December 31, 2020 - Newsletter 6
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While 2020 has certainly been one for the books, we are extremely thankful for the formation of Nest Academy RVA and all of the support our families, friends and community have provided to make our dream of a non-profit that creates and promotes inspirational learning environments for young adults with complex disabilities a reality.

We are making a difference!
A message from the Fink Family
Nest Academy RVA started as a vision for a small group of families in May of 2020 and we have been blessed to be included in the journey. We reconnected and created new friendships along the way. Nest Academy RVA was an answer to prayer, and it has given us goal to work towards for Reagan’s future. Through God’s grace and guidance our prayer is Nest Academy RVA will continue to grow and be a blessing to other families as it has been to ours.

A message from the Hayes Family
There are many things that keep a special needs parent awake at night. One of those things is what will my child do after High School? Since becoming part of Nest Academy, that is no longer something to keep us awake at night. It has been amazing to watch Alex thrive and form special relationships with all of her friends. Alex loves to yell very loudly in excitement. Since Christopher is partially deaf, he loves to hear Alex yell and they have formed their own style of communication. Seeing our non-verbal child communicating with a friend in an organic way that she created on her own is something we take much delight in and do not take for granted what this program means to her, and us as a family knowing how happy she is to be part of this wonderful program.
A message from the Ames Family
Stefan has enjoyed being part of Nest since its start. Since he is now out of school, Nest gives him an opportunity to meet with his peers, engage in learning activities, play games, and take field trips. He looks forward to every class, and has a big smile on his face when we talk about it.
We would not have been successful without all of our volunteers! To date our volunteers have given over 1,500 hours of their time! Our volunteers performed many tasks, in various forms, mostly outside of our classes. Volunteers helped with upcycled feedbags, grant research and writing, finance management, donor management, business management, communications, photography, etc. We'd love to talk with you if you have a skill or talent you would like to share!

Please share with your network!
We are looking for a passionate, creative teacher to lead the development of a curriculum and lead 2 classes a week. In this Covid environment, there is no student contact required as each student has a personal care aide. Aide also assists with all activities. Social distancing is easy in our current setting with only 4-5 students. Hours may vary from 10-20 hour/week depending on strength of the volunteer staff. Please e-mail us at nestacademyrva@gmail.com for more details on the job description.

We're all looking to 2021 to be a better year and thanks to a matching grant and your generosity, it could be a great year at Nest Academy! Donate now and double your donation through a private matching donor. To date your donations have raised $1,975 towards our goal of $12,500.
 
In Nest Academy's first year, we established our non-profit to reach families with students with complex disabilities and offer classes remotely and in person up to five days a week. Next year we are looking to extend our class offerings and reach even more students. Your support during this matching period can make a tremendous and meaningful impact for our current and future students.
 
Donations can be made by clicking here.

We greatly appreciate your support!
Feel free to visit our website for more information, and follow us on Facebook and Instagram for day to day updates! Continue to like and share our posts and help us to continue to make a mark on the special needs community in RVA!


You can also support Nest by choosing us as your charity through Amazon Smile!