MISSION OUR TEAM FROM JIM OUR FUTURE

FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

I feel a great sense of responsibility as we finish up the summer of 2007 at the Center of Family Love. The founders, the Knights of Columbus, raised the bar quite high, and the labors of so many people over the last 25 years sustained that height and in many ways increased it. But like all successful ventures, we have deference to the past and the accomplishments made, but are always looking to new horizons and opportunities to do better.

There are two major points that are at the top of my agenda as the Center moves forward. The first is the realization that we have a long waiting list for people wanting to come to the Center of Family Love . In many instances family are waiting several years for an opening to place their loved one under our care. This reality is sad as there is so much good we could be doing for those individuals if we only had the space. The Center of Family Love needs more capacity. The second is related to the first: The Center of Family Love is showing its age in almost all of the buildings on Campus except for the Loosen Center which was built in 1999. Each one of the other buildings is in need of renovation. We are not talking about a cosmetic upgrade, but more a functional one. The concept of care and physical environment of the seventies and eighties has radically changes from institutionalization to family environments. If we wish to continue to provide our clients with the best care, and meet the need of more admissions, the facilities must be redesigned to help promote that effort.

As the Executive Director, I tell my staff that they must “think outside the Box.” I try to hold myself to the same admonition and with the renovation needs of the Center of Family Love , outside the box thinking is a critical component. Let me share with you where my thinking has led me.

I want to build four new six bed group homes for our clients in 2007. This construction will allow us to move out of the existing Campus Group Men and Campus Group Women building. That will allow us to then to redesign the old group homes into Intermediate Care facilities. The group homes which were built in 1981 no longer meet the needs of the Center, and once redesigned will provide a wonderful environment for our ICF clients.

Once the group homes are refurbished, we would then focus on the existing ICF units and bring them into a more home like atmosphere and provide additional space for the many needs we have. That would put us in a much better position to provide the climate and environment to continue to give top notch care. Once the renovation is complete we would start the next phase of our new building program in 2009 to address the needs of all the people on our waiting list.

I said this was a great responsibility and my vision will call for extensive cooperation from all of us. It will validate the efforts of the Knights of Columbus and its Foundation for these many years. Twenty five years ago the Knights had a dream of providing unique care for people with developmental disabilities. My predecessors met the challenge very admirably. Now it’s our turn to continue that mission. I am convinced that all of us associated with the Center of Family Love will meet the challenge.