Reimagining Community Resources and Strengthening Nonprofit Impact

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What drives a nonprofit to rebrand after 70 years of service? Join us for an enlightening conversation with Mike Grittoli, COO of Community Resources, as we explore how this Staten Island nonprofit has reimagined its approach to better serve children and adults with special needs. You'll discover the strategic planning behind the rebranding efforts and how the leadership team navigated the challenges brought on by the pandemic, resulting in increased participation in their day programs. Learn about the innovative methods they adopted and the parallels with other local organizations like the Grace Foundation.

In this episode, Mike shares the fascinating journey of parent-founded organizations within the IDD community, transforming from providing basic educational and safety services to comprehensive residential programs. We delve into the financial hurdles such nonprofits face, particularly with dwindling donations from younger generations. The conversation highlights the power of local community engagement and collaboration among Staten Island nonprofits, emphasizing how sharing resources and participants can maximize support and impact. Mike also offers insights into the changing leadership landscape and the unique, friendly yet competitive atmosphere of the island's nonprofit sector.

We wrap up by focusing on the economic contributions and responsibilities of nonprofits in Staten Island. From being significant employers to their ripple effects on local businesses, nonprofits play a vital role in the community. Mike reflects on his own transition from front-line roles to administrative positions, stressing the importance of balancing business operations with quality care. This episode is a comprehensive look at how nonprofits like Community Resources maintain high standards while evolving to meet modern needs, ensuring they remain a cornerstone for families and the local economy alike.

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I'm here with Mike Grittolifrom Community Resources, and
today what we want to talk aboutis helping Staten Island and
participating in nonprofits.
So thank you for being heretoday, mike.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
It's a pleasure.
Thank you for having me.

Speaker 1 (00:23):
So what is your official title over at Community
Resources?

Speaker 2 (00:26):
I am the Chief Operating Officer.

Speaker 1 (00:28):
And how long have you been there now?

Speaker 2 (00:29):
I've been there three years, oh wow.
Yeah, I'm part of a sort of anew leadership team.
It's a long established agency.
You know.
Community Resources has been inbusiness for about 70 years.
I think we celebrated our 70thyear last year, so we're about

(00:52):
71 now and they had a recentsort of rebranding and
refreshing and I'm part of ateam that came in an
administrative level toinstitute this refreshing and
rebranding and sort of areorganization.
So a lot of us have been herepushing forward our strategic
plan for the last three years.

Speaker 1 (01:03):
So I've been on Staten Island since like the mid
80s, so familiar with communityresources.
But, to be honest with you, Iwould love to hear more about
the rebranding and you know whatyou're focused on right now,
because when I drive around theisland, I see CR everywhere,
right, whether it's the vans orthe houses.
But you know where to start.

(01:24):
So let's start with whatinstigated the rebranding.

Speaker 2 (01:29):
I think it was a board decision and I think the
board felt, you know, we've beenin business for so long and
they were coming out of thepandemic at that time.
So you know, the pandemic was atime where not a lot was
happening, you know, and not alot of new development or new
programming.
So I guess it was a good timeto take stock in what you were
doing.
There was a change ofleadership because of a

(01:50):
retirement of the executivedirector.
So I think the board took theopportunity to say where can we
go from here, coming out of thepandemic, and what can we do to
sort of refresh what we're doing?

Speaker 1 (02:01):
See, that's great.
And I think people don'trealize that nonprofits like any
other business, they have tochange with the times, right?
Like whether you talk about aname change, a logo change or
missions change, right, I mean,we're both around the same age,
most nonprofits.
When I was a kid, no one talkedabout technology, right?

(02:21):
Nobody thought like, oh, we gotto give computer skills and we
got to do this and you know.
Now you look around and everynonprofit focuses on that, you
know.
But so many things have changed.
And I mean you know, like yousaid, community resources has
been around for 70 years.
I can't even begin to think howmany lives have been impacted

(02:43):
right Over over the decades.
Yeah, right.
And the fact that you'rerebranding and saying we want to
do more, we want to get moreout there, that's great.
So how long did the rebrandingtake?

Speaker 2 (02:56):
Well, when I came in February of about three years
ago, I sat with the newexecutive director and we hashed
about ideas and I said to makesignificant changes.
It doesn't happen in a year.
That's sort of a get to knowyou period, that first year, and
get to know everybody in theagency, get to know how the
organization operates.
But we're in our third year ofthis sort of new leadership and

(03:18):
we feel like we like what we seeand we like the direction we're
going in.
So you look at something likethis and it's a three to five
year commitment to say in threeto five years we can sit back,
take a breath and maybe say, hey, that was pretty good, well
done, you know we're gettingthere.

Speaker 1 (03:34):
So what is the key age demographic that you serve?

Speaker 2 (03:38):
So it's pretty wide variety of children and adults.
So we have a preschool and theyserve about 80 children who are
mostly on the spectrum andother children with varied
special needs and disabilities.
We have a day program thatserves about 130 people per day

(03:58):
at this point and that'sexpanding and growing.
Interestingly enough, comingout of the pandemic, when I got
here, we were only serving about60 people in that day program.
That's the devastating effectof what the pandemic did keeping
people home and keeping peoplefurther isolated and not getting
them engaged.
So we did a big push toincrease our engagement,

(04:20):
increase our outreach, increasethe activity level.
The meaningful work meaningfulwork we're going to talk about
that because that's so important.
It's a lot of what you guys dohere.
By the way, I'm super impressedwith this podcast studio and I
can't imagine that the folks youserve don't come in here and
think, well, this is somethingspecial and I'm doing something
meaningful.

Speaker 1 (04:40):
Today we're at the Grace Foundation, we're using
their podcast studio doingsomething meaningful.
Today we're at the the GraceFoundation, we're using their
podcast studio, and this is kindof the similar point where it's
about the rebranding and it'sthe effective and meaningful
programs.
Right, and you know it'sstrange you hear so many
nonprofits that they want to gettheir participants out there.
They want to get them involvedand you know they don't want to

(05:03):
just have them do something forthe sake of doing it.
But unfortunately a lot ofnonprofits are stuck in their
ways.
Yes, and they don't change.
Because if I change I might nothave a job or, you know, my
participants might go somewhereelse.
And to hear the numbers thatyou're describing, community
resources, I mean, so you'resaying established around 1950,

(05:25):
somewhere around there, right?
So well before the bridge, wellbefore all of us came over,
which I'm always told the worstthings came over the bridge.
So you've been operating sincethen.
Before, I mean everything withWillowbrook, I mean that's like
saying one of the key anchorinstitutions, with the IDD
community on the island.

Speaker 2 (05:45):
Yeah, well, you know these are like.
Many of these organizations areparent founded Parents who,
early on, didn't know where togo.
Services were limited and theyhad to create the services
themselves.
And a lot of parents orfamilies are still involved.
You know, siblings are stillinvolved and that's a good thing
because the input of thosefamilies is critical and

(06:07):
important.
So it's taken us way beyond, Ithink, what the initial vision
was right, Because families justwanted a good place for their
kids to be educated and to learnand to be safe.
And we've done that and evengone way beyond.

Speaker 1 (06:21):
So now you have a preschool you have to have.
Does community resources haveresidential programs or anything
else?

Speaker 2 (06:28):
We have 15 residential programs, all Staten
Island based.
We have a new one slated toopen in the new year, in 2025.
And we have a handful ofsupportive apartments for people
who can be more independent.
We've done a lot of work withthose residential properties, uh
.
We came in with the feeling, uh, that people needed to be in

(06:51):
quality environments,environments that made them feel
good about they were and wherethey were and where they were
living.
So we've spent a good part ofthese these last three years
improving and doing sort of homeimprovements on the places
where people either lived or goto day program new kitchens, new
floorings, you know, newbathrooms, new furnishings, new

(07:15):
bedroom sets.
We wanted people to feel likeyour home and the place where
you come to learn or work is acomfortable and special place.

Speaker 1 (07:24):
And I mean there's been so many changes just with
the kind of technology peopleare using in their houses, I
mean.
So I have to imagine, like youknow, updating things is
expensive.

Speaker 2 (07:34):
Yes, right and yes it is.

Speaker 1 (07:36):
You know, I, I know that.
You know, like mostorganizations, you have city
funding, you have state funding,but there's never enough, right
, right, absolutely true, youknow, and there's a lot of non
nonprofits that are out there, alot of them that are doing good
work.
But you know, I was readingjust recently how there's a huge
decline in the amount of moneybeing donated from individuals,

(07:57):
especially the youngergeneration, and they were saying
that when it comes to this newgeneration, they don't have an
attachment to any of thenonprofits in their community,
they don't give, and a lot ofnonprofits are seeing that over
the last couple of years there'sbeen a drop off with their
private donations and everythingelse.

(08:18):
Is that also part of therebranding and the image and
trying to figure out how do weget out to more people?

Speaker 2 (08:27):
Yeah, without question, it's about exposure.
It's about exposure to localbusinesses.
We had to do a lot of outreachjust on the executive level to
say, hey, this is who I am Now,full disclosure.
I am not a Staten Islander.
I did most of my workthroughout my career in the
borough of Brooklyn and I livein Queens and I want to say that

(08:48):
the interesting and uniquething about the borough of
Staten Island is that people docome together and that when you
make the effort to go out andlet people know what you're
doing, that there is interest.
So of course, it's a little bitmore competitive here because
everyone's doing the same thingand everyone's got the same

(09:08):
vision and idea, but I will saythis as well, which speaks to
the uniqueness of Staten Island,that a lot of the executives of
the nonprofits here meetfrequently, talk frequently,
they are connected and theyshare a larger vision of what we
could all be and what we couldall do together.

Speaker 1 (09:27):
You know it's so hard .
So I did about 20 plus years inthe nonprofit world and you saw
, like anything, there areclicks, there are some executive
directors that get together.
There's always the executivedirectors hey, I'm applying for
this, don't apply for that,right?
I do a lot of work in the otherboroughs and in some other
states and you know, dependingon where you are, things are

(09:47):
different.
I tell everybody that StatenIsland is extremely friendly.
Yeah, until you cross the line.

Speaker 2 (09:54):
Yeah Well, you know you want to make friends.
You have to be friendly as well.

Speaker 1 (09:59):
That's part of it.
But you know once and this ispart of the changing the guards
going from, you know peoplewho've been around for 20, 30
years.
You know not a native StatenIslander.
I grew up in Brooklyn.
No matter how long I've beenhere, people tell me all the
time I'm not from Staten Island,right, when I'm in any of the

(10:26):
boroughs, nobody asks me whereI'm from.
It doesn't really happen.
But I have found that there area lot of executive directors
that are like we're good at this, we're going to stay in our
lane and we'd like to work withother people.
Like we can, you know, workwith another nonprofit, or maybe
we're a bigger nonprofit thanthis other one.
We both do the same thing, butwe're doing it at different
levels, right?
And the other thing I foundwhich is really interesting, but
it's only specifically with theIDD community.

(10:50):
You all share the sameparticipants.

Speaker 2 (10:53):
Yes.

Speaker 1 (10:54):
Right that.
So, coming from someone whoworked in workforce development
and afterschool programs wedon't share, you're in my
program.
It's the only program you canbe in.
Yeah, where is the IDDcommunity?
You know we're on Staten Island.
I'll be at Grace one day.
I might be at On your Mark.
I might be over at Eden 2, avery special place.

(11:15):
I might stop at CommunityResources, city Access, and I
see the same participants.
Yeah, yeah, right.
So there's I guess there's moreof a friendliness because
you're serving the same families.

Speaker 2 (11:28):
Yeah, and without question, we kind of know each
seem to know what we do well,what we're good at.
So there have been times whereEden has referred someone to us
or we've referred someone to Onyour Mark.
Hey, this person is a person ofgreat capability and wants to
work in a bakery or a cafe.
You know, on your Mark, a veryspecial place.

(11:48):
They have a cafe.
We might let the parents knowthat and say, hey, you should
try them.
So, while there is competitionfor the funding and the dollars,
when it comes to the mission, Ithink everybody wants to do the
right thing by the person thatthey're serving you're helping
the same kids and no one isserving 100 of their needs.

Speaker 1 (12:09):
No, you know, because if they were, they would never
be going to other places.
But then that comes back thatthat means all of those groups
are asking the same families forfunding, or all of those groups
are asking the same familiesfor funding, or all of those
groups are asking the samesponsors for funding.
And I think that's where thingssometimes with the nonprofits,
you are always looking for newthings right.

(12:32):
Outside funders, outsidebusinesses, forming new
relationships right, and I lovewhat you said about the, you
know, creating awareness andeverything else, because it's
not transactional.
It's more about let's form arelationship and, you know,
let's get them involved in theprograms that we run, let's let
them see what we do.
Even when I drive around theisland, I see all of these vans,

(12:56):
you know, with the stickers forsome of the organizations.
Some of them have sponsorshipson them, some of them don't.
But I think what people youknow are most interested in, not
just from a businessperspective, but even on the
personal one, is like how can Ihelp?
Right, like you know, I wasalways brought up that you know,
first off, if you can give, youshould give.

(13:16):
Yeah.
If you can't give, you knowfirst off, if you can give, you
should give.
Yeah.
If you can't give, you shouldgive your time.
Yeah, right, because we allhave time.
No matter how busy we are, youcan find the time to do
something.
Unfortunately, in the nonprofitworld, while we love volunteers
, ultimately we need the money,because that's what allows us to

(13:37):
do our mission.
Yeah, yeah, right.
So having that almost communityfeel and I know that we all go
after the same people, butexpanding and trying to bring in
other things.
What I've seen since covetended was almost like a
resurgence with events yeah,right, for sure everyone's doing
galas again.
Everyone's back to golf outings.

(13:58):
Other people are puttingtogether other kinds of events,
right Right, and trying to thinkhow do I do things that other
nonprofits aren't doing?

Speaker 2 (14:06):
Yeah, yeah, which is hard, and we go to all the
events.
You know we've been to the Edengolf outing, they've been to
ours golf outing, so we share inthat way and you're right, we
try to do something that is alittle outside of the box,
because how many golf outingscan you go to and then you're
really soliciting or trying toget a lot of the same people and
it's limited to how much timethey could even give you.

(14:29):
So we try to think a little bitout of the box.
Last year we had the Taste ofStaten Island where we had
different restaurants and foodvendors come in and you can have
a variety and different tastesof the different restaurants in
Staten Island.
Of course Staten Island isgreat for food.
Everyone knows that and youknow maybe one of the capitals
of pizza, I hear and I'vesampled a lot of the pizza here

(14:51):
and it is good.
So you try to think a littlebit out of the box.
We had a virtual golf event.
It was an indoor golf event andthat was different and a lot of
fun and certainly different forgolfers who golf a lot.
That's sort of more practicefor them than actual golf.
But they enjoyed it andeverybody enjoyed it and
everybody.
The comments were yeah, this issomething different and thanks

(15:11):
for doing something a littledifferent.
You know this old saying thatmore things change, the more
they remain the same.
So you open up by saying youknow things have changed and
they have changed in the field,but what's remained the same is
the service you provide.
It's kind of the nucleus ofthat is how can I give the best
and the best care and the bestservices and put together the

(15:34):
best resources for the people weserve?
That remains the same.
What's changed is kind of howyou do it and how well you do it
.
And I tell the folks where Iwork all the time it's like we
may be doing things that aresimilar to other nonprofits, but
how well are we doing it?
And if we do it really well,then parents who have children

(15:55):
who are in need of services aregoing to take notice and come to
us and say I'm going to gothere because I like the way
they do it and I like how wellthey do it.

Speaker 1 (16:04):
But I think that's back to that point.
I would be okay with taking mychild to five different places
If each of those places wereproviding the best service for
that particular thing.
Right, because that makes sense, you know, and it's unfortunate
.
Sometimes there's a nonprofitor two that spoil it.
Makes sense, you know, and it'sunfortunate, sometimes there's
a non-profit or two that spoilit.
And you know, they providesubpar and then everybody gets

(16:24):
labeled as oh, don't trust them,don't do this, um, but that
really is it.
I mean, like, the proof hasalways been in the pudding, you
know, you have families thathave.
Probably some of those familiesmight be with you for 40 years
more.
Yeah, like, depending on theirchildren and the fact that
they've stayed with you.
They're not staying with youjust for convenience, right?

(16:45):
They're happy all the time, oras much of the time as they can
be, as much of the time.

Speaker 2 (16:51):
You know, even with the families that are loyalty,
you hit some bumps in the road.
Sure, no service is perfect,but they do stay with us and we
make a really concerted effortto listen to a family's feedback
and to respond to it as quicklyand efficiently as possible.
So we look at the families asour customer base, you know, and

(17:11):
we try to provide the bestcustomer service to them, as
well as their child.

Speaker 1 (17:16):
And it's so great that you use that, because
that's the real thing aboutnonprofits it is a nonprofit but
ultimately they are customers,right?
We all pay tax dollars.
The tax dollars then go backand support the nonprofits and
then we're using that, you know,for that service, and if we're
not happy we go somewhere else.

(17:36):
You know, no matter how youwant to look at it, and parents
do speak that way if you knowthey're unhappy.
Unfortunately, sometimes it isgood when a certain person
leaves because it just wasn't agood fit on both ends, but for
the really big piece it reallycomes down to, you know, this is
the service that we provide andif we, you know the nonprofits

(17:56):
on Staten Island are actuallythe biggest employers, you know,
even if you remove the twohospitals, because the two
hospitals are the largest out ofanything.
But after that the rest of thenonprofit community employs more
than any other business on theisland, any other industry.
You know.
So the amount of money that'sbeing generated through the

(18:18):
nonprofits, so the amount ofmoney that's being generated
through the nonprofits, and thenwhen you think about it on the
flip side, not just how much iscoming into the nonprofits but
salaries that they're paying Allof the accountants and the
lawyers that they hire forthings, all of the restaurants
that they send theirparticipants to, that they order
from.
The nonprofits are more likethe lifeblood.

(18:40):
And you know, some peoplerealize it, not everyone does,
which is why it's so importantto really support them.
Because if you remove thatsupport, you know, if the
nonprofits didn't have thefunding, weren't able to go out,
you'd have a lot of businesseson Staten Island that will go
under.

Speaker 2 (18:55):
Yeah, yeah, and you know it's.
And it's a funny thing.
When I first started in thisfield I've done just about every
job in this field.
I started as direct supportprofessional, I was an assistant
manager, I was in humanresources, I did recruiting.
But as you move into these moreadministrative roles you
realize what a vital businessthe nonprofit is and that it is
a business.
But when you're on the frontlines and you're really

(19:16):
providing the care, all youthink about is the care and
that's what you should thinkabout.
But when you're on the frontlines and you're really
providing the care, all youthink about is the care and
that's what you should thinkabout.
But when I did that I neverthought much for the business
part of it.
I always thought you know,that's not as important as what
I'm doing here for this person.
And the fact is they're bothimportant.
They're both important that youhave to balance your mission

(19:37):
with some margin.
You have to have the funding toget the appropriate resources
so that you can bring the bestprogramming to the people you
serve.
So you sort of learn that overyears.
It takes a little bit of timeto sort of learn that and sort
of embrace that too, to say,okay, I've got to understand the
business part of this.

Speaker 1 (19:56):
Yeah, and I mean the fact that you've been around for
70 years, right, that thecommunity resources have been
around that long, I mean thatdoes speak volumes to, and I'm
sure there've been ups and downsin the road funding, you know,
but you still see it just likeany other business that we have.
I think it's something like over2,200 registered nonprofits on

(20:16):
the island now.
Wow, right, there was a big,you know, boost in COVID numbers
.
Everyone was opening upnonprofits, but a lot of them
remain grassroots.
They never really get anywhere.
And then you know you have thishandful of nonprofits that
employ hundreds of people, right, or that serve thousands a year

(20:39):
each right, which is justincredible.
But getting the stories out,telling people like, if you know
community resources, you knowcommunity resources, but the
amount of people on the islandthat still are oblivious to like
the top nonprofits and whatthey do, right.
So how can we help get more ofthat message out to let people

(20:59):
know what it is that you do andhow they can participate,
volunteer, donate, like what'sthe easiest starting point for
something?

Speaker 2 (21:06):
well, there's so many ways and I think the easy
starting point and somethingwe're kind of proud of is we've
done so much work over the lastthree years on the innovative
programs we put in place and onbeautifying our residences and
our day program, really makingit look like a place where you
want to spend time, reach outand come visit us, come see what
we're doing.
We love tours, we love givingtours and we love showing people

(21:27):
around.
We, in the last three years, westarted when I got here.
I'll give you a quick story.
When I got here years.
We started when I got here.
I'll give you a quick story.
When I got here, we had about a44,000 square foot worth of
building space, beautifulgrounds.
There's a lot to work with.
But again, coming out of thepandemic, it was all dormant.
So we had this garage which wasa mechanics garage, and next to

(21:49):
it was this big parking lot andit was just full of old cars.
It was like a salvage yard andthere were old tires and
batteries.
It was a mess and the firstcouple of months I got there I
said to the executive can I movesome of this stuff out and put
some garden boxes?
You'd be amazed what you couldgrow.
I'd like the guys to grow somefresh vegetables.

(22:10):
We could do it organically.
I've done this before.
I just want to put like six.
I didn't want to overstep,right, I was new and she said
let's do a dozen, like okay, adozen.
And then we looked and we putthem up and they look beautiful.
And we looked out there we saidlet's get rid of everything in
this parking lot and let'sexpand and make the whole thing
a garden.
Before we knew it, in year three, we've got a thriving, almost

(22:31):
urban farm going there where wegrow, uh, organic vegetables, uh
.
We've made a connection withthe community the jacob swell uh
food pantry, yeah, which isdown the road at the local
church and we, our guys,volunteer there once a week and
they bring fresh organicvegetables to people who come
there, wait online early in themorning because we don't get
there until till 9, 30 or 10 andthey're waiting for us.

(22:52):
So from that idea, which grewtremendously, we got a lot of
community outreach out of thatand we got a lot of people who
were interested in what we'redoing with our garden across the
street from us as a nursery theVictory Nursery when we first
got there my first week I saidlet's go say hello to those
people you know.
And we did, and they donated.

(23:13):
In the first year when weopened our garden, we had a big
opening ceremony, which we donow every year.
They donated about 215 plantsto us vegetable plants, and you
know that was huge.
What a gesture, because theyliked what we were doing and
they saw it.
So you want to get involved?
Come see what we're doing.
We're at the CR-SIorg.
Come see what we're doing.

(23:38):
Um, we're at the cr-siorg.
Uh, you can email us at info atcr-siorg and you can say I want
to come visit, see what you'redoing in your garden program or
your music program.
Uh, you know, I look at whatyou're doing with this podcast
studios.
People should see this.

Speaker 1 (23:47):
They should see the meaningful work that that the
folks we serve can do listen, I,I think the non-profits, like I
said, they they serve so manypeople and they help out.
But even the fact that you'retelling me, like it's not even
just that, the giving back piece, the growing the vegetables and
then doing the food pantries,like that's just stuff that
doesn't reach your participants,that reaches the families.

(24:09):
And you're right, there are somany great programs that are out
there and you know, um, I don'tknow, I've like there's so many
things that they do on theisland, like they do the food
trolley festival right on thesouth shore.
Uh, they do the historic uhtrip where people come from the
ferry and they go to historicrichmond town, they go to the uh
the ship graveyard.

(24:29):
I mean, maybe there should belike a non-profit tour where you
get to go hit up a fewnon-profits, that's a great idea
like, see what they're doing,yeah, um, but definitely I would
suggest, you know, reaching out, going to the website, checking
them out on social media, um,you know and just seeing what
they have going on and, ifthere's a an opportunity to
volunteer, volunteer.

(24:50):
I'm sure if you have some moneythat you can part with and you
can make a donation, that wouldbe much appreciated, certainly,
take donations, come to ourevents.

Speaker 2 (24:58):
I'll tell you one great event and we try to get
every year.
We have, uh, the grand openingof our, of our garden, and it
gets bigger every year.
By the way, we've made itcompletely accessible now, uh,
where we have ramps put in and,um, we've taken over about,000
square feet where we startedwith just like, yeah, less than
100 square foot of space.
But every year we have this bigopening and we do invite the

(25:19):
community.
We like people to come and seewhat we're doing and celebrate
with us.
We have the borough presidentcame one year.
We have representatives fromthe assembly's office come.
So it's a nice event, but we doother things.
We have a woman who is on thespectrum.
She's probably in her 50s, herparents were concert pianists
and they played at Carnegie Hall, and her parents, from when she

(25:39):
was an early age, taught herhow to play piano and she plays
brilliantly, like classicalmusic, yeah, and the interesting
thing, when I got to see herand I was thinking about taking
the job in, inside our lobbythere's a big, grand grand piano
that I believe her familydonated, and so now what we do
is we feature her as a featureperformance.

(26:00):
We have these eveningperformances which are open to
the public, so people can getinvolved in that and come see
what we're doing.
And generally what we do is wetake we usually get a
professional musician and thiswoman, ellen, and we don't say
you know who is the person witha disability, we just say these
are our featured performerstonight and they, you know, the

(26:22):
professional opens up and Ellencloses the show and it's
fantastic and people are alwaysimpressed, as I'm impressed when
I hear a play.
So those are the kind of thingsthey're simple things that give
us exposure to the community,that we'd like the community to
come see us and what we're doing.
So by all means, come visit,set up a tour.
We'd love to show you around.

Speaker 1 (26:43):
Well, I'm going to definitely post all that
information in the description.
If you haven't looked atCommunity Resources' website or
checked out their social,definitely go check it out.
I'd like to thank Mike forcoming by today.
Definitely appreciate it.

Speaker 2 (26:57):
Pleasure.
Thanks for having me.