateful to have such committed and caring people as a part of our team. It is a rare experience when we are able to get staff together from all of our locations and it was wonderful to see all of those amazing people together in one space.
treet State S
G C S
T H A N K YO U F O R A L L YO U DO!
B U S I N E S S
10-year anniversary
3-year anniversary
C O R N E R
DID YOU KNOW? A line of Garden Gallery’s silk scarves and bracelets are being carried at Blossom Boys! Blossom Boys is located in the Beverly neighborhood in Chicago. The store sells only Fair Trade merchandise or items produced in the USA. Steve English, co-owner of the shop, has a son with a developmental disability and is sensitive to our cause.
BLOSSOM BOYS 9911 S Walden Pkwy. Chicago, IL 60643
2
They have sold quite a few of our items and shared that after customers have chosen our beautiful products they are even more excited about their purchase after hearing the story or our artists and program. Stop in and thank them for their support!
Do good when you shop... COFFEE Co.
. Tastes Good. Does Good. Feels Good
Blossom Boys
Someone You Should Know
Sharon Duncan
Sharon Duncan has been a long-time Garden Center supporter and serves on Garden Center’s Board of Directors. Sharon’s niece, Jamee, lives in Garden Center’s Berwyn home and attends programming at our State Street location. In 2003, Sharon founded Abide in Me, a not-for-profit supporting disability issues. The group trained police and fire departments on working with people who have Autism, sponsored educators to train teachers and families to support children with disabilities in the Dominican Republic, distributed school supplies and adaptive equipment to school children with disabilities, disseminated literacy materials to adult service organizations and much more! This past year, Abide in Me took on a huge fundraising effort called Celebrate Me Home to raise money toward the purchase and renovation of a new home for people served by Garden Center Services who want to live in a smaller setting in the community. The home was purchased in June and Sharon, with an army of volunteers, has been working to get it ready for move in day.
Even with all of this, Sharon also found time to write a book! Her book, Roots and Fences: A Generational Story of Friends, Family and Disability follows the stories of four people (including Jamee!) linked by the common thread of disability. Proceeds of her book go back toward Abide in Me projects and programs.
Sharon’s Book
When she is not writing books, running a non-profit and putting sweat equity into the new Garden Center home, Sharon goes to her day job as a professor at Purdue Calumet University, where she teaches graduate courses in the Intensive Licensure Special Education teacher preparation program. Sharon is the proud mom of three adult children and has three grandchildren. She and Dave, her husband of 35 years, love traveling, their dog Nellie, the Chicago White Sox, hanging out with family and friends, and online shopping where she earns Garden Center cash through the iGive program. Thank You Sharon - for all you do for Garden Center and people with intellectual and physical disabilities! Look for Sharon’s book online at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and the iBookstore.
Garden Center Elves Make Amazing Christmas Gifts For months, program participants at Garden Center’s State Street, Kedzie and Gallery programs were busy creating beautiful items for Garden Center’s Annual Christmas Bazaar and the Tinley Park Holiday Mart. All of that work culminated in a mad rush to get those items ready for Friday, December 6th when the Gallery’s First Friday event, the Carden Center Bazaar and Tinley Park Holiday Mart were held. The items created by the groups were fantastic. There were beautiful hand-made Christmas houses, ornaments, home-made scented soaps, hand-painted silk scarves, beautiful votives, woven totes, and so much more for our shoppers to choose from. Great job elves!
Mark your calendar...
December 2013
SUN MON TUE WED THU
FRI
SAT
8
13
14
27
28
1
2
15
16
22
3
4
5
17
18
19
9
10
23
24
11
25
12
26
Sunday
6
20
January 2014
7
21
29
Monday
30
Tuesday
31
Wednesday
1
Day GCS Closed s m a r og
February 2014
SUN MON TUE WED THU
26
27
28
29
30
9
10
11
12
13
2
16
Thursday
2
Friday
3
3
17
4
18
5 19
6
20
FRI
31 7
14 21
Saturday
SAT
1
8
15
22
4
First Friday at the Gallery 7pm to 9pm
Pr
New Year’s Day
5
6
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8
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10
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12 ce d Chan Secon ft Thri Sale Super 4pm to m p 12
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GCS Day 20 Programs Closed
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28
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Martin Luther King Day National Day of Service
GCS Potting Party APRIL 2014
26
27
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Growing dignity
FRIENDS OF GARDEN CENTER SEPTEMBER-NOVEMBER 2013
and independence
$1,000 - $3,000
• • • •
3 MARATHONS FUNDRAISER Annabelle Winters SECOND CHANCE THRIFT SHOPPE DONORS Margaret Horny
phone 773-941-4151
• •
Peggy Hardek Anonymous Donations
email info@gardencenterservices.org
$100 - $499
8333 S. Austin Ave. Burbank, IL 60459
$500 - $999
10444 S. Kedzie Chicago, IL 60655
• • •
web www.GardenCenterServices.org
BOARD OF DIRECTORS President
Daniel Wenzler
1st Vice President
Jenny Wojcik
2nd Vice President
Doug Combs
Treasurer
R. Pat Ballis
Secretary
Annmarie Caulfield
Members:
Sharon Duncan
Bob and Gen ia baking at First Unite d Methodis t Church
• • • • • •
• •
John J. Kunkes
•
Sean O’Shea
•
Linda Sherwood
Tim & Tim
Garden Center Services is committed to supporting and empowering persons with developmental disabilities through innovative and person-centered services. Our commitment to the excellence of our programs is surpassed only by our devotion to the people we serve and the communities in which they live.
Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Strainis JP MORGAN CHASE THE CLOROX COMPANY FOUNDATION Mr. Bruce Kimball Francesca Manzella Thomas Mulcrone MEMORIAL FOR JOHN GRONKE
Up to $99
Scott Hardek
OUR MISSION
Mr. and Mrs. Roger Guthrie BURBANK MANOR PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH Mr. & Mrs. Dimitri Hoteko MEMORIAL FOR HELEN HOTEKO
IMPORTANT MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION
• • • •
2014 membership dues will be due on or before January 31, 2014.
• • • • •
Dues must be current in order to participate in the 2014 Board elections.
• • • • •
Board Elections will be held Thursday, February 13, 2014
•
We are thankful for the support we receive from the community to provide the people we serve with a place they can call home Please include Garden Center Services in your holiday giving this season by partnering with us to make a tax-deductible donation to secure a new group home for those whose parents are aging and can no longer meet their needs.
Judith Kaiser MEMORIAL FOR JOHN GRONKE Mr. & Mrs. Danny Legan MEMORIAL FOR JOHN GRONKE Frances Miranda MEMORIAL FOR JOHN GRONKE Mr. & Mrs. Gary Ossman MEMORIAL FOR JOHN GRONKE Carol L. Petersen THE TEEN BRIDGE CENTER Ann McGrath-Harty Jean Gronke Birthday Maru Torgler Memorial James McCormack
Michael Pulliam GARDEN GALLERY DONORS iGIVE SHOPPERS Gail Green TRUIST UNITED WAY Matching Funds Mr. & Mrs. James Browne Kathleen Weibel Myrtis Winter Memorial
Robert Doyle UNITED WAY of METRO CHICAGO Matching Funds Nicole Feliksik
THANK YOU!
iGive Shoppers earned GCS nearly $700! Join them and earn money for GCS at no cost to you every time you shop.
B U R BA N K - P R O G R A M & A D M I N I S T R AT I V E O F F I C E S 8 3 3 3 S o u t h A u s t i n Av e n u e p h o n e : 7 0 8 - 6 3 6 - 0 0 5 4
B u r b a n k ,
I L
6 0 4 5 9
C H I CAG O - P R O G R A M & A D M I N I S T R AT I V E O F F I C E S 1 0 4 4 4 K e d z i e A v e n u e p h o n e : 7 7 3 - 9 4 1 - 4 1 5 1
C h i c a g o ,
I L
6 0 6 5 5
T I N L E Y PA R K - P R O G R A M & A R T G A L L E RY / S T U D I O
1 7 4 5 9 S o u t h O a k Pa r k Av e n u e Ti n l e y Pa r k , I L 6 0 4 7 7 p h o n e : 7 0 8 - 4 0 7 - 8 6 6 6
“Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home.”
Edith Sitwell
Dear Family & Friends,
As this time of year approaches, our thoughts often return “home” and to those special people in our lives that offer friendship, comfort, and love throughout the year. At Garden Center Services we are honored to provide the individuals we serve with a place they can call home - a place where they know friends and caring staff will be waiting for them, where they can grow and flourish, while having fun.
With your support, over the past year, Garden Center Services has served over 160 adults with developmental disabilities. We helped Kristen achieve a greater sense of independence when she moved into her new group home at Garden Center. We helped Sarah create a path to work crafting and selling artisan products at the Garden Gallery & Studio. We provided Joe with a sense of belonging and self-worth when he joined the Community Crusaders, our consumer-led volunteer group. Hope and dignity are yours to give this holiday season. Your participation in Garden Center Service’s Holiday Appeal will be used to secure a new group home for those members of Garden Center Services whose parents are aging and can no longer meet their needs. Garden Center is committed to providing these long-standing members with a family setting, where they will be nurtured and loved. Reaching our goal of $17,500 would go a long way securing a new home for these individuals.
Your gift of $25, $50, $100, $250 or more can make all the difference in the lives of people with special needs. Your gift provides something priceless: it empowers people to build a brighter future. Please consider making an investment today. Warm Wishes for a Wonderful Holiday Season,
Visit www.GardenCenterServices.org to donate today!
Gerry Beagles Executive Director
Gerry Beagles Executive Director
W W W . G A R D E N C E N T E R S E R V I C E S . O R G
Just visit www.igive.com and choose Garden Center Services as your charity of choice. You’ll instantly start earning money for GCS every time you shop at the over 1300 stores registered with iGive. Join today & help GCS with every online purchase you make!