Past 12 Months have been quite eventful

We finalized revisions to our Bylaws with the help of Washington University Law Clinic. They have provided guidance to us since 2015 in various capacities. We updated Angie Brenner and Val Huhn at the Missouri Department of Mental Health several times on our progress in visits as well as conference calls. State Representative Aaron Griesheimer went with us to one of our meetings with them, advocating along with us for “choice” for individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities (I/DD). We spent many hours over the year vetting the Rockyvine property, consulting with our architect, civil engineer, builder, HVAC company, John Jasper, financial experts, and our attorney. In the end, we were notable to make the deal that we and the seller wanted, but we are wiser for the effort. Several ACC board members toured Benjamin’s Hope in Holland, Michigan. Founder Krista Mason shared many helpful ideas and recommendations and was very encouraging. The board toured The Village of the Blue Rose in Clarksville, MO. and brought back helpful thoughts and ideas.We also visited CASS Housing in Indiana and an aquaponics program in Cincinnati. We met with Jason Huff, Mercy Hospital Corporate Development Director, as well as Wendy Dyer, a capital campaign manager to learn more about raising funds and accessing public and private grants. We met with Chad Egger, CEO, Boonslick Regional Planning Commission as well as senior housing planner and manager Steve Goldenberg to learn what other funding sources might be available to us as we progress. We hired PointRider (JerryHorton and Mark Olson) for a “Kickstarting Your Dream” workshop for the board in September 2019 which helped determine our organizational readiness and laid the groundwork for strategic planning. The session also was the beginning of a turning point for ACC, and was followed by consulting with Mark Olson and his firm, LTO Ventures, to work with our board to do our Strategic Planning. The board worked and thought hard as we worked on our SWOT analysis, goals, finalizing our mission and vision statements, and finally setting our quarterly goals and timeline for 2020. Our first mailing went out November 2019, introducing us to the public. This was followed by a December appeal letter. We ended 2019 with $25,368. As of June 30, 2020 we had $117,807. We were very blessed to receive $50,000 from the Orville and Betty Gildehaus Family, and have 55 Founding Donors ($1,000 each) toward our goal of 100. Beginning January 2020 we contracted with Mark Olson, LTO Ventures,to provide consulting and project management services to ACC. The board has met with Mark monthly as we worked through vetting property, achieving our quarterly goals of raising money, increasing contacts, increasing connections and partnerships. We have created a pool of 15 volunteers who have helped put together mailings, entered data in to our growing database, and provided food for meetings. We updated our website and Facebook page and started a GoFund Me page, included a Donate button on the website and participated in our first Giving Tuesday event. We have increased our contact base from 200 to 1200. We conducted two focus groups with self-advocates and their families on what they look for in a home, a community, and how to enhance their lives. We had planned to meet with informational groups hosted by individuals in their homes, but COVID-19 precautions prevented this. We have done some conference calls and individual calls. We have met with several supports and services providers including Caring Solutions, Warren County Handicapped Services, and Ability. We have also spoken with Senate Bill 40 directors Kymberlyn McDonald, Franklin County and Anita Contreras, WarrenCounty. We are partnering with the YMCA, Restful Waters Farm, Friends Foundation, and Hope Ranch. We are just beginning to look at contacting foundations. We were featured in the Missourian at the end of June. There are families who have called with loved ones with I/DD who are interested in Bethel Hills, as well as the recognition has increased donations. This article was followed by our mid-year appeal letter. We are expecting good results from this. We are currently working on housing models, floor plans, budgets and cashflow forecasts, and a conceptual site plan with our engineer and architect. Our business plan is complete.

Respectfully submitted,

Billie Kramme, President