Dear Friends,

We hope this note finds you and your loved ones well.  This is an uncertain and stressful season for all of us, and we extend our heartfelt good wishes to all our friends, families, volunteers and community partners.  We look forward to a time when we will all be able to be together again.

As you know, New Horizons’ mission is to promote inclusion for our hundreds and hundreds of clients with intellectual disabilities within the greater community.  Over the past few weeks however, our world has changed dramatically.  Our priority now is to help our folks stay safer at home or at their essential jobs during this challenging Covid-19 pandemic.

To assure New Horizons’ clients are supported during this critical time, our day activity programs have gone virtual and on-line with phone calls, resources and classes.  Clients who live in our residential group homes, who live independently in their own homes, or who work in “essential jobs” are receiving greater levels of care and support by New Horizons’ dedicated direct care staff, job coaches and life skills instructors.  We are quickly adapting all that we do to assure our clients are safe, supported, and not alone.  And we need to do this while at the same time keeping our staff, those that provide the direct support, safe and healthy.  As you can imagine, it has been quite a challenge.

As a result of this crisis, we have been forced to postpone our major Spring fundraising events — our annual gala and our golf tournament.  These are important fundraisers for us, generating over $250,000 between them.  The loss of this funding is yet another challenge to providing critical services.

In response, we have launched the Safer Horizons Fund. Our aim is to raise this $250,000 shortfall by June 30.  If you are in a position to do so, we ask for your support for those in our care.  Your gift now will help us cover the increased expenses of groceries, safety supplies, personal protection equipment, staff, technology, and activity materials to keep our vulnerable clients safe at home or at their jobs.

We appreciate your ongoing support and encouragement as we continue to face the uncertain days and weeks ahead. They power us forward to do what we need to do, until the time when we may again help our clients participate in the greater community.

Take care, and be well.

Sincerely,
John C. Brauer, M.A.
President & CEO