Service Awards Bring Abounding Joy

We've Got Big News For You!

EMPOWER! Lunch Registration Underway

Online Auction Launches November 2

Get Ready to Give to the Max

Client Spotlight | Nick

Become a Champion | Give Monthly

Each year, we celebrate the clients at Merrick who have reached a milestone year, and formally acknowledge their contributions with their family and friends present at our annual awards ceremony. From the moment clients learn about these awards, they naturally wonder when it will be their turn to receive one and will inquire about it during awards season. It's our greatest pleasure to provide clients and their families with an evening to remember.

At our first awards ceremony, we celebrated eighteen clients from our Alternative Services (AS), Enhanced Services (ES), and North St Paul (NSP) programs. All three areas were well represented with three AS clients, nine ES clients, and six NSP clients present. Moreover, nine of the eighteen clients receiving awards where celebrating thirty or more years at Merrick with one client receiving an award for forty years.

In addition to the eighteen award recipients present, a posthumous award was presented to Bill Pavel, an AS client who would have been celebrating 40 years at Merrick this year had he not passed away in 2021.

At our second awards ceremony, twenty-nine clients from our Employment Services (IS), Off-site Services (OS), and Utility Services (US) programs received awards. Sixteen of the clients present were from US, five were from IS, and eight from OS. Twenty clients were celebrating twenty or more years at Merrick. Even more impressive, all five IS clients were celebrating twenty years or more.

Both ceremonies proved a joyous occasion for clients, families, and Merrick employees, as friendly greetings were exchanged between those who had not seen each other since before the pandemic, and clients unabashedly took pride in the extra attention. In the days that followed the second ceremony, clients who had been unable to attend were presented their award and got their picture taken.

When all was said and done, sixty-three clients received an award this year. The average tenure of honorees was twenty-two years and forty-one clients received awards for twenty of more years. More importantly, we celebrated the impact of sixty-three individuals whose contributions to the community, to Merrick, and in the lives of those around them is unparalleled.

Here at Merrick, Inc., we have a waitlist of more than 120 people who would like to receive high-quality support services from our dedicated and focused staff. With many other providers closing their doors, eliminating service options, or limiting the number of enrolled clients, it has become even more difficult for people to find and retain reliable day services in Minnesota. Therefore, as we begin our 58th year of service, we are thrilled to announce the expansion of our programs.

We have obtained space in a building near our program site in Vadnais Heights. This will be the new home to all of our life enrichment programs and activities, with the exception of our horticulture/greenhouse program which will continue at 3210 Labore. We are currently building out the space to accommodate our needs, including four art studios and other conveniences for the people who will be served there.

Our North St. Paul site will be shutting down on October 31, 2022, and the new program site at 1239 Willow Lake Boulevard will open on November 1, 2022. Later, in November, the clients and employees in our Alternative Services program at 3210 will relocate to the Willow Lake Boulevard building. We will begin accepting new clients from our waitlist in January 2023.

For a preview of our new space, please join us at an open house. Current clients, their families, house staff, and case managers are all welcome to attend. No RSVP is necessary.

1239 Willow Lake Blvd, Vadnais Heights, MN

Wednesday, October 19, 2022

3:30 – 5:30 p.m.

Questions? Contact Program Director Kristine Orubo at kristineo@merrickinc.org or (651) 789-6206.

If you haven't already heard, Merrick’s 2022 EMPOWER! Lunch will take place on Wednesday, October 26, 2022, at Vadnais Heights Commons. The event will feature actor, producer, and director Jack Stahlmann (https://dontflinchguy.com/) as keynote speaker. This is a free event in which we will highlight why our community is better because of our services, and hopefully inspire guests to financially support our goal of providing exceptional life enrichment programs for adults with disabilities. Although the event is free to attend, registration is required, and donations will be requested on the day of the event. Proceeds from the EMPOWER! Lunch will be used to develop our new art studios and retain teaching artists.

If you are interested in joining us, please register at www.merrickinc.org/empower. If you are unable to attend, we ask that you still consider making a donation. Questions should be directed to Megan Kuneli at (651) 789-6207 or megank@merrickinc.org.

Being a table host is one of the most impactful ways you can influence the success of this event. As a table host, you can help us fill the room by inviting guests to sit at your table set for 8 (including yourself). If you are interested in hosting a table, please contact Megan Kuneli at megank@merrickinc.org or (651) 789-6207.

We're very excited to announce that Merrick's 2022 Online Auction will launch on Tuesday, November 2. Over the course of a nine-day period, all are invited to place their bids for the chance to come out on top when bidding closes on the evening of Thursday, November 10.

Bidders will be required to create an account with the auction website (https://www.32auctions.com/merrickinc). However, the only information needed to do so is your name and an email address. Please note that the auction website has not been updated to reflect this year's auction items.

Donated By Jonathan & Megan Kuneli

Donated By John & Barbara Huston

Give to the Max Day returns for a fourteenth year on Thursday, November 17, 2022. Please mark your calendar for Minnesota's giving holiday so that you don't miss out on this opportunity to support your favorite Minnesota charities. Your Give to the Max Day donations not only support worthy causes, they also increase the likelihood that your favorite charities will receive additional prizes.

Starting November 1, visit https://www.givemn.org/organization/Merrickinc to make your Give to the Max donation to Merrick. Early giving is a great option for those who want to make sure their gift is counted toward Minnesota's giving holiday. Offline donations are also accepted and may be sent to our main office in Vadnais Heights.

When it comes to Hennepin County Medical Center’s 484-bed facility in downtown Minneapolis, Nick is a master navigator. On any given day of the week, he can be found making his rounds throughout the facility collecting recyclable materials. Though he is on a tight schedule and has a lot of ground to cover in a short period of time, the ladies in the mail room won’t let him leave before handing him a stack of car magazines that they saved just for him, and he will inevitably give directions to at least one lost person before the day is over. As his shift draws to a close, he meets up with Ellen, his job coach, and the rest of his crew for lunch in the cafeteria before returning to Merrick, Inc.

Since enrolling at Merrick in July of 2015 at the age of 21, Nick has excelled at every job and at every task that he has been asked to do. In his first few months, he quickly proved his strong work ethic while employed by our center-based workforce before joining the Fairview Pharmacy crew where he assembled boxes and biodegradable coolers used to transport medications. In 2017, he was reassigned to the HCMC recycling crew and has become Ellen’s “right-hand man” so much so that she jokes about how she “doesn’t like it when he goes on vacation” because his absence is so keenly felt. Nick has learned the layout of the 6-city block facility that is HCMC so well that he will often collect recyclable materials independently of his crew, making him invaluable.

Though Nick has proven himself capable of working independently and dreams of being hired directly by a local business, he is proud to serve on the HCMC crew and continues to push himself to be better. In his own words, he “makes up a sweat” each and every day on the job, and Ellen will readily admit that she “doesn’t do anything for him, it’s him.” At just 27 years of age, Nick knows he still has plenty of time for dreams and is in no hurry to find independent work in the community. He enjoys being able to hang out with his friends at Merrick after work and going home to a hot bath at the end of each day. What’s more, Nick remains ever aware of the continuous glucose monitor system that’s attached to his arm without which his Type I Diabetes could easily get out of control. The addition of the monitoring system in his life has been a big help, and yet his condition still requires continuous monitoring making an independent job lose some of its appeal.

For Nick, there are so many other things in life worth shooting for that take precedence. He currently lives with his parents and is responsible for paying rent and his own bills. Though he adores his family, he admits that he hopes to someday transition to a group home and maybe even get a drivers’ license. In the meantime, he enjoys being the world’s best uncle to his three nephews and his niece, and is always saving money for the latest Lego Technic set or the newest version of his favorite video games. At this point, Nick is the author of his own future and that future is bright. Only he can choose his path and with Merrick as his ally that path is wide open.

Stories like Nick’s are made possible thanks in part to financial support from people like you. However, the work remains unfinished. The generosity of past donors helped Nick realize his dream of working a steady job and earning a wage. However, it will be the donors of today who will ensure Nick has the support needed to realize his dreams of tomorrow. So, will you choose today to step up and make a difference?

If your answer is yes, we ask that you consider making a one-time or a recurring gift to Merrick. Each day of services provided costs $80 per client while the government reimbursement is only $75 creating a $5 gap that when multiplied by nearly 400 clients and 250 days is significant. Your monthly gift of just $5 will help close this gap. You can't purchase much these days with $5. However, at Merrick, $5 ensures clients like Nick one more day of doing the things they do best surrounded by the people who know them best.

(651) 789-6200 | Info@merrickInc.org | www.MerrickInc.org