By JAMES BELL
Hays Post
Developmental Services of Northwest Kansas recently announced the successful completion of its Stronger Forever Together capital campaign.
The five-year effort wrapped up in December after raising $5 million, thanks to large and small donors, including some of the biggest philanthropic people and organizations in northwest Kansas.
With the campaign marking the first time an effort like this has been undertaken by DSNWK, the funds raised will help the nonprofit organization continue fulfilling its mission to serve the region.
“Developmental Services of Northwest Kansas serves people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and we serve 18 counties of northwest Kansas,” said DSNWK Director of Development Steve Keil. “We go all the way to the Colorado border all the way up to the Nebraska border. And we help people in a variety of ways.”
Founded in 1967, DSNWK has been a long-term asset to area residents with special needs.
“We help people find employment, we help people and the residential setting where they might live in a group home, or they might live more independently in their own apartment,” Keil said. “We have some children's services, in not as many counties as the 18 counties, but in several counties in Northwest Kansas, and we provide case management.”
He said over 500 people are currently using their services.
DSNWK President and CEO Jerry Michaud said the organization's services and reach are made possible by various community partners.
“It goes back to, really, the fundamentals of how our system has received the support to do the mission work that we do every day,” Michaud said. “We receive state and federal funds and local funds. But oftentimes those funds … they've never gone far enough to meet the need.”
Donations of all sizes were received during the campaign, but DSNWK hit the $5 million mark with a check from the Robert E. and Patricia A. Schmidt Foundation.
“We are forever grateful to all of the supporters of our capital campaign who believe in our mission and who have shown it by their financial support,” Michaud said in a statement announcing the gift. “Our special thanks are extended to the Schmidt Foundation for helping us reach the finish line. It is through all of this support and generosity that has allowed us to achieve our goal.”
While fundraising has been a long-time part of DSNWK’s efforts creating a five-year capital campaign was a new venture for the organization undertaken as other funding avenues were explored.
“We started actually our change of direction or an enhancement to what we've been doing,” Michaud said. “We've been doing fundraising for a long time, but we entered into the realm of planned giving, and estate planning and those types of things.”
Ensuring adequate funding levels is a necessity for the group and is used to keep services available.
“Oftentimes, our funding does not cover the physical plant aspects of things,” Michaud said. “And as we all know, homeowners and alike have stuff that just deteriorates over time, and you must take care of it. And if you don't, it's just not good. And so we knew we had many, many needs and, and reached out through this approach to engage with other people by first educating them about what those needs are.
“And I'm convinced that when people understand that there are needs out … there's a generosity within this community, this region, that's just pretty amazing.”
Among the specific goals outlined for the campaign was to establish an endowed fund.
“We established a Jim and Rose Bloom endowment,” Keil said. “Jim Bloom was a president before Jerry took over. And a lot of people know him here in Hays.”
They also desired to improve technology and facilities with the campaign.
“The one thing that happened during these five years was a pandemic,” Keil said. “If there was ever a time where technology became such an integral part of business, it was during that pandemic — with Google Meet, and with Zoom calls, and all those kinds of things — and we need really needed to get our technology up to speed to be able to connect with people.
“And then we really wanted to update the facilities that we have that … needed attention. And so we've, over the course of the time, we've put flooring in, siding, HVAC units, just a lot of things, roofing, things that facilities were in dire need of, and this campaign helped us to be able to do those things.”
By upgrading those services, Michaud said DSNWK could see cost savings, further benefiting the organization’s financial standing.
“When you've got an old unit that is not very efficient, or you've got old lighting systems where you update to LEDs, you see the benefit in more than one way,” he said. “It's better. And it's more economical.”
Increasing accessibility was also a cornerstone of the campaign.
“Meeting accessibility needs is another one of those things,” Michaud said. “And we learned along the way that some of our settings were, we're not where we wanted them to be.”
With the successful completion of the campaign, he said the organization is sharing the news across the region as they celebrate the generosity that made successfully completed the campaign.
“We're trying to go out to some of the communities throughout the area and talk to maybe local chambers or just the community in general and just kind of give them an update on how the campaign went and some of the things that have their community has benefited from the campaign, what's happened at their local center or the group homes there in their community and some of the things that we've been able to do because of the campaign,” Keil said. “And so we're going to spend the next few months just being able to go out and talk to people about how this how this turned out.”