Dear Friends and Families,

We are all familiar with the numerous challenges that we face as families, persons with disabilities and communities.  Challenges are often coupled with opportunities.   Options & Advocacy has one such opportunity.  We have been selected by the McHenry County Community Foundation to participate in their Matching Endowment Challenge Program.  This program allows an agency to raise up to $25,000 which will be equally matched by the foundation.    At our recent fundraiser, the 4th annual Oktoberfest, we were able to raise $21,510.  We are now only $3,490 away from our goal.  This endowment fund will generate an annual payout of 5% and will continue to grow and provide financial stability to Options & Advocacy.   Our challenge is that this opportunity for matching dollars ends on November 30, 2011. We are seeking your support to close this $3,490 gap.

This has been a year of wonderful success and growth to Options & Advocacy.  We served nearly 2,000 infants, children, and adults in our programs.  We added a new  Autism Support program.  This program is in many ways like the other service coordination programs that we operate.  It seeks to provide support, education, and options to the person and family seeking services.   The significant rise in the occurrence of autism is often in the news.  As with everyone that we serve, persons with autism are individual and unique. Our goal is to link them to the supports they need in order to be more successful in their daily lives.  This is the challenge we are facing.  The need for this program far outweighs our current funding, as is the case with our Epilepsy Support Program.  When this program came to Options & Advocacy in February 2010, it served 187 people.  Now it serves 333. We are actively seeking grants and other ways that we can expand this much needed program.  Along with its essential service coordination functions, the Epilepsy Support Program conducts a regular clinic with an epilepsy specialist and has a support group with over 35 participants each month.  Again, we challenged to meet what is obviously a real need in our community for both of these populations.

Our successes are your successes.  Every time a young child with a delay in their development makes a gain or acquires a new skill, we are involved.  Every time one of our young clients who receives special education  gets the school services that they are in need of – we are at the table.  Every time someone from McHenry County is able to move into a group home, we have secured the funding.  Our programs are critical.  We are proud of our reputation as passionate and knowledgeable advocates for persons with disabilities.

We are so grateful to those of you who have supported us.    Your donations, small and large, are important.  You may donate via our website at www.optionsandadvocacy.org or by sending a check.  I thank you in advance for generosity.  I hope your holiday season is filled with the joy of sharing it with friends and family.

Sincerely,

Cindy Sullivan
Executive Director