"There Is Another Way" with Teamwork Wins!

Teamwork Wins, Ltd., a Foundation for Awareness and Change, is a 24-year-old, 501c3 nonprofit organization. We are committed to assisting underserved individuals with Invisible Challenges who are without appropriate services and/or struggle financially to access services.

Much of our work over the years was focused on individual services for those struggling with Invisible Challenges, the unseen difficulties such as ADHD, anxiety, depression, Autism, social issues, PTSD, body image issues, at-risk juveniles, recidivism, workplace and academic challenges, emotional, verbal, and sexual abuse, and neuro-diversity issues.

Our programs provide the basis for personal change by addressing the root causes of these challenges. Addressing these inner challenges and their roots lays the groundwork rather than assuming these challenges were being caused by something or someone outside of them.

We created tools and processes that were effective in finding solutions for Invisible Challenges and translated these processes so that individuals could best understand them. Allowing them to create more ease in their lives was the key!

It only takes a desire to want your life to be different and the willingness to do what it takes to make that happen. It is about accepting ourselves, including the parts that we sometimes judge that cause us emotional difficulties. When you begin to see changes, the results can seem almost magical.

We are still committed to our youth but see the need for adult services. We would like to raise funds for these new adult and teen services, There Is Another Way to Live with Invisible Challenges. The prevalence of these challenges makes it more vital than ever to include our unique method to help these individuals.

According to the CDC, 1 in 5 individuals have some sort of mental health issue, the prevalence of ADHD in 5–17-year-olds is 11.3% and is 14.3% in 12–17-year-olds. Addiction, which people use to cope with their Invisible Challenges affects 12.3% of adults and 25% of adolescents. They also reported that 1 in 44 children were diagnosed with autism and has increased to 1 in 36 children in 2023.

According to the Department of Justice, 1,230,000 individuals were incarcerated in the US, an increase of 2% from 2021 to 2022 and 76% of those incarcerated were minorities. In a survey of 24 states, 82% of those released from prison were rearrested at least once in the 10 years following release indicating a need for additional methods of support for prison rehabilitation and 11% of children have a parent that is incarcerated and children of those incarcerated are 6 times more likely to become offenders themselves.

Based on these statistics, it is likely you either know someone with these challenges or you have experienced them yourself. Your support will help us assist individuals that fall through the cracks or possibly struggled with an outdated unyielding system and create an equal opportunity of success and happiness for everyone.

For the past 4 years we have been under the radar. During that time, we maintained our status as a 501c3 nonprofit but experienced great loss with the passing of Rachael Simms, one of our supervisors of our ESY programs, as well as the many changes to our world because of the COVID pandemic. Adele Saccarelli-Cavallaro, Teamwork Wins founder, made the decision to reassess the future of Teamwork Wins during this global crisis to determine how we would fit into our changing world. We are thrilled to say we are back and are excited about what the future holds for Teamwork Wins and those we serve.

In the past, we have always served with heart-felt compassion. Rachael Simms connected us to schools and universities bringing awareness of Invisible Challenges in children and older teens with Asperger’s and High Functioning Autism – the neuro-diverse population. Individuals have come forward to continue our mission, such as Sandy DiRienzi. Sandy, who attended our Teamwork Wins ESY program in high school is now a college graduate and serves on our Board of Directors. Sandy states, “I plan to continue Teamwork Wins’ mission and finish what Rachael started with individuals whose brains function differently than is considered standard or typical. I would like to teach this population to advocate for themselves in jobs, community and at home, and educate individuals, who do not have these Invisible Challenges, how they can support and create an equitable community for all.” Gail Kerschner, a retired nurse, has also joined our team as Executive Co-Director and has been instrumental in strengthening the organization’s operations. Using our methods for her own depression, she has published a book called Depression Is An Inside Job.

Adele will continue her vision with the assistance of her new Executive Co-Director. Adele states, “I struggled at a very young age with several Invisible Challenges including ADHD, hyperactivity, dyslexia, auditory processing difficulties and sexual abuse. I developed coping skills and graduated from college, but it was extremely challenging. My vision is to provide an opportunity for the underserved to avoid the struggles I endured, let them know they aren’t alone and there is an answer.”

We are ready to move forward with the following programs:

• We will be concluding our research with underserved high-risk teens this year and in the Spring of 2025, we plan to begin assisting them with their Invisible Challenges.

• In the summer of 2025, we expect to begin our program with the Neuro-diversity population, teaching them to advocate for themselves in jobs, community and at home, as well as educate those without these challenges how they can support and create an equitable community for all.

• In the fall of 2024, we will begin The Final Pardon program to assist those with Invisible Challenges who have turned their lives around after involvement in the criminal justice system and help to reduce recidivism. We have also developed a youth program (ages 12-17) to assist youths with Invisible Challenges who have loved ones in the criminal justice system.

We believe the inner work that we do with Invisible Challenges lays a vital foundation for personal change and growth. Without this foundation, it is like entering a car in a race without an engine, .

We invite you to join us as we move forward in assisting these underserved groups to provide equal opportunity for a happy life free of the burdens of Invisible Challenges. Funds received will support both our program costs which include program mentors and all materials, collecting data, supervision, development, and operational costs.

Thank you for your support as we move forward with our mission. To learn more about us, go to our Teamwork Wins website. You are a major part of the winning formula for success and as we know Teamwork Wins!