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Volunteer Spotlight: Miguel Garcia

 

“Miguel…the plan is working!”

-David Hood, M.Div., Executive Director, Abilities First Foundation, Inc.

 

Hiring a consultant to reinforce and build upon a nonprofit’s success through strategic planning is a stressful business. How do we find a consultant with the right expertise? One who really listens to us? One with a proven history of success in their own professional life? With a true understanding and passion for our mission?

For Abilities First, OneSource Center’s volunteer consultant Miguel Garcia (in partnership with fellow OneSource Center Consultant Sandy Edwards) checked each of these vital boxes.

Miguel retired from Procter & Gamble after a career that spanned nearly 30 years and two continents. During his time at P & G he worked in commercial, corporate, and supply chain logistics areas. However, Miguel’s passion projects at the company had everything to do with enhancing P&G’s existing commitment to hiring people with disabilities, complimenting the good work they were already doing by finding new ways to engage these folks throughout the supply chain.

Miguel knows firsthand the positive impact that incorporating people with disabilities has in the workforce. His 28-year-old daughter Natalia has Down’s Syndrome which doesn’t prevent her from having a job in which she thrives and being an active, social, bright light in the lives of her coworkers. He knows firsthand that Natalia is equally—perhaps even more—productive and reliable than those without disabilities. What she teaches her co-workers is that having her on their team is “not just the right thing to do…but the smart thing to do.”

Abilities First, a school in Middletown, Ohio, provides people with autism and other disabilities the education and therapies they need to attain independence, integration and acceptance in the world at large—including the workforce. The organization’s challenge was how to achieve the financial stability needed to pay and retain the extraordinarily talented teachers needed in this educational space. They approached OneSource Center for help with the focused, strategic planning needed to achieve this critical goal using existing resources. Miguel’s expertise in both finance and creation of support systems for people with disabilities made him the perfect match for this challenging project.

Miguel, in partnership with the Abilities First team, successfully created a comprehensive financial model integrating the impact of fee changes, incremental students and improved wages. Between their adherence to the strategic plan and trust in a process designed to take 1½ years to achieve, they found themselves ahead of schedule by at least 6 months of their financial goals with a more engaged workforce services and expanded group of students.

“Miguel worked well beyond the scope of our agreement to create scalable models, sensitivity tables and spreadsheets that proved the math was solid and achievable. Though his focus was our financial and systematic processes, he never lost sight of our mission and never encouraged us to sacrifice quality for a dollar. I am so thankful for Miguel’s guidance and support.” 

 Miguel, thank you for your generosity of time, expertise, and spirit. You make a difference for nonprofits and the people they serve.

Support and Healing for Child Trauma Survivors through New Adventures

One of the hammocks where New Adventure clients can take a nature break

Christy Brock, LISW-S, CCAT, is a Certified Clinical Adventure Therapist and the Executive Director and Founder of New Adventures Counseling. Since 2018, Christy has helped child survivors of trauma find strength, courage, and vulnerability within themselves by engaging with dynamic new environments, particularly those found in nature. Adventure therapy is a dynamic option to traditional mental health therapies, providing limitless options and significant mental health benefits.

Christy recounts a client who came to her practice to work on depression symptoms and childhood trauma. When the client started therapy with New Adventures, they were struggling with their mental health, nearly finding it necessary to transfer from a traditional high school to a virtual one. Inspiringly, through their work with Christy they were able to process their trauma, manage its daily impact and develop coping strategies to utilize when they experience PTSD symptoms. This client has graduated high school, created healthy new friendships and excitingly, won a full scholarship to attend the University of Cincinnati to major in Social Work with plans to become a therapist.

As a small non-profit organization, Christy recognized the value of the resources she could access through a OneSource Membership. Through their membership, New Adventures was able to fully furnish two therapy offices, one waiting room and two home offices, all in a relaxed, natural style that puts their clients at ease. They have also utilized the voucher program to support local families in getting essential supplies from the Common Good Store.

New Adventures has just launched an LGBTQIA+ support group for high school students on Wednesdays from 6-7 p.m. and plans to start a group for early elementary students with ADHD. Additionally, New Adventures offers “intensives” for individuals, involving a half or full day of adventure created especially for them, focusing on their unique goals.

New Adventures is currently accepting interns for the summer and fall semesters and is always open to volunteers to help with organization and gear maintenance. Donations of hiking and water shoes, water bottles, rain gear, hammocks, sleeping bags, backpacks and any gently used outdoor gear are greatly appreciated. They are also looking for community partners to collaborate with to offer programming to BIPOC families.

To learn more about New Adventures Counseling, please visit their website or call them at 513-341-8729.

March 2024 Newsletter

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February 2024 Newsletter