Slide 1: Bethesda Lutheran Communities

Bethesda Overview PPT

Narrative

Slide 1: Bethesda Lutheran Communities

Thank you for giving me a few minutes today to talk about the wonderful things happening at Bethesda Lutheran Communities. My name is XXX (include self intro here).

Slide 2: About Us

100 years ago, people with disabilities were not valued by society. Instead, they were often looked upon as a burden or as defective. Bethesda was started with a different philosophy – that all people are created by God, saved in the blood of Christ and are precious in God’s sight, no matter their level of ability. In Christian charity, Bethesda opened its doors to 5 people with intellectual and developmental disabilities on April 19, 1904 in Watertown WI.

Slide 3: Our Mission

While the way we provide services to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities has changed over the years – and will likely continue to change in the future – our mission hasn’t changed, and God-willing will never change. Bethesda exists:

To enhance the lives of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities

through services that share the good news of Jesus Christ.

This isn’t intended to simply be a catchy jingle. We exist to serve God by serving one another.

Slide 4: Timeline (Historical Summary)

• 1903 – Bethesda was formed through the work of the Charities Conference, a consortium of Children’s Friend Societies or orphanages from 7 Midwestern states. In their work with orphans, they discovered many children with disabilities who were not being well-cared for by their families – sometimes because of neglect and abuse but mostly because families at the time didn’t know how to provide the best care for their child and there were no social service agencies to assist. Society had no place for them and options were very limited.
• 1904 – Bethesda was originally created as a school for children with disabilities, often for children who had no loving home. The original plan was that children, who would not be accepted into the public school, would come to Bethesda, received a specialized education and eventually be able to return to their homes. While well-intentioned, society was not ready for this and few people left to return home. Most would stay with Bethesda the rest of their lives. Our original name was “The Society for the Training and Care of the Feebleminded and Epileptic”.
• 1923 – The name “Bethesda” comes from the account of Jesus healing the man who couldn’t walk at the Pool of Bethesda and means “house of mercy”. We started using it in 1909 and in 1923 officially changed our name to Bethesda Lutheran Home.
• 1940 – The need for Bethesda’s services has always exceeded our capacity to help. Our first permanent home, built in 1909, had room for 90 people. By 1911, it was at capacity and our first addition was built in 1914. Over the years, the Watertown campus would be continually expanded to provide services for as many people as possible. At its largest, around 1990, over 670 people would live and be served there. Yet even then, there was still a 450 person waiting list for future admission.
• 1970 – Already in the 1960s, Bethesda staff realized that all of the work could not be done in one location. Just in the LCMS, if 2-3% of the population has an intellectual or developmental disability, that means that there are 45,000-60,000 people with disabilities. Bethesda needed to expand beyond Watertown
• We started our group home program with local group homes in 1969. Our first out-of-state group home was opened in 1977 in Missouri. Others would soon follow in other states. In addition, Bethesda grew through mergers in the 1980s, adding both Good Samaritan Home in Cyprus Texas and Faith Village from Kansas City to the Bethesda family.
• 2006 –Parents from California approached Bethesda in 1949, asking for help on the West Coast. Unfortunately, Bethesda did not have the finances at the time to add a new program there. As a result, concerned Lutherans created Good Shepherd Lutheran Home of the West in Terra Bella, CA in 1956. 50 years later, they would merge with Bethesda.

Slide 5: Bethesda Impacts Lives (video)

Bethesda changes the lives of those we serve as well as their families. This video is the story of how Steven came to Bethesda over 40 years ago.

Slide 6: Today

Bethesda exists to serve. As Christians, we understand that we serve God by serving one another, especially those in need. We strive to love our neighbors as ourselves.

Slide 7: Who We Are

While our mission hasn’t changed, how we provide these services continues to evolve. We no longer operate a school. We don’t have a single, large institution for people with disabilities to live. Our focus today is on community based services and supports, helping people with disabilities be a part of the community in which they reside, stay close to their family and friends and live as independently as their God-given abilities allow.

Slide 8: Our Aspiration

Our goal has always been to live by our mission and to do our absolute best to serve and support people who have intellectual and developmental disabilities. We enable, educate and empower people with disabilities to choose how and where they want to live, make the most of their God-given abilities and live their lives as happily and independently as possible.

Slide 9: Continually Transforming our Services

How we carry out our mission today is not the same as it was 100 years ago – or even 20 years ago. The support that society provides has changed. People’s expectations have changed. Families don’t want to send their loved one to an institution hundreds of miles away, but would prefer to have their loved one receive services closer to home. So today, all of our programs are community based. It is a reminder that Bethesda is not about buildings, but rather about people and how we can best help and make the biggest difference in the lives of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Slide 10: Quality

Quality comes in many forms. It means providing the absolute best services available, going above and beyond the bare essentials. It means helping and empowering people, not just taking care of them. It means working closely with and talking to each person we support, as well as their families and guardians, to truly understand what their goals are and develop a plan to help them realize their hopes and dreams in life.

Slide 11: We Make a Difference (video)

Jessica came to live at Bethesda’s Watertown campus over 40 years ago. Today, she lives in a Bethesda group home and continues to be served by Bethesda. Though she isn’t able to communicate verbally, Bethesda staff work with her closely each day to do our best to help meet her needs and help her realize her personal goals.

Slide 12: Bethesda by the Numbers

Bethesda may have started as a school of 5 people back in 1904, but today, we provide a wide range of services to over 1800 people in over 300 locations in 13 states. We personalize these services for each person, based on their goals, abilities and needs. Bethesda has a total staff of over 3000 employees to provide these services across the country. Helping people with intellectual and developmental disabilities is not easy, nor is it inexpensive. We are blessed by the numbers of dedicated staff committed to making a difference in the lives of others each day.

Slide 13: States Where We Operate

Bethesda has always worked to help people where they are. While we can’t help everyone with a disability, we are currently making a positive impact in the lives of people with disabilities in 13 states, from coast-to-coast. We are making plans to expand these services to help even more people in the future.

Slide 14: Services: Homes

The majority of our current programs are community-based, residential programs. Our goal is to help people not just live in the community, but to be an active part of the community as we help them to live their lives as independently as possible

Slide 15: Types of Homes

Review the definitions on the slide – Bethesda has three types of residential programs:

Group Homes – our most common program form, these are homes where 4-8 people with a disability live and typically receive 24/7 service and supervision by Bethesda staff. Bethesda owns most of these homes and the names can vary depending on local regulations. (CBRF – Community Based Residential Facility; AFH – Adult Family Home; CILA – Community Integrated Living Arrangement; etc.)

Host Homes – where an individual or family opens their home and heart to a person with developmental disabilities to care for him/her, and to earn a professional wage. Through Host Homes, Bethesda helps people with developmental disabilities find a supportive, family-like setting where they can gain independence and form strong, lasting friendships. Our host homes allow people to extend their hearts and families, and complete their calling to help others.

Family Caregiver Home – a member of the family provides quality, 24-hour care for another family member with a disability. This support happens in their own home and the caregiver earns a professional wage. Bethesda serves as a resource and ally to people with developmental disabilities who wish to remain at home with their families and receive support from a parent, sibling or relative in a familiar setting.

Slide 16: We Bring Hope (video)

Ricky developed autism when he was about 2 years old. His mother, Tanya, worked with local agencies, but struggled to provide the best life possible for her son. She brought her son to Bethesda to receive the help and services that she had difficulty providing on her own.

Slide 17: Services: Community Connections

We help people with disabilities be active participants in their communities. This doesn’t just mean shopping or eating in a restaurant or going to watch a ball game. We help them find local volunteer opportunities in congregations, schools, nursing homes and businesses. We help people connect with their neighbors, develop friendships and truly enjoy a meaningful life.

Slide 18: Services: Career Connections

People have jobs – ideally, jobs that they enjoy and find fulfilling as well as provide an income. People with disabilities also want to work, but often lack the skills needed or have difficulty finding employers willing to hire a person with a disability. Bethesda helps people with intellectual and developmental disabilities acquire the skills they need to find community employment and we work with local businesses to encourage them to give people with disabilities a chance to show that they can be a positive asset to their business.

Slide 19: We Help People Realize Their Dreams (video)

Bethesda helped Chelsea realize her dreams, utilize her potential and find employment in the community that she loves.

Slide 20: Bethesda College

In 2015, Bethesda, in partnership with Concordia College, Mequon, WI, created a college program for people with disabilities. It is a two-year certificate program that focuses on learning life skills and job preparation. These students live on campus in the dorms and go to class each day, like any other student. In this way, they have a chance not only to learn in the classroom, but to learn how to live on their own and to enjoy the college experience on the Concordia campus. This program has been very successful and we are looking to expand to other colleges in the near future.

Slide 21: Services: Faith Supports

Helping people with jobs and homes is great and at Bethesda, providing this assistance is a way to serve God by serving those in need. But at the end of the day, the most important service we can provide is sharing the message of the Gospel and connecting people with local congregations. This is a priority of our work with people who have intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Slide 22: Religious Life

Bethesda facilitates these Faith Supports through our religious life team of 17 dedicated staff across the country. They work with those served directly at a Bethesda home, but also with pastors, parents, congregations and volunteers.

From slide:

•Creating instructional/devotional materials specifically for people with disabilities

•Developing and annually reviewing the Faith Life Plan for each person we serve, ensuring that the faith-life needs of all are being met and that we connect each person to a local congregation

•Training staff to know how to nurture the faith of people with disabilities

•Working and consulting with congregations to create local volunteer opportunities and ministries of inclusion for and with people with disabilities

Slide 23: We Focus on Faith (video)

Nikki came to Bethesda but didn’t have a church home or background. Working with Bethesda staff, we nurtured her desire to learn more about her faith, helped her connect with a local congregation and assist her to become a confirmed member of the congregation she was attending. This is the story of how Bethesda worked with the pastor of the church she attended and, using Bethesda’s confirmation materials, led to her eventual confirmation.

Slide 24: Funding Gap

Providing these services to thousands of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities each year is expensive. All of the people we serve receive some form of government funding, but this only covers a portion of the actual costs. In 2016, government funding only covered about 2/3s of the actual cost. Bethesda was able to continue to provide a high quality of service as well as our religious life focus only because of the gifts of our current donors, as well as those who have given in the past to our Bethesda Foundation.

Slide 25: Bethesda’s Funding Breakdown

Historically, the only thing that has limited the expansion of our mission and ministry has been resources – money. We are extremely grateful for the thousands of people who support our work with their volunteer time and generous gifts each year. But the job is not complete – there are more to be served and each gift we receive helps us do more to help people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Slide 26: How You Can Help

There are many ways you can help Bethesda and the people whom Bethesda serves each day:

• Pray – this isn’t here because I am speaking to people in the church. We truly believe that it is only by the grace of God that Bethesda continues to serve people with disabilities. We ask that God would continue to watch over us, to bless our board and staff and help us do our absolute best to make a difference in the lives of the thousands of people whom we serve each day.
• Advocate – You can connect with us and share the message of how Bethesda is making a difference with your friends and congregation, both by work of mouth and through social media. You may also choose to help us encourage our government officials with legislation that impacts the lives of people with disabilities in your state and across the country.
• Service Project – Groups or individuals may choose to help Bethesda by making or collecting things that we need or by sponsoring events to raise funds to support Bethesda’s mission.
• Gift – Bethesda would not be what it is today without the generous support of so many people over our 114-year history. We depend on your gifts of financial support to continue and to expand this work. We have been blessed with donors making annual, outright contributions and others that choose to make planned gifts, leaving a bequest to Bethesda or establishing a Charitable Gift Annuity or Trust with Bethesda. If you have any questions about how you can help to support this work, we would be happy to speak with you about the possibilities.
• You can make a difference in the lives of people with disabilities in your congregation and community, even if there is no Bethesda program in the area. We help congregations find ways to be welcoming to people with disabilities and to reach out with the Gospel to those in need.

I would be happy to provide you with more information about any of these support options after the presentation.

Slide 27: Join our Growing Group of Volunteers

Especially if there is no Bethesda facility in your area, you might think that there isn’t any way to volunteer. We have ways that anyone can help, no matter where they live:

• Bethesda Auxiliary: for $10 per year, Auxiliary members are kept informed about Bethesda and join together to support our ministry through the special projects that they sponsor.
• Thrift Stores: Bethesda has 17 Thrift Stores that are staffed, in part, by volunteers. In addition, we rely on people to donate gently used items for resale. All proceeds from these efforts go to support our mission and ministry.
• Home Heroes: We encourage people to connect with the people Bethesda serves by participating in events, outings and service projects at our program locations.
• Prayer & Postage: For those not close to a Bethesda facility, participants are asked to simply write occasional cards and letters to a person with disabilities that we would assign.
• Service Projects: From making clothing protectors or prayer cloths to assembling Birthday Boxes, there are lots of ways people can make or collect items that we need and use each day at Bethesda.

Slide 28: Thank You