Month: March 2020

“Fun with Friends” during COVID-19

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Zoom Client Fun

Our clients (like everyone right now) are going through some difficult times. Our clients are used to going out in the community, and for some it’s difficult to understand why they aren’t able to go out now. For those that live with roommates, in some homes tensions are increasing due to boredom and not being able to enjoy their regular activities. We’ve started hosting video chat “Fun with Friends” for our clients as a creative way to provide a level of engagement with others outside their homes. Using Zoom video chat, we’ve been able to hold a choir practice, and are hosting 2 sessions of video chat activities per day (at 10:00 am and 4:00 pm) for clients to participate in. Our staff are working hard and trying to be creative and provide engaging activities with our clients during this difficult time.

Our All Abilities Choir also used Zoom to hold their first practice since social distancing began. Jennifer is one of the people who just loves the choir. Jennifer’s mom said, “The choir practice was great! It cheered Jennifer up so much. Thank you.” These little activities can really make a huge difference for our clients, especially right now.

There are all kinds of neat activities our staff can do with clients online, however many clients don’t have access to tablets, laptops, or the technology needed to access these neat resources. Donations of gently used technology devices can be dropped off at LIFEDesigns office and we can get them to clients in need. If you’d like to help by making a cash donation to purchase devices, please indicate “client devices” in a note with your gift.

 

Month of Chocolate Fundraising Report

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A HUGE “Thanks” to everyone who supported the Month of Chocolate this year! We are still waiting on a few numbers to come in from some of the events, and we’re still selling the Art of Chocolate Recipe Books, so our total may increase a bit more yet. We are so pleased to report that through the support of all of the businesses who sponsored or hosted events, guests who attended the events, donors, volunteers, our employees who worked hard to plan and coordinate the activities, and our board members and ambassadors who also helped to share the events with others, a net profit of $37,244 was raised to support people with disabilities!

Here are a few highlights from this year:

  • We were able to decrease our overall expenses by about $8,500
  • The Art of Chocolate received a lot of positive feedback about the change to the new venue at One World at Woolery Mill
  • Our All Abilities Choir enjoyed singing for our guests at the Art of Chocolate
  • The Bloomington Moose Lodge’s Chocolate Bingo was absolutely packed, they had their largest attendance of bingo players ever
  • The new Art of Chocolate Recipe Books sponsored by Oliver Winery and created in partnership with the Bloomington Watercolor society have been VERY popular! We ordered 250, and have only about 50 remaining for sale
  • We were able to work with a videographer this year, and we’re excitedly waiting to share the video recap of events for this year

As we reflect on the events this year, we are so honored to have the support of the community behind us in so many ways. We hope to grow the events each year and do more to raise increased funds for our clients to provide them with opportunities for growth and independence that Medicaid services simply don’t fund. Just a few examples of the types of things that aren’t funded by Medicaid are: travel (more than one round trip per day, and limited to local trips), the extra support needed to learn to drive, any over the counter medications, any housing repairs or maintenance. While these examples are some of the things we see most often and which have the greatest impact on our clients’ lives, there are many other examples of things that our clients need assistance with to be more independent which are not covered.

See more pics of the all of the events on our Facebook page!

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