2022 Summer Update from Our CEO

Happy Summer! So much has happened since I last wrote to you in January. In March, we launched our 50^th Anniversary celebrations. The 50^th Anniversary Committee, led by board member Steven Witz, created a special anniversary logo highlighting our 50 years of service to the community.

In May, our 35^th Annual Blossom Gala featured Orchard Village’s past, present, and future and honored several individuals who have been instrumental in our current success. For our future, we announced updates on our housing plan and the future growth of our programming spaces. Some of the people that Orchard Village serves have been with us for the entire 50 years. They started with us as young adults and are now senior citizens. As their needs have changed, so have our programs and residential services.

To meet the changing housing needs of our residents, we purchased two larger, more accessible homes. These homes will replace three of our smaller, less accessible, older homes. In May, we held an open house at our first new home and hosted residents, family members, staff, board members, and our neighbors. The clients moved into their new home recently.

Last year, we also launched a new day program called “DiscOVer,” aimed at individuals whose goal is not employment, but recreation, socialization, and community involvement. This program complements our employment-focused day program, InnOVations. Both of these programs are full, and we have a growing waitlist of people who want to enroll in them.

To meet this demand, we purchased a 7,000-square-foot building just across the street from our current day program building. This building will house our day programs and a new behavioral health clinic to meet our program participants’ mental health counseling needs.

To renovate the new homes and the new day program and behavioral health clinic building, we have launched the “Here We Grow” Campaign. This three-year campaign aims to raise $2.2 million to help pay for these renovation projects. The campaign also seeks to ensure the next 50 years of Orchard Village by growing our endowment through estate and planned gifts.

I am pleased to report that we are well on our way to reaching our goal! We have already raised $1.5 million in outright, pledged, and planned gifts for this campaign! We still have a long way to go, though; every donation counts, no matter the size. If you are interested in learning more about this exciting effort to expand our program spaces and improve our homes, please contact me directly at susan_kaufman@orchardvillage.org or 847-583-7730, or Joe Like, Vice President of Development at joseph_like@orchardvillage.org or 847-583-7734.