Starting in March, FSM will partner with FEI Behavioral Health to expand our already robust services to area employers and their employees.  In addition to our current training, counseling and crisis response, FSM' EAP will offer a rich library of web-based and telephone-access legal and financial resources and assistance. Watch for more details!

FSM's 2016 annual meeting marked the start of our 106th year serving our community and gave us the chance to publicly express our appreciation for our long-serving employees, volunteers and supporters.

Many thanks to the following members of the FSM team:

Many thanks, too, to members of the FSM board providing us with full terms of leadership and service:

The meeting included lunch, a keynote address by Steve Goldberg, from the CUNA Mutual Foundation, and remarks from both Farrah Rafelj, chair of the FSM Board of Directors, and Russell King, FSM president and CEO.  The FSM Board of Directors voted to re-affirm the FSM mission and vision statements:

 

Family Service Madison Mission Statement

Providing human services to instill hope and promote wellness in our community.

 

Family Service Madison Vision

Family Service will continue to be a strong human service agency by creating and sustaining quality services through entrepreneurship and collaborative partnerships that make our community a better place in which to live.

Thanks to the generosity, attentiveness and professionalism of the Hilton Hotel and staff, the FSM staff and board enjoyed the annual holiday festivities in a new way!  Great company, great food, and a few drawing prizes made for a wonderful evening.  Thanks, too, to our friends from Safe Harbor and the Housing Initiatives, Inc., for joining us and adding to the fun!

By Farrah Rafelj

 

Family Service staff, guests, and board members:  welcome and thank you.  Thank you not only for being here today at our annual meeting, but for contributing to this organization in your unique way all throughout the year.

 

And to the staff in particular, thank you to dedicating a significant part of your lives to Family Service's important missions.  You are the foundation of this organization.

 

When I sat down to draft these short remarks, I reflected back on my own seven years on the board of this organization.  The successes.  The challenges.  And the changes. 

 

The successes have been many.  They are daily.  They are a direct result of our staff's dedication and most importantly, their hearts.  We hear of the STEPS child who successfully transition to school.  We hear of families guided through recovery after a trauma.  We hear of our therapists giving special needs babies and toddlers the tools to reach their potential.  I have personally felt this success as my eldest son responded to therapy from the Birth to 3 therapists.  We hear of our staff giving parents the tools they need for appropriate discipline.  As a board member, I'm constantly in awe of the work you do and so very proud to be a small part of this organization.

 

Change.  The Changes have also been many.  As you know, the Board conducted a national search last year for our new CEO, and we were ecstatic to find Russ King in our own backyard.  During his interview, Russ showed a passion and desire for this job like no one else.  He had the right mix of entrepreneurial spirit and passion for the mission.  He hit the ground running right away and hired Boris Frank to head up Fundraising.  With a focus on fundraising and our management agreements, we look to diversify, stabilize, and grow Family Service's revenue and assets into the future.

 

Challenges.  The challenges are the hard part.  The way in which non-profits are funded and evaluated has been changing.  Family Service has suffered a significant program loss.  That has not been easy.  But, in true Family Service form, we are picking ourselves up and building strategic plans to strengthen the organization for the long run. 

 

I'm not much of one for deep quotes but I can handle a simple one: "when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade."  We are committed to taking these challenges and making some lemonade.  Family Service is more than 100 years strong, and it will be here to serve 100 years from now.

 

On Behalf of the Board of Directors, once again, I want to thank Russ, and all of the Family Service staff for your wonderful work.  You make us proud to serve you.

By Russell King

 

Thank you, Farrah.  And thanks to all of our board members, all of our staff, and all of our supporters.  You are the brains, the heart, and the muscle of this agency. 

 

As one of the newer additions to the family, I'd like to say it's an honor to work among such genuinely remarkable people.  If there is a higher calling than what we do at FSM, I can't think of what it might be, and I feel blessed to be a part of that, too.

 

At most annual meetings, this is the moment when CEOs get up and say "We had a great year!" and "This year will be even better." If it's OK with you, I'd rather not.  I've never felt comfortable telling fibs.

The truth is, our 105th year was a hard one at FSM. Adjusting to new leadership is hard.  The anxiety of not knowing what changes may follow is hard.  Having the way things have always been done questioned is hard.  As if that wasn't hard enough, we learned that we would, in 2016, lose a massive county contract that FSM has enjoyed for decades.  The adjustments we had to make in response were painfully hard.

 

The truth is also that our 106th year is going to be hard.  It's not possible to cut your way out of loss that size without gutting the organization, so we're cutting as we can while putting our energy into growing our way out of the loss. That will not be easy, especially because it requires we add new ways of thinking and new tasks to our already full work lives. 

 

As my kids are tired of hearing me say: The bad news is, it's all on us; the good news is, it's all on us.

If ever there was a collection of people caring enough, smart enough, and creative enough to meet these challenges and emerge even stronger, it is you.

 

Over the recent holidays, I enjoyed a personal tradition of watching "A Charlie Brown Christmas."  In it, Charlie buys a small tree that's rejected by all others, that proves too weak to hold even a single ornament.  He walks away feeling defeated. 

 

But then his friends arrive.  Linus says, "I never thought it was such a bad little tree.... Maybe it just needs a little love."  He gives up his cherished blanket, wrapping it around the base of the tree for support, and the other friends join in, decorating and transforming the weakened, damaged tree into a thing of beauty.  When Charlie returns, he's stunned by what has been achieved by the love and work of his friends. 

 

At that moment, I realized:  That's us!  That's FSM!

 

Every day, through your hard work, through your love, and through the work and love of your friends at FSM, the rejected, the weakened, and the damaged are given the opportunity to renew, to grow, and to bloom. It is true both for direct care givers, and those of us who toil in support.  And it is no exaggeration to say that is a thing of beauty.  Just as you do for the people you serve, so you will do for this organization. I'm sure of it.

 

Thank you for that.  Thank you for coming today.  And thank God I'm done talking!  We are adjourned.