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Community DC James Smith Easterseals DC MD VA · Community D.C.

0:00
Speaker 1: Good morning and welcome to another edition of Community DC.
0:03
Speaker 1: I'm your host, Dennis Blasco. This morning, we welcome to
0:06
Speaker 1: the program James Smith. He is the SVP of Development
0:09
Speaker 1: for Easterseals DC, Maryland, and Virginia. Easterseals is a nonprofit
0:13
Speaker 1: organization that provides local services and support for people with disabilities,
0:18
Speaker 1: older adults, veterans, and their families. James and I cover
0:21
Speaker 1: a lot of ground over the next 30 minutes. I
0:23
Speaker 1: hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did.
0:25
Speaker 2: Good morning, James. Good morning, Dennis. How are you? I'm fantastic.
0:29
Speaker 1: And it's great to have you back on Community DC.
0:31
Speaker 1: Lots to talk about when it comes to Easter Seals.
0:34
Speaker 1: I've really enjoyed my conversations. Our good friend Paula Moore
0:37
Speaker 1: has said this very nicely. So we are set to
0:39
Speaker 1: go and talk for the next 30 minutes about everything
0:42
Speaker 1: that is Easter Seals. And while we've been on the
0:43
Speaker 1: program before, I always like to re-educate our listeners that
0:46
Speaker 1: have heard of Easter Seals because just about everybody has, James.
0:49
Speaker 2: About what you do.
0:50
Speaker 1: But I really would love to talk about the history
0:52
Speaker 1: because I did not realize this Everything starting in 1934.
0:55
Speaker 1: I know we're a few ways away from having a
0:58
Speaker 1: 100th anniversary, but Easter Seals has been around for a
1:00
Speaker 1: long time. Can you just kind of educate our listeners
1:03
Speaker 1: and me a little bit about how everything started back then?
1:05
Speaker 2: Absolutely.
1:06
Speaker 3: And actually, we started in 1919 in Ohio. So we
1:11
Speaker 3: were founded in this region in 1933. And Easterseals really
1:16
Speaker 3: evolved from this idea. There was a gentleman whose son
1:20
Speaker 3: who was tragically hit by a car and there was
1:24
Speaker 3: nothing intellectually wrong with him. He didn't have any developmental issues,
1:28
Speaker 3: but he was injured and he had to be on crutches.
1:31
Speaker 3: And so he was sent to the crippled children's unit,
1:35
Speaker 3: which was downstairs in the basement of a hospital. And
1:39
Speaker 3: it got his father to thinking, you know, why? Why
1:42
Speaker 3: is my child, you know, kind of segmented from the
1:45
Speaker 3: general population when there's really nothing wrong with him? And
1:49
Speaker 3: so that kind of started that initial thinking about this
1:54
Speaker 3: able children and how they're handled. And so his son
1:59
Speaker 3: did extremely well, got better. And unfortunately, he developed polio.
2:05
Speaker 3: And as you know, back in the early 19th century,
2:08
Speaker 3: That was a tragic disease that was taking the lives
2:11
Speaker 3: of so many children. And so after his son passed away,
2:15
Speaker 3: he dedicated his life to helping children with polio. And
2:20
Speaker 3: as you know, polio, we got the vaccination for polio,
2:24
Speaker 3: eradicated polio. But Easter Seals has always remained at the
2:29
Speaker 3: forefront of really innovating and really helping children. to serve
2:35
Speaker 3: children and adults with disabilities. And after World War II,
2:40
Speaker 3: our mission evolved again by serving GIs who were returning
2:44
Speaker 3: back stateside after serving in war. So our mission really
2:49
Speaker 3: continues to grow and we adopt to the local.
2:53
Speaker 2: Needs and the communities in which we serve.
2:55
Speaker 3: The Easter Seals name, which I love, was developed from
2:59
Speaker 3: a fundraising campaign in 1934 That included the sale of stamps.
3:05
Speaker 3: Some people might remember the Easter Seals stamps and that's
3:09
Speaker 3: kind of the Easter lily and it kind of stuck.
3:12
Speaker 3: And that's where our name evolved from. There are actually
3:15
Speaker 3: 70 affiliates that are across the country and right here
3:19
Speaker 3: in our region. Over 4,000 families were served last year
3:24
Speaker 3: in the D.C., Maryland, and Virginia area. So we're really
3:28
Speaker 3: proud of the work that we do to really help
3:32
Speaker 3: families who are in need.
3:33
Speaker 1: Outstanding, James. Thanks for all that. I really appreciate it.
3:35
Speaker 1: There's a lot to talk about, including Walk With Me
3:38
Speaker 1: that's coming up in October. I know that's a really
3:40
Speaker 1: big tentpole that Easter Seals has. With that said, I
3:43
Speaker 1: did want to talk a little bit and get into
3:45
Speaker 1: the weeds about your adult services and your children's services here.
3:49
Speaker 2: It is it is.
3:50
Speaker 1: Overviewed in the website that we'll give a couple of
3:52
Speaker 1: times during this conversation and at the end to make
3:54
Speaker 1: sure that if you haven't found it on the web,
3:55
Speaker 1: we'll we'll direct you there, too, and how to donate
3:57
Speaker 1: and all the other cool things. But why don't we
3:59
Speaker 1: start with adult services and you could just give maybe
4:01
Speaker 1: a little bit more of an overview about what that is.
4:04
Speaker 3: So, you know, Easterseals programs really help people overcome.
4:07
Speaker 2: Barriers to well-being.
4:09
Speaker 3: Right. And that that happens in a myriad of ways.
4:12
Speaker 3: And those barriers can be related to education, employment. physical
4:17
Speaker 3: or mental health. So we offer programs around that spectrum.
4:22
Speaker 3: The adult day services program is one of four programs
4:26
Speaker 3: that really is the pillar of the work that we do.
4:29
Speaker 3: And so the adult day programs are for seniors and
4:31
Speaker 3: adults with disabilities.
4:32
Speaker 2: And we keep them safe.
4:34
Speaker 3: We keep them engaged and out of the, out of
4:37
Speaker 3: cost nursing home costs, right? To, to really think about
4:42
Speaker 3: what a family would have to, um, Pay to put
4:47
Speaker 3: an adult into a nursing home facility is astronomical. Our
4:51
Speaker 3: programs really think about it as an outpatient nursing home
4:54
Speaker 3: facility where we're providing transportation going into the community, bringing
4:59
Speaker 3: the seniors to the center for a full eight hours
5:03
Speaker 3: of care and they are receiving cognitive support. emotional support,
5:09
Speaker 3: physical support and with and without disabilities. Right. It's a
5:13
Speaker 3: whole sense of seniors really aging in place and having
5:17
Speaker 3: the ability to be around people in their peer group,
5:21
Speaker 3: but yet being really intentional about their needs. Right. And
5:26
Speaker 3: so you will come into our center and there might
5:29
Speaker 3: be an art therapist there.
5:31
Speaker 2: You will come into our center and they will play bingo, right?
5:33
Speaker 3: The cognitive skills that are important because those things matter
5:38
Speaker 3: in terms of their ability to age in place. And
5:41
Speaker 3: so we have three adult day services centers in the region.
5:45
Speaker 3: There's one in Silver Spring. Hagerstown, Maryland, and in Woodlawn, Maryland,
5:50
Speaker 3: in Baltimore County. And so, you know, our team does
5:53
Speaker 3: amazing work with our seniors, again, with and without disabilities.
5:59
Speaker 3: The other, you know, so that's one of four pillars, right?
6:04
Speaker 3: And so the other anchor for us is our early
6:08
Speaker 3: childhood development team. And it's for children who are under
6:13
Speaker 3: the age of five years old. And our development centers,
6:18
Speaker 3: we recently I'm excited to say we recently lowered our
6:20
Speaker 3: tuition costs because we understand that the cost of everything
6:24
Speaker 3: is rising and parents have so many other financial obligations
6:28
Speaker 3: for which they have to make hard decisions.
6:32
Speaker 2: But.
6:33
Speaker 3: So we really pride ourselves on working with children, again,
6:38
Speaker 3: with and without disabilities to ensure that they are kindergarten ready.
6:42
Speaker 3: So there isn't a cookie cutter approach, if you will.
6:46
Speaker 3: Our children are highly, there's an individual plan for every child.
6:52
Speaker 3: They learn at their pace. There are benchmarks that we
6:56
Speaker 3: set for, but our team is also really skilled at
7:01
Speaker 3: at assessing where children are, right? And so if you
7:05
Speaker 3: talk to one of our teachers and they're engaging with
7:08
Speaker 3: a two-year-old, there are certain characteristics and attributes that that
7:13
Speaker 3: child should.
7:13
Speaker 2: Be demonstrating at that level, right?
7:16
Speaker 3: And if that child isn't That's the expertise of the
7:20
Speaker 3: Easter Seals way. It is, OK, let's kind of really test,
7:24
Speaker 3: do an intervention and integrate that learning for that child,
7:29
Speaker 3: because that child might have developmental delays, a speech delay,
7:32
Speaker 3: a cognitive delay. So our team really, really works hard
7:38
Speaker 3: to make sure that every child, regardless of a disability
7:43
Speaker 3: or their socioeconomic background really has the ability to learn
7:48
Speaker 3: and can really, at kindergarten, we are sending them off.
7:51
Speaker 3: And our standard is so high that we actually last year,
7:55
Speaker 3: over the last couple of years, actually, our children are
7:59
Speaker 3: exceeding national benchmarks in cognitive and social skills when they
8:05
Speaker 3: leave the Easter Seals experience.
8:06
Speaker 1: That's huge. Now, there's a couple of other buckets that
8:09
Speaker 1: you work with that you were alluding to, I know
8:12
Speaker 1: that you work with veteran and military family services and
8:14
Speaker 1: the caregiver services as well. Can you talk a little
8:17
Speaker 1: bit about those?
8:18
Speaker 2: Sure.
8:18
Speaker 3: You know, we are so appreciative of the sacrifices that
8:24
Speaker 3: our military vets and their families have made for our
8:28
Speaker 3: for us. Right. To keep the homeland safe and secure.
8:33
Speaker 3: And one of the wonderful things that we get the
8:36
Speaker 3: opportunity to do is to give back to that population. Right.
8:40
Speaker 3: We operate one of 17 Stephen A. Cohen military behavioral
8:46
Speaker 3: health clinics across the country. The idea is to provide
8:50
Speaker 3: mental health support to those families who are making that
8:54
Speaker 3: transition out of the military into civilian life and are
8:59
Speaker 3: having some challenges. Right. And so we pride ourselves on
9:03
Speaker 3: working with and the family, because, again, we think about
9:08
Speaker 3: the person, the vet. It might be a female vet.
9:11
Speaker 3: It might be a male vet. But the whole family
9:13
Speaker 3: has made the sacrifice. So we do not turn anyone away,
9:18
Speaker 3: regardless of their discharge status.
9:21
Speaker 2: We the team does an amazing job.
9:24
Speaker 3: At our intake, the first call for veterans specifically to
9:30
Speaker 3: the Cohen Clinic is a major milestone, right? Because in
9:34
Speaker 3: the military, regardless of what branch one might serve, you're
9:38
Speaker 3: taught to fight through, be independent, right? And so the
9:42
Speaker 3: fact that you're picking up the phone saying, Hey, I
9:45
Speaker 3: need help. That's a major, major milestone and breakthrough for
9:49
Speaker 3: that person. And so we really work hard to get
9:53
Speaker 3: that person assessed within 48 hours. And if we need
9:58
Speaker 3: to see that person again. fairly quickly, we can do
10:02
Speaker 3: that because, again, time is of the essence. When you're
10:05
Speaker 3: dealing with someone's mental health and their stability, PTSD, traumatic
10:11
Speaker 3: brain injury, there are a plethora of things that might
10:13
Speaker 3: be going on. And so the idea is to assess
10:17
Speaker 3: and to really start treatment almost immediately. And a wonderful
10:22
Speaker 3: thing about the work that we do there, again, it's
10:24
Speaker 3: the vet and their family.
10:26
Speaker 2: However, that family is defined, right?
10:28
Speaker 3: And so it could be a female veteran living with
10:32
Speaker 3: her grandmother and a niece, right? If the grandmother and
10:35
Speaker 3: the niece need support, we offer it, right? No questions asked.
10:40
Speaker 3: And so what's wonderful about the Behavioral Mental Health Clinic
10:44
Speaker 3: is its connection to our veteran staffing network.
10:48
Speaker 2: As we work with veterans.
10:49
Speaker 3: And really try to peel back the layers and get
10:53
Speaker 3: to the source of their problem, sometimes it might be
10:58
Speaker 3: lack of education or lack of housing or lack of employment. Right.
11:03
Speaker 3: So the Veterans Staffing Network and other resources help us
11:07
Speaker 3: to really treat the challenge by also addressing the other
11:12
Speaker 3: issues that surround it.
11:14
Speaker 2: Right.
11:15
Speaker 3: And so the Veterans Staffing Network helps veterans to look
11:20
Speaker 3: at their career in the military and work through well
11:23
Speaker 3: what does that look like in the private sector how
11:26
Speaker 3: do those skills transfer how do we reshape the resume
11:30
Speaker 3: how do we prepare you for an interview it is
11:32
Speaker 3: really again helping the that veteran and their families to
11:36
Speaker 3: make that smooth transition and we cannot leave out the
11:40
Speaker 3: caregivers and whether it's in the child development space in
11:44
Speaker 3: the adult day services space or the vet space right
11:47
Speaker 3: there are families that sacrifice their time their love. We
11:54
Speaker 3: certainly give care to the caregivers. We offer respite in-house.
12:00
Speaker 3: and home respite for our children, as well as weekend
12:04
Speaker 3: respite that we do once a month, where we get
12:07
Speaker 3: a plethora of children.
12:09
Speaker 2: It is one of the most.
12:10
Speaker 3: Amazing opportunities that one can experience to see 30, 40
12:16
Speaker 3: children who some have disabilities, some do not, some have
12:21
Speaker 3: mental delays, some do not.
12:23
Speaker 2: But we're giving a break to the parents.
12:25
Speaker 3: Things that you and I take for granted, Dennis, like
12:27
Speaker 3: going to the market or going to the movie, right? Those,
12:30
Speaker 3: if you're providing care for someone 24 hours a day,
12:34
Speaker 3: seven days a week, a three hour respite can make
12:38
Speaker 3: a tremendous difference in how you're providing that care and
12:42
Speaker 3: what that does to the whole family unit.
12:44
Speaker 2: So we are really appreciative of those areas.
12:48
Speaker 1: Well, James, thanks for doing all those. I appreciate it.
12:50
Speaker 1: It's just a lot of balls that are being juggled
12:52
Speaker 1: in the air and you and your team do really well.
12:54
Speaker 1: And that's a good segue because I don't think we
12:56
Speaker 1: do this enough in our industry. And when I interview
12:59
Speaker 1: great people like you, it's talking about their team members
13:02
Speaker 1: and not only specifically your team at Easterseals, but then
13:05
Speaker 1: third parties that you work with, the researchers, the doctors,
13:08
Speaker 1: the nurses. the caregivers, volunteers, donations, all the things that
13:12
Speaker 1: we're going to talk about in just a little bit.
13:14
Speaker 1: But if you could just talk about team and extended
13:16
Speaker 1: team and all the people that you work with, because
13:19
Speaker 1: it really does take a village to all the things
13:21
Speaker 1: you do. If you could maybe just talk a little
13:23
Speaker 1: bit more about them and what they mean to you
13:25
Speaker 1: and your team.
13:26
Speaker 2: Thank you for that question, Dennis.
13:27
Speaker 3: You know, one of the things, one of the hallmarks
13:32
Speaker 3: of Easterseals, one of our values is collaboration. We understand
13:38
Speaker 3: that that we cannot do our work alone. And so
13:42
Speaker 3: it does, to use your words, it does take a
13:44
Speaker 3: village to the work that we do. And so one
13:47
Speaker 3: of the things that we do at Easter Seals, we
13:49
Speaker 3: never turn anyone away. And so if you show up
13:52
Speaker 3: on our doorstep and you're coming for child development or
13:56
Speaker 3: adult day services or career training or behavioral mental health,
14:01
Speaker 3: and you have another issue that we don't necessarily provide,
14:07
Speaker 3: We don't say, sorry, Dennis, we know that you need
14:10
Speaker 3: mental health support, but we don't need housing. So we
14:13
Speaker 3: can just do this. No, we're going to pick up
14:15
Speaker 3: the phone and we're going to call one of our
14:17
Speaker 3: housing partners. We're going to cut through the bureaucratic red tape.
14:21
Speaker 3: We're going to share what we need. Right.
14:23
Speaker 2: And make that.
14:24
Speaker 3: Connection so that we're not just throwing you resources or
14:28
Speaker 3: pamphlet and saying, good luck. But it really is that
14:32
Speaker 3: sense of collaboration.
14:33
Speaker 1: I love that.
14:33
Speaker 2: And the many partners. Yeah. And the many partners.
14:36
Speaker 3: Because one can imagine the bureaucratic quagmire.
14:40
Speaker 2: Yeah. We've all been there. Yeah. You know, it's like,
14:45
Speaker 2: who's one first? Yeah.
14:47
Speaker 3: And if you're in a crisis and you're really, you know,
14:50
Speaker 3: are in an immediate need, you don't want to pick
14:54
Speaker 3: up the phone and call someone and say, well, we
14:56
Speaker 3: can see you in six weeks from tomorrow. Right.
14:59
Speaker 2: It's it's really there's an urgent need. And we do pride.
15:02
Speaker 3: Ourselves on having a bench strength of partners in the
15:06
Speaker 3: housing space and the banking space. You know, we do
15:10
Speaker 3: collaborate because, again, when a family is in crisis, It's
15:15
Speaker 3: almost like we're in crisis.
15:16
Speaker 2: With the family.
15:17
Speaker 3: And so I cannot say enough about the partners that
15:21
Speaker 3: we have that are able.
15:22
Speaker 2: The VA is an example.
15:23
Speaker 3: Right. And so the VA sends us if we if
15:27
Speaker 3: we if for as an as an example, if we
15:30
Speaker 3: know that we're working with someone who is in a real,
15:33
Speaker 3: real mental crisis.
15:37
Speaker 2: And we have to pick up that.
15:39
Speaker 3: Phone and make that connection because that person might need
15:42
Speaker 3: to be hospitalized or something because they're going to cause
15:45
Speaker 3: harm to themselves or their families. And so being able to, again,
15:49
Speaker 3: have those partners involved. That we trust and rely on.
15:54
Speaker 3: And it works both ways.
15:55
Speaker 2: Right.
15:55
Speaker 3: And so their partners who work in the housing space
15:58
Speaker 3: who realize, you know what, this family, we're helping with
16:02
Speaker 3: the housing. But there's a three year old child who's
16:05
Speaker 3: developmentally this this this delayed. Right. And so it's it's
16:10
Speaker 3: a symbiotic relationship between our partners and how we work.
16:14
Speaker 1: Well, very good. And, you know, my also my takeaway,
16:17
Speaker 1: because I know this of you and Easterseals, too, is
16:19
Speaker 1: that while you're helping people in an immediate need for something,
16:24
Speaker 1: you're also really good at follow up, too, because I
16:26
Speaker 1: think it's one thing to offer services in real time.
16:29
Speaker 1: But then you just don't let them go and say, well,
16:31
Speaker 1: we checked that box off. We're going to move along.
16:33
Speaker 1: You don't do that. You always follow up, which I
16:36
Speaker 1: think is very cool of you to do and really
16:38
Speaker 1: need it, too. So you can get better and make
16:40
Speaker 1: sure that, well, listen, we help you here. But how
16:42
Speaker 1: can we help you moving forward?
16:44
Speaker 3: Right.
16:44
Speaker 2: Exactly.
16:45
Speaker 3: Yeah. We tend to think of our the families that
16:49
Speaker 3: we serve as part of the Easterseals family. Right.
16:54
Speaker 2: And while you might come in one way.
16:58
Speaker 3: The table is spread for you to stay with us
17:00
Speaker 3: as long as you need us, right?
17:02
Speaker 2: And again, and that might vary.
17:05
Speaker 3: So in this season of your life, you may need
17:08
Speaker 3: child development. The next season of your life, you might
17:11
Speaker 3: need now you have an aging grandparent or an aging
17:15
Speaker 3: aunt or uncle.
17:16
Speaker 2: Right. So it shifts as time goes on.
17:20
Speaker 3: And we want to be that reliable partner with you
17:23
Speaker 3: that you feel safe and comfortable with with your family.
17:26
Speaker 2: Outstanding.
17:26
Speaker 1: Well, listen, there's a couple of things I want to
17:28
Speaker 1: talk to you about when it comes to taking action.
17:32
Speaker 1: There's many ways to donate and volunteering, other ways to give.
17:35
Speaker 1: You can attend an event, lend your voice. But I
17:38
Speaker 1: do want to really spotlight donating and also volunteering. Can
17:41
Speaker 1: you talk about both? Those are really super important.
17:44
Speaker 2: Yes.
17:45
Speaker 3: So, you know, when we look at the Easter Seals budget,
17:50
Speaker 3: we have a tremendous, tremendous reach of donors. both individual, corporate,
17:56
Speaker 3: and foundations that really help drive what we're doing. Why
18:01
Speaker 3: are donations important? Because in 2026, when government funding is
18:08
Speaker 3: drying up and being diverted into other places, individual giving
18:13
Speaker 3: really helps to close that gap. And let me give
18:16
Speaker 3: you a real concrete example. We talked about our adult
18:19
Speaker 3: day services program, right? Medicaid will pay for up to
18:23
Speaker 3: four hours of care for an individual. Well, here's the reality, Dennis,
18:29
Speaker 3: if you're. mom needs care and you got to work, right?
18:34
Speaker 3: You need more than four hours.
18:35
Speaker 2: Of care for your mother, right?
18:38
Speaker 3: And say that was between the hours of 10 and two,
18:42
Speaker 3: does that really help you and your mom? Probably not
18:45
Speaker 3: because you got to figure out how do I get her.
18:48
Speaker 2: There at 10? How do I get home at two?
18:50
Speaker 3: So as an organization, we are providing eight hours of
18:55
Speaker 3: care And in those instances where the family cannot afford
18:59
Speaker 3: the additional four hours, we subsidize for that.
19:03
Speaker 2: And that comes from our donors.
19:04
Speaker 3: The generosity of people really understanding our mission and understanding
19:11
Speaker 3: that we cannot do this just on government support. Foundations
19:17
Speaker 3: certainly help, but individuals who actually... write checks, send us donations.
19:23
Speaker 3: It's not just about a dollar. It is about the
19:27
Speaker 3: impact that it has on someone's life. And as the
19:31
Speaker 3: senior VP of development, that's how I talk about donations.
19:35
Speaker 3: You know, it's not just about hitting a goal.
19:38
Speaker 2: It's about keeping a family whole.
19:40
Speaker 3: It's about making sure that a mom can work while
19:45
Speaker 3: her child is in child development, right?
19:48
Speaker 2: And so it's a bigger... context.
19:51
Speaker 3: And again, the ability for us to do what we
19:54
Speaker 3: do would not be possible without donations.
19:58
Speaker 2: And to your point also, volunteers, right?
20:02
Speaker 3: The sweat equity, if you will, of really jumping in
20:06
Speaker 3: and helping us to come into the classroom and read
20:10
Speaker 3: books to children to come into the adult day center
20:13
Speaker 3: and play bingo or help with art therapy or help
20:18
Speaker 3: during a lunchtime period. In the Cohen Clinic, we offer
20:22
Speaker 3: what's called mental health readiness kits. And those kits are
20:26
Speaker 3: given to every person that comes to the Cohen Clinic.
20:30
Speaker 3: And the kit is almost like it's a survival kit.
20:32
Speaker 3: So if you're in an episode between your sessions, You
20:37
Speaker 3: can take that kit and use something in that.
20:40
Speaker 2: Kit to really de-escalate where you are. But our volunteers
20:44
Speaker 2: help us to put those kits together.
20:46
Speaker 3: Recently, we had a corporate partner who came in purchase
20:51
Speaker 3: the kits, put the kits together, and we sent those
20:54
Speaker 3: kits to an active vessel that is actually in combat now, right?
21:00
Speaker 3: And so our volunteer efforts can be customized, but they
21:05
Speaker 3: are making a difference in lives that people can really
21:09
Speaker 3: touch and see i talked about respite earlier the respite
21:12
Speaker 3: weekend is another opportunity to to come in and to
21:16
Speaker 3: volunteer and to see our work in action and so
21:20
Speaker 3: between what we receive and donations and our volunteers uh
21:25
Speaker 3: it is an opportunity for people to really get involved
21:29
Speaker 3: and again to feel impact to see impact it's not
21:33
Speaker 3: just about writing the check But what we really want
21:37
Speaker 3: people to understand is when you give us money, you're
21:42
Speaker 3: helping a family to stay whole. When you give us money,
21:45
Speaker 3: this family, again, the parents can work. and the child
21:49
Speaker 3: can get the educational foundation that he or she needs
21:54
Speaker 3: to really move forward.
21:55
Speaker 2: You're talking about a quality of life, right?
21:57
Speaker 3: So all of these things are connected to fundraising and
22:01
Speaker 3: development in a meaningful way.
22:04
Speaker 2: All right.
22:04
Speaker 1: And then all the things we're talking about are on
22:06
Speaker 1: the website that we will give at the end of
22:08
Speaker 1: our conversation that James has been so nice to expound on,
22:12
Speaker 1: including volunteering. And if you go to the take action
22:15
Speaker 1: and then the volunteer link on the website. You'll see
22:18
Speaker 1: all the information that James has been talking about. There
22:21
Speaker 1: is an email to contact them about more information, but
22:23
Speaker 1: you can also fill out a form and check out
22:26
Speaker 1: some of the things that you would like to do.
22:28
Speaker 1: And James, if somebody does that, what's the follow up
22:30
Speaker 1: for them and what's kind of the process to be
22:32
Speaker 1: a volunteer?
22:33
Speaker 3: So when you fill that form out, it's we get
22:36
Speaker 3: that form on our end.
22:39
Speaker 2: And within 24 hours, you get a call. I love it.
22:41
Speaker 2: I love it. You guys move fast. You move very fast. Exactly.
22:48
Speaker 3: Because if someone takes the time to complete a form
22:52
Speaker 3: that says, hey, I'm raising my hand and I want
22:56
Speaker 3: to help. You got to capitalize on that. You got
22:59
Speaker 3: to strike while the iron is hot. You got to
23:01
Speaker 3: really engage that person.
23:03
Speaker 1: I love that.
23:03
Speaker 3: I would not want a volunteer to fill out a form.
23:06
Speaker 3: And then six weeks later, you get a response. That
23:09
Speaker 3: says a lot about the organization. So we pride ourselves
23:13
Speaker 3: on within 24 hours, having some outreach, some touch point
23:18
Speaker 3: to start the conversation about volunteering. And again, I think
23:22
Speaker 3: it's important to note that our volunteer opportunities are Are customized.
23:27
Speaker 2: Right.
23:28
Speaker 3: So while we have a list of things that are standard,
23:32
Speaker 3: if anyone specifically wants or needs, I have an affinity
23:37
Speaker 3: towards children. We can customize a volunteer opportunity for our
23:41
Speaker 3: child development center. All right.
23:43
Speaker 1: You've got a really big event coming up on October 24th.
23:46
Speaker 1: It's more than a fundraiser. It's called Walk With Me,
23:49
Speaker 1: and it really is an incredible day that you put together.
23:52
Speaker 1: Let's tell everybody about it and how they can be
23:54
Speaker 1: a part of it.
23:55
Speaker 3: Oh, this is probably one of the most near and
23:58
Speaker 3: dear events to my heart. So the walk really is
24:04
Speaker 3: representative of Easter Seals.
24:06
Speaker 2: And our vision, right? As I said earlier, we remove....
24:11
Speaker 3: Barriers to well-being for individuals and families in our community.
24:16
Speaker 3: So we want to invite everyone to come join us
24:19
Speaker 3: at National Harbor for a morning of walking, dancing, health screenings,
24:25
Speaker 3: just overall wellness. It is a wonderful opportunity for the
24:29
Speaker 3: community to come together.
24:31
Speaker 2: To do two things. It raises awareness.
24:34
Speaker 3: And funds at the same time, right? A lot of
24:38
Speaker 3: people still know the name Easter Seals, but don't necessarily
24:42
Speaker 3: know what we do. And so this event allows us
24:47
Speaker 3: to really understand in a fun way really uh convey
24:53
Speaker 3: the work that we do so on the morning of
24:56
Speaker 3: saturday october the 24th the walk kicks off at 10
25:00
Speaker 3: but prior to that there's a warm-up and there's just
25:03
Speaker 3: fun activities for the kids we welcome people to bring
25:07
Speaker 3: their dogs to walk it is just an amazing amazing
25:11
Speaker 3: event um There's a live DJ.
25:14
Speaker 2: There's arts and crafts.
25:16
Speaker 3: It is going to be amazing and always one of
25:19
Speaker 3: the highlights for the work. The walk at the end
25:22
Speaker 3: is always a joy because the kids get to experience
25:26
Speaker 3: some of their favorite characters.
25:27
Speaker 2: And this year we are so pleased that Moana will
25:30
Speaker 2: be with us. But there's also a health fair.
25:32
Speaker 3: So, you know, you can come and get your flu shot,
25:35
Speaker 3: your COVID shot. It is an amazing opportunity. The fee
25:40
Speaker 3: for the walk is $ 35, which includes your parking. And again,
25:46
Speaker 3: that goes directly to support children, adults, and caregivers and
25:50
Speaker 3: military families that we serve. And 100% of the funds
25:55
Speaker 3: that we raise stays right here in the Maryland.
25:59
Speaker 1: D.C., Virginia area.
26:01
Speaker 3: So you really are, when you're walking with us, You
26:05
Speaker 3: really are helping us with neighbors that live in our community.
26:11
Speaker 2: It is a it's a wonderful opportunity.
26:14
Speaker 3: And we so enjoy it because it's just it's a
26:17
Speaker 3: lot of fun, but it's also healthy. And we also
26:20
Speaker 3: get to talk about and demonstrate the work that we do. Yeah.
26:23
Speaker 1: And it's also fellowship, folks, and getting everybody together, which
26:26
Speaker 1: is really cool. You know, the other thing is, I
26:28
Speaker 1: know you guys designed this, but for anybody who's lived
26:30
Speaker 1: in the DMV, right around that time in late October,
26:33
Speaker 1: it's gorgeous football weather, which means it's going to be
26:36
Speaker 1: probably really nice out, fingers crossed. But that time of
26:39
Speaker 1: year is great. I know that we all are suffering
26:41
Speaker 1: through humidity right now in these hot days, but... You've
26:44
Speaker 1: got that scheduled at a real nice time. So I
26:46
Speaker 1: think that's going to be perfect for people to hang
26:47
Speaker 1: out and walk a little bit. So well done there.
26:49
Speaker 3: Yeah. It's, you know, when we thought about, you know,
26:53
Speaker 3: we have two other signature events, but this one is
26:58
Speaker 3: really the opportunity for the community to rally with us.
27:02
Speaker 2: Yeah. It is significantly grown.
27:04
Speaker 3: I think last year we had close to 400 walkers.
27:08
Speaker 1: That's huge.
27:08
Speaker 2: I love it. It is really, it is growing. I
27:11
Speaker 2: love it. It's really growing.
27:12
Speaker 3: Yeah, and it's a quick, we start at 10, the walk,
27:16
Speaker 3: and normally by noon, we're done.
27:19
Speaker 2: So it's an all-day event.
27:21
Speaker 1: It's also a bargain, too, folks. It's $ 35, right, for
27:24
Speaker 1: the parking and attending, right?
27:25
Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely.
27:27
Speaker 1: It's a bargain, so that's great. Listen, I only have
27:29
Speaker 1: a few minutes left, James, and I want to get
27:31
Speaker 1: some final thoughts from you. We want to give the website,
27:33
Speaker 1: and also if you want to give out any socials
27:35
Speaker 1: or anything else that people can kind of connect with Easterseals,
27:38
Speaker 1: I'd love for you to do that. So about a
27:40
Speaker 1: minute and a half left. I want to give the
27:41
Speaker 1: floor to you, sir.
27:42
Speaker 2: Sure. Well, again, Dennis, this has been so rich. Thank you.
27:46
Speaker 2: ECO.org is our website.
27:49
Speaker 3: And you can once you're there, you can do the
27:53
Speaker 3: slash volunteer to get into the volunteer opportunities and for
27:59
Speaker 3: the walk specifically for the walk.
28:01
Speaker 2: It's walk.org. walk.eseal.org. I'll repeat that. It's walk.eseal.org.
28:10
Speaker 3: That will take you right into everything concerning the walk.
28:14
Speaker 3: And we are looking forward again to Saturday, October the
28:17
Speaker 3: 24th at 10 a.m. walkeseal.org, all things related to the walk.
28:23
Speaker 3: And then if you want to get more information about
28:27
Speaker 3: seals right you there is an opportunity to go back
28:30
Speaker 3: to our our home page again that's e-seal.org all things
28:36
Speaker 3: easter seals for.
28:36
Speaker 1: Us outstanding and then i know this is running on
28:39
Speaker 1: sunday mornings on all our hired stations but we also
28:41
Speaker 1: post this on all our station websites too and i'll
28:44
Speaker 1: have links to everything that james just mentioned too just
28:47
Speaker 1: in case you're hanging around there and of course everything
28:50
Speaker 1: will be on the iheart app as well Listen, this
28:52
Speaker 1: has been fantastic. I know that 30 minutes goes quickly
28:55
Speaker 1: when you've got so many cool things going on. But
28:58
Speaker 1: please give my best to your team. You guys are
29:00
Speaker 1: just doing outstanding work. I know you're super busy, but
29:02
Speaker 1: you're changing lives out there and helping a lot of
29:06
Speaker 1: different people out there, which I just find extraordinary. So, James,
29:09
Speaker 1: give my best to everybody at Easterseals. Thank you so much.
29:12
Speaker 1: Of course, I want to have you back on the
29:13
Speaker 1: show as much as you guys want to be here.
29:15
Speaker 1: continued success. I know you're working really hard. Just have
29:19
Speaker 1: a great time at the walk with me. It sounds
29:21
Speaker 1: like a fabulous event. And I'm glad we could spotlight
29:24
Speaker 1: you guys again on Community DC. Thank you so much.
29:26
Speaker 2: Thank you, Dennis. It's been a pleasure.
29:28
Speaker 3: And we also, you can follow us at ECODCMDVA on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube,
29:37
Speaker 3: all the social media outlets to see all the great
29:38
Speaker 3: work we're doing. But thank you so much for allowing
29:41
Speaker 3: us this space to share our work with you and
29:43
Speaker 3: your listening audience. Learn more at She Can STEM, a
29:57
Speaker 3: message brought to you by the Ad Council.