OCTOBER
2015
Garden Center Services
The View From My Chair A MESSAGE FROM OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
ago. His kind assistance, enjoyable conversations, and the fragrance of his ever present cologne, will be dearly missed.
Salvatore “Sal” Manzella
INSIDE THIS ISSUE THE VIEW FROM MY CHAIR Page 1 DSP WEEK Page 2 LOVE ROCKS Page 3 AROUND GCS Page 4
One of the experiences I had my first day at Garden Center which provided me a sign I had made the right decision, was meeting Sal (Salvatore) Manzella. A handsome man of Italian dissent that had attended the agency for a couple of years at that time. He was so incredibly welcoming, helpful, curious, and chatty, that it definitely lowered the anxiety I was experiencing that day back in May, 2003. I am so sad to that Sal passed unexpectedly, way too just over a
share away and soon, week
I am writing this article for the cover of the October Leaflet. October! Though we are a quarter of the way through the 2016 fiscal year, our legislature and governor have not yet approved a budget for the state of Illinois. It frightens me to imagine where DD services would be if not for the court ordered mandate that all Medicaid-funded programs must be paid. Though we are currently being reimbursed at last years’ levels, we have no guarantee what our rates will be once the FY16 state budget is ratified. Whatever the rates are, there is no doubt that they will inadequately provide the support required to offer the variety and intensity of services and experiences our individuals deserve.
At his memorial, Sal’s parents shared with me how much he looked forward to coming to the State Road Program each day. I appreciated that, but I am also keenly aware that Sal was an individual similar to most of the persons we serve, that had capacities and gifts that were not fully developed or shared due to the inadequacy of our state’s funding. It is Garden Center Services’ commitment to these values of choice and empowerment that drive our fund development efforts in the hopes of securing the discretionary monies we need to live up to our mission. As you come across requests for donations of your money or services in this or other correspondence from the agency, please don’t put off making a decision because there will always be time. Sometimes there isn’t.