2021 Annual Appeal
The past 19 months have not been easy for our Garten employees. We experienced an entire pandemic, fires, ice storms and even political conflict. Many of our staff have experienced difficulty, pain and even tragedy and yet still juggled family and work to the best of their abilities. While, we persevered through the many challenges the past year has thrown at us, we still struggled. In 2020, we closed our Laundry Services, we lost clients and employees and we faced a new normal of interacting with participants virtually via Zoom. We stood steadfast to our mission in the middle of the pandemic and provided services to those who needed it most.
This holiday season, we have two fundraising priority focus: Programs & Services and IT Infrastructure. Your generous contribution will either support our DayBreak & Community Employment programs to provide services to our friends in the community with disabilities OR help us upgrade our aging IT infrastructure. Learn more about them below.
We know that there are many worthy organizations and we are so grateful that you chose our mission to support. Thank you for thinking of Garten this holiday season!
Programs & Services – Designate your funds to support our DayBreak & Community Employment program!
Our DayBreak & Community Employment services are crucial to many of our neighbors with disabilities. People who are integrated into the community via our services have lower levels of depression, isolation and are much more likely to feel that there is a reason to take care of their health.
Our work of incorporating people with disabilities into today’s workforce gives the community the opportunity to recognize that talent has no bounds and that people with disabilities have the proven ability to adapt and thrive if they are given the chance.Our DayBreak program gives adults with disabilities a safe place to socialize with their friends, go on weekly trips and learn new skills while still having access to health and personal care services.
IT Infrastructure – Designate your funds to support us in upgrading our IT Infrastructure!
Help – Our IT equipment is aging and needs an upgrade! Due to aging technology, we cannot run security updates and modern software like Zoom is not compatible with our current systems. Upgrading our technology will help Garten be more equipped to handle the changing tech environment. Aging equipment became an issue during virtual service delivery in both our DayBreak and Community Employment programs – we had difficulty providing adequate services to folks that needed our support. Improving technology will reduce employee downtime, increase security, productivity and efficiency, so we can focus on serving our mission, even if it has to be done virtually.