| What is unique about North Star
Community? North Star Community
Services
provides exemplary services
to people with a very wide range of disabilities. We
serve elders with age-related disabilities, adults
and youth with the full range of developmental and
other physical and mental disabilities, including
traumatic brain injury.
Where
do North Star Community Service's customers come from?
In Fiscal Year 2004, our 579 unduplicated
individual customers came from 35 counties in
Iowa. Part of the reason we serve people
from many counties outside Northeast and Central
Iowa is due to our Head Injury Program, a
Vocational Training/Organizational Employment
Service which accepts people with traumatic
brain injury from all over the state. For more information on our Head Injury Program, call
(319) 236-3581, or Toll-Free 1-888-879-1365
or
e-mail
Pat Becker
Where does the funding of North Star Community
Services
come from?
Each program has a different array of
funding sources. Briefly, they include the following (order
does not indicate rank or amount):
Funding for Adult Day
Services:
Home and Community Based Services (Medicaid),
Alzheimer's Assn., Veterans Administration,
Self/private pay, Sponsorship Fund (from
donations), intermediate care facility, county
of legal settlement.
Funding for Supported Community Living Services:
Home and Community Based Services (Medicaid), county of
legal settlement, Self/Private Pay, Adult Rehabilitation
Options, Merit Behavioral Health, and Sponsorship (from
donations).
Funding for Community Employment
Services:
County of legal settlement, Iowa Division of
Vocational Rehabilitation Services, Home and
Community Based Services (Medicaid), Iowa
Department of the Blind, State of Iowa, Area
Education Agency 267, Self/Private Pay.
Job Seekers Sponsorship Fund (from donations)
benefits individuals with severe disabilities
not covered through other funding sources.
Funding for Organizational Employment (Vocational
Training/Contract Work Services): County of legal
settlement, intermediate care facility for persons with
mental retardation (ICF/MR), State of Iowa, self/private
pay, Iowa Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Services,
Worker's Compensation.
Donations: Gifts from individuals, civic and
religious organizations, businesses, and foundations are
always welcome to help us with Sponsorships for elders or
others who need adult day services or for Job Seekers who do
not have adequate resources or funding sources. Donations
also help us with equipment and repair needs, and
special projects that help people become as
independent as possible in the community.
Is North Star Community Services a Cedar Valley United Way
or Marshalltown United Way organization?
No. Some of our fund raising is for
capital projects such as equipment or
renovation/repairs. These projects are not
eligible for United Way operations funding.
Our Waverly Center is certified by the
Waverly-Shell Rock Area United Way and receives
funding for special projects, sponsorships, and
equipment.
Why
and how did North Star Community Services begin?
Thirty
years ago, older adults with age-related
disabilities were increasing in number in the
area, thanks to improved life-expectancy and
medical care. Services that could prevent
premature nursing home placement for frail older
adults and provide a break for their caregivers
were urgently needed. An
adult day care center, a new concept at the time, was
considered an ideal solution.
"Newel
Post and Adults' Care were started by a group of Junior
League volunteers concerned with providing services for the
elderly of our community,"*
Volunteer leadership headed by a Junior League Task Force
and other civic-minded volunteers, along with the Hawkeye
Valley Area Agency on Aging -- which served as the
registered office and sponsor -- organized and opened the
Newel Post Adult Day Care Center, in the Calvary United
Methodist Church on the corner of E. 4th and Newell Streets
in Waterloo in 1975, under the "umbrella" of Adults Care,
Inc. (the original name of North Star Community Services),
the year before for this purpose.
*
Adults' Care, Inc. -- Celebrating 10
Years of Quality Service 1975-1985, p. 6
When did North Star Community Services begin serving young
adults with mental retardation and other
developmental disabilities?
Not until 1977 did
we begin serving young adults. We opened Key VII
in 1977, because "parents and representatives of various
community groups met to discuss overcrowding at River Hills
School."* At the time, young adults with
severe-to-moderate developmental disabilities and mental
retardation leaving River Hills School were not eligible for
other work center opportunities.
* "Adults Incorporated -- 25 Years, 1975--2000"
When did North Star Community Services start its
Head Injury Program?
In 1987 our center for serving individuals with
traumatic brain injury was opened with
participants from 13 counties. It
continues to welcome people from anywhere in
Iowa.
When and why was the name Adults' Care, Inc.
changed to Adults Incorporated and then to North
Star Community Services?
In
1988 the name was revised to emphasize building
the independence of individuals with
disabilities. In 2005 the name was changed to North
Star Community Services to better reflect our
services.
Why does North Star Community Services seek donations?
The Board has determined that our regular income
sources do not cover equipment, renovation and
repair needs, special projects, nor increased
requests by customers who have few or no resources
for Sponsorships for such services as Community
Employment or Adult Day Services.
Gifts may be sent directly to
our home office: NORTH STAR COMMUNITY SERVICES, 3420
University Ave., Waterloo, IA 50701-2008.
(For recognition bricks--gifts of $500 and up--$25
is not tax-deductible, because it is for obtaining,
inscribing, and and installing the donor's brick.)
If you choose to give on-line,
via Visa or Mastercard, click here:
www.justgive.org,
For more funding
information, call, write, or e-mail us at
info@northstarcs.org.
Ask for our most recent
Annual Report
(short version
available online) Also, a full audit is available
for public inspection at the North Star Community
Services Administration Office, 3420 University Avenue,
Waterloo, IA.
Are gifts to North Star Community Services tax-deductible?
Yes! North Star Community Services
is a tax-exempt 501 (c ) (3) not-for-profit
organization. Gifts are tax-deductible to
the full extent of the I.R.S. and
Iowa law. All gifts will be acknowledged in
writing, along with a receipt. In addition, gifts
at the $200 level and above will be recognized on a
permanent plaque in the agency. Gifts at the $500
level and above may have an inscribed brick
installed in the entry of the agency. Gifts may be sent directly
to NORTH STAR COMMUNITY SERVICES, 3420 University Ave.,
Waterloo, IA 50701-2008.
(For bricks, $25 is not tax-deductible, because it
is for obtaining, inscribing, and and installing
the donor's brick.) If you choose to give on-line,
via VISA or MASTERCARD, click here:
www.justgive.org
May I designate my gift to North Star Community
Services in honor or in memory of
someone? To a specific program?
Yes to
both questions.
Can I get a full copy of the North Star
Community Services Annual Report?
Yes!
Just give us a call at (319) 236-0901
or (888) 879-1365, or e-mail us at
info@northstarcs.org.
For answers to additional questions, call (319)
236-0901, Ext. 304 for the Development
and Public Relations office; outside of the local
(Waterloo, IA) area, call
1-888-879-1365
toll-free. Or e-mail
info@northstarcs.org. |
