Dear Imagine friends and family,
We very much want to thank those who donated to our Gratitude Fund. With the match from Imagine, we will be dividing $20,000 into bonuses for staff who have kept those we serve safe, respected and entertained during the pandemic while looking out for one another. In fact, our fiscal year just ended and Imagine received $100,000 in donations, grants and sponsorships, very much a first in our history. Thank you for that.
And speaking of gratitude, we have a brand new web site! A super team spent more than a year developing it and I think it looks pretty sweet. Thank you to our team of Al, Lili, Janine and Kevin. Let us know how you like it.
We are grateful to report that the pandemic continued to spare Imagine’s clients and staff for another month. We are aware that cases are growing substantially in the Monterey Bay area while public accommodations are opening up. The challenge we have collectively will continue to be avoiding complacency and remaining committed to prevention. We have asked staff to do interview screens of any visitors and each other at shift change. Please continue to wear masks, wash your hands liberally and maintain social distance as possible.
As an organization dedicated to inclusion and the value of every person, we support Black Lives Matter and have not discouraged our clients or employees from protesting in support. We do ask anyone from the Imagine family to maintain social distance, wear masks and follow other protocols when they participate.
The threat to our funding from the State Budget has receded for now. To accommodate the risks ahead, we have delayed some raises and enhanced benefits but generally don’t anticipate major changes to our own budget. We look forward to providing raises and increased benefits once confidence in their sustainability returns.
We have begun the process of adding one caseload to Imagine’s Supported Living program. We’re excited for the people who will be entering our family. Many of those will be from Coastal Haven Families, young people transitioning for the first time outside their parents’ homes. We’d love it if some of our clients and their family members would be willing to mentor these new members of our family.
As it is, I’m very grateful to work with and for such an extraordinary group of people. This is a hard time for a lot of people and I’m very proud of how well the Imagine family has pulled together.
Gratefully yours,
Doug