LDN- FallNewsletter 2022

BE COURAGEOUS

By Jim Hukill

“Give your kids space to be courageous.” This statement is one I made during a Q&A time following a Zoom workshop for a group of parents. I believe this firmly. Especially for children that live with disabilities. There must be room for them to ‘try.’

I made the statement because I truly believe that in order to overcome a life filled with
adversity one must stare into the face of big giants and fearlessly move forward. As I
prepared for our year end efforts, I could not get this image out of my mind. The storm rages in your face, the adversary yells “you can’t,” and the foundations start quaking beneath you, so what are you to do? This contemplation led me to have one declaration, we must move forward, Be Courageous.

It appears that we are, as a community and country, headed into scary times, but this is not the time for us to give up on our future. This is the time to be fearless. To put our hand and faith in our God who is bigger than any entity we have ever faced. We must link arms, turn our faces to the wind, and Be Courageous for the generations that are in front of us. This is nothing profound or new, but it must be our resolve as an organization, as a community, and as a nation.

We have several big initiatives for 2023 and we need the courage of every family we serve, every volunteer that lends a hand, and every donor that makes it possible. As 2022 concludes, we need everyone to be a part of Lift’s year end campaign, Be Courageous.

We have set a goal of $125,000 for our year-end campaign. But if I can be honest with you, Lift really needs $200,000. This is huge! It is beyond our ability. So, we reach out to you and ask everyone to do something. Every gift of every size is needed to meet this goal and help us open a day training program for adults with disabilities, secure our team, and relocate our facilities.

As you read this newsletter, I simply want to challenge you to Be Courageous. We will need to work together, encourage one another, but we must move forward despite the adversity that we see.

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ELEVATE | ADULT TRAINING PROGRAM

By Stacie Rouse

Here at Lift, we are super excited about the coming year! Our newest program, Elevate, will launch in January. Elevate is a training-based day program for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. We will work together as a group daily, focusing on job skills, life skills, and community interaction. This will also be a time to learn how to deepen our spiritual lives together. There will be weekly outings, lessons in nutrition and budgeting, hands-on job training, and so much more! The pilot program in January will run at the Hukill’s House Monday-Thursday 10am to 4 pm. There is only room for 8 participants during this program launch season. We are hoping to get the full program running at a permanent location in August, dependent on fundraising.

All of us at Lift want the most satisfying life possible for all our members. We believe that everyone can reach their goals with the right support in place! We are looking for individuals to participate in this amazing program each week. If you are interested, or know someone who might be, spread the word and get your application in quickly. Once the 8 spots are filled, we will start a wait list for the fall semester of 2023.

Elevate is a huge undertaking that we feel very called to tackle. There is a great need for programs of this kind in West Orange County. Please pray with us as we launch the pilot program and plan for the future of Elevate in August. Pray we find a perfect location and raise the funds to purchase/lease that space and hire more staff. You can donate to Elevate through our end-of-year campaign or just a general donation on the Lift website. We can’t wait to see what God has in store with this new endeavor!

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WHY WE PROGRAM THE WAY WE DO

By Ryan Rouse

Just a day after Hurricane Ian swept across the state of Florida, I was able to go help down south where my sister and her family live. They live in the tiny town of Wauchula which is in Hardee County. 99% of the county was without power and the Peace River which runs through their town rose so much that it took out entire neighborhoods and highways. While I was there, I was able to help serve hot meals to those who lost so much. I was also able to help completely clear out the house of a church member where my brother-in-law is the pastor. As we carried out literally everything this family had and placed it on the curb to be picked up, I was moved watching the volunteers work together. I was the only one there that was not a member of this church family. They prayed, and cried, and laughed, and sweated and rallied around this family and the thought crossed my mind, “what if this family wasn’t a member of this church?”. After
experiencing such a great loss of material possessions, they still had community. While a price tag can be placed on the things by the curb there is no amount of money that could purchase what they still had.

Many times, we think about community when we are laughing together and enjoying time together, but true community is there when times are rough also. Community is such a vital part of everything we do here at LIFT. When we program an event, we think about community. When we gather from several different states every Monday night for our Bible study, it is so much more than a Bible study… it’s building our community here at LIFT and no price tag can be placed on that. The really great news: there is always room for you here. We would absolutely love for you to be a part of this beautiful community called LIFT. We laugh, and cry, and work, and dance, and craft, and study, and play TOGETHER. So, as you look through all the programs and events that LIFT has to offer, understand that we view each of them as a way for us to grow closer to each other.

HOME SHOULD BE AN ANCHOR, A PORT IN A STORM, A REFUGE, A HAPPY PLACE IN WHICH TO DWELL, A PLACE WHERE WE ARE LOVED AND WHERE WE CAN LOVE.

– MARVIN J. ASHTON

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COMMUNITY CHRISTMAS TREE WALK

DECEMBER 10TH

Here in central Florida, we are hosting our first ever Christmas tree walk. we love to involve the community whenever we can. This night will be filled with all the Christmas feels. Trees decorated, live music and goodies galore. Come to just enjoy or compete in decorating your own tree/spot for a chance to win $500. This is a night of healthy competition and community building. It’s a chance to bring the community at large together with families with disabilities, making us one big happy family! Find out more: give.liftdisability.net/treewalk2022

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GIVING TUESDAY

SAVE THE DATE!

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 29TH, 2022

THE BIGGEST GIVING DAY OF THE YEAR.
HELP US REACH OUR $25,000 MATCHING GOAL, ALL
IN ONE DAY!! IF YOU ARE LOCAL, JOIN US FOR OUR
OFFICE OPEN HOUSE. LOOK FOR DETAILS COMING
SOON ON OUR WEBSITE OR FACEBOOK PAGE.

You all are so nice, thoughtful, and cool! i love what you do for those of us with disabilities. Your love really shines through. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Seth HeatheringtonBreakaway Camper

You have made my life better by acting as a much needed pressure valve. I'm spiritually and mentally refreshed!

Sheryl KingBreakaway participant

Elevate is such a great program. My brother loves the routine of the day - social hour, bible stories, exercise, crafting and the list goes on. It allows him the social setting to build friendships in a safe and non-judgemental atmosphere. He is looking forward to the start of fall term. Thank you for the tremendous effort spent to provide such a 'space' for individuals with life challenges

CarolSister of Participant

EVERY DOLLAR MATCHED UP TO $50,000 UNTIL DECEMBER 31ST

Connect Year End 2019

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