Angelo Gasbarro is fundraising
Angelo's Campaign for L.A. GOAL
To all my friends and family,
As we near the end of the year and take a moment to reflect upon how unique of an experience 2020 has been, I wanted to highlight and continue to spread awareness about an amazing nonprofit organization I have been greatly involved with for a little over 2 years now – L.A. GOAL – which has been empowering adults with developmental disabilities across Los Angeles to live healthy, productive, independent lives since 1969. L.A. GOAL’s mission is to increase their Members' independence and employability through educational, vocational and recreational programs while educating the community about the ABILITIES of people with disabilities.
I know it has been a challenging year for everyone, so regardless of whether you may have the means necessary to financially assist L.A. GOAL this year, I am hoping the takeaway from reading this is a feeling of gratefulness and appreciation for the little things in life you may tend to overlook without even knowing it. (If anything, please at least read the message an L.A. GOAL Member wrote - first picture below - you won't regret it!)
The community of Members served by L.A. GOAL and similarly the broader community of individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities are uniquely vulnerable in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, i.e. given typical high rates of underlying health conditions amongst several other reasons. Pre COVID-19, receiving adequate medical care was already a challenge for many within this population which has now only become more exacerbated by the Pandemic. Many are medically frail to begin with and because of their disabilities, wearing a mask or maintaining social distance can be significantly more difficult, especially in instances where there is difficulty in understanding why the precautions are even needed.
From the get-go, L.A. GOAL took COVID-19 extremely seriously, and for that reason, was among the first (if not the very first) organization servicing adults with developmental disabilities in the broader L.A. area to suspend programming; marking the first time in its 50+ year history that L.A. GOAL has ever had to suspend programing.
L.A. GOAL and all those involved couldn’t just stop though, especially given that a portion of L.A. GOAL’s Members live on their own, with no family or supportive living staff. From that point on through present, a remarkable effort ensued to ensure all L.A. GOAL Members remained safe, healthy and had access to food, toiletries, and other essential supplies. These ongoing efforts include: continuing to pay all Members employed by L.A. GOAL as a paid artist despite disruptions stemming from the pandemic, calling each Member every three days to check in on them, delivering essential supplies to any Member expressing need, providing each Member access to a 24-hour emergency line that Members can call anytime if they want/need to talk to someone, distributing art supplies so Members have activities to do while socially isolating for their own safety, and most importantly, transitioning program offerings to a virtual format via Zoom classes for all Members.
At first, the transition was not easy – ex. emergency 24-hour helpline would routinely receive calls for help re: “I feel alone or I am afraid”. But via the strong will and effort of all those involved, including a lot of time and hard work put in behind the scenes, the Members have slowly gotten used to the new reality we all live in today. And various ongoing efforts are in the works to prepare for an eventual 4 stage phased re-entry, which includes costly facility updates such as replacing carpeted floors with easier to clean / sanitize commercial grade vinyl flooring (5,000 square feet), in addition to substituting all upholstered furniture with furniture made from materials that are more receptive to cleaning and disinfection protocol.
With all that being said, L.A. GOAL’s highest commitment is to continue to make true on its promise to its Members, their families, and caregivers: to be here to support them in perpetuity. And therefore, in the instance you are blessed enough to have the means and are able to contribute any dollar amount to L.A. GOAL, it will forever be appreciated by L.A. GOAL and all its Members. So please join me in making a difference! Any donation truly helps make an impact!
Check out the website for more info!
Here is a message from one of the Members
In case the below picture is hard to read, the message says:
"This has been a kind of stressful past few months. Back in March the covid 19 quarantine started. The world I have known for all of my life slowly started to change. All the restaurants in downtown Santa Monica closed down. The Santa Monica library closed down. I thought at first I will still have all my friends at L.A. GOAL to support me.
The real blow for me was when L.A. GOAL had to be temporarily closed. I thought it was the end of the world. I hate to admit this but I would go to bed in tears almost every night. Sometimes I feel that a real man must now let his emotions show. They were times once or twice a week that I did not want to get out of bed in the morning.
I started reaching out to my family, my close friends, and the L.A. GOAL therapist. They all told me what I am going though is normal. Although I cannot see people face-to face I see people on zoom.
About a month ago I started to feel a lot better about this. L.A. GOAL has started Zoom seasons, I have started writing a novel that sends the message that people can survive things like this.
I also have been following this up on the news. They are trying to find a way to treat this thing. I know that this thing will not be forever. I have been praying every night asking god to help me survive this thing. Once I started feeling happier about this I had a much better attitude.
I would like to thank my family, my close friends, and the LA. GOAL therapist for supporting me through these challenging times.
-Amin Sadeghpour" - August 2020
(L.A. GOAL Member)
Pictures I took at the 2019 Art Show at L.A. GOAL (Pre-COVID 19 times):
I bought this one and know the Member who made it! Picture doesn't do it justice!
Some other past artwork Members made:
Picture from Pre-COVID Drama Class I attended (I am behind the camera!):
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
L.A. GOAL is a Platinum-level GuideStar participant, demonstrating its commitment to transparency. They are a 501(C) (3) entity, tax ID number: 23-7269692, BRIDGE Number: 0337415971. Fiscal year 2019’s Annual Report, Audited Financial Statements, and IRS F990 can be found at: https://www.lagoal.org/mission--vision.html
More information about L.A. GOAL: L.A. GOAL provides opportunities for adults with developmental disabilities to increase their independence and employability through educational, vocational and recreational programs. Our art and outreach activities educate the community about the abilities of people with disabilities. Our vision is to create a more open society where people with developmental disabilities can enjoy full inclusion in their communities because inclusion benefits the community as well.
As we near the end of the year and take a moment to reflect upon how unique of an experience 2020 has been, I wanted to highlight and continue to spread awareness about an amazing nonprofit organization I have been greatly involved with for a little over 2 years now – L.A. GOAL – which has been empowering adults with developmental disabilities across Los Angeles to live healthy, productive, independent lives since 1969. L.A. GOAL’s mission is to increase their Members' independence and employability through educational, vocational and recreational programs while educating the community about the ABILITIES of people with disabilities.
I know it has been a challenging year for everyone, so regardless of whether you may have the means necessary to financially assist L.A. GOAL this year, I am hoping the takeaway from reading this is a feeling of gratefulness and appreciation for the little things in life you may tend to overlook without even knowing it. (If anything, please at least read the message an L.A. GOAL Member wrote - first picture below - you won't regret it!)
The community of Members served by L.A. GOAL and similarly the broader community of individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities are uniquely vulnerable in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, i.e. given typical high rates of underlying health conditions amongst several other reasons. Pre COVID-19, receiving adequate medical care was already a challenge for many within this population which has now only become more exacerbated by the Pandemic. Many are medically frail to begin with and because of their disabilities, wearing a mask or maintaining social distance can be significantly more difficult, especially in instances where there is difficulty in understanding why the precautions are even needed.
From the get-go, L.A. GOAL took COVID-19 extremely seriously, and for that reason, was among the first (if not the very first) organization servicing adults with developmental disabilities in the broader L.A. area to suspend programming; marking the first time in its 50+ year history that L.A. GOAL has ever had to suspend programing.
L.A. GOAL and all those involved couldn’t just stop though, especially given that a portion of L.A. GOAL’s Members live on their own, with no family or supportive living staff. From that point on through present, a remarkable effort ensued to ensure all L.A. GOAL Members remained safe, healthy and had access to food, toiletries, and other essential supplies. These ongoing efforts include: continuing to pay all Members employed by L.A. GOAL as a paid artist despite disruptions stemming from the pandemic, calling each Member every three days to check in on them, delivering essential supplies to any Member expressing need, providing each Member access to a 24-hour emergency line that Members can call anytime if they want/need to talk to someone, distributing art supplies so Members have activities to do while socially isolating for their own safety, and most importantly, transitioning program offerings to a virtual format via Zoom classes for all Members.
At first, the transition was not easy – ex. emergency 24-hour helpline would routinely receive calls for help re: “I feel alone or I am afraid”. But via the strong will and effort of all those involved, including a lot of time and hard work put in behind the scenes, the Members have slowly gotten used to the new reality we all live in today. And various ongoing efforts are in the works to prepare for an eventual 4 stage phased re-entry, which includes costly facility updates such as replacing carpeted floors with easier to clean / sanitize commercial grade vinyl flooring (5,000 square feet), in addition to substituting all upholstered furniture with furniture made from materials that are more receptive to cleaning and disinfection protocol.
With all that being said, L.A. GOAL’s highest commitment is to continue to make true on its promise to its Members, their families, and caregivers: to be here to support them in perpetuity. And therefore, in the instance you are blessed enough to have the means and are able to contribute any dollar amount to L.A. GOAL, it will forever be appreciated by L.A. GOAL and all its Members. So please join me in making a difference! Any donation truly helps make an impact!
Check out the website for more info!
Here is a message from one of the Members
In case the below picture is hard to read, the message says:
"This has been a kind of stressful past few months. Back in March the covid 19 quarantine started. The world I have known for all of my life slowly started to change. All the restaurants in downtown Santa Monica closed down. The Santa Monica library closed down. I thought at first I will still have all my friends at L.A. GOAL to support me.
The real blow for me was when L.A. GOAL had to be temporarily closed. I thought it was the end of the world. I hate to admit this but I would go to bed in tears almost every night. Sometimes I feel that a real man must now let his emotions show. They were times once or twice a week that I did not want to get out of bed in the morning.
I started reaching out to my family, my close friends, and the L.A. GOAL therapist. They all told me what I am going though is normal. Although I cannot see people face-to face I see people on zoom.
About a month ago I started to feel a lot better about this. L.A. GOAL has started Zoom seasons, I have started writing a novel that sends the message that people can survive things like this.
I also have been following this up on the news. They are trying to find a way to treat this thing. I know that this thing will not be forever. I have been praying every night asking god to help me survive this thing. Once I started feeling happier about this I had a much better attitude.
I would like to thank my family, my close friends, and the LA. GOAL therapist for supporting me through these challenging times.
-Amin Sadeghpour" - August 2020
(L.A. GOAL Member)
Pictures I took at the 2019 Art Show at L.A. GOAL (Pre-COVID 19 times):
I bought this one and know the Member who made it! Picture doesn't do it justice!
Some other past artwork Members made:
Picture from Pre-COVID Drama Class I attended (I am behind the camera!):
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
L.A. GOAL is a Platinum-level GuideStar participant, demonstrating its commitment to transparency. They are a 501(C) (3) entity, tax ID number: 23-7269692, BRIDGE Number: 0337415971. Fiscal year 2019’s Annual Report, Audited Financial Statements, and IRS F990 can be found at: https://www.lagoal.org/mission--vision.html
More information about L.A. GOAL: L.A. GOAL provides opportunities for adults with developmental disabilities to increase their independence and employability through educational, vocational and recreational programs. Our art and outreach activities educate the community about the abilities of people with disabilities. Our vision is to create a more open society where people with developmental disabilities can enjoy full inclusion in their communities because inclusion benefits the community as well.
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guidestar.org/profile/23-7269692