{"id":3968,"date":"2024-12-19T13:13:24","date_gmt":"2024-12-19T19:13:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeworks.org\/?post_type=news&#038;p=3968"},"modified":"2025-01-31T15:30:28","modified_gmt":"2025-01-31T21:30:28","slug":"latest-at-lifeworks-december-2024","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeworks.org\/news\/latest-at-lifeworks-december-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Latest at Lifeworks: December 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n<section class=\"page-hero left gutenberg-block style-text-and-image\" id=\"\" >\n\t<div class=\"outer page-hero__outer pad-top-default pad-bottom-default\">\n\t\t<div class=\"inner page-hero__inner\">\n\n\t\t\t<div class=\"page-hero__copy-wrapper \">\n\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"page-hero__copy-wrapper-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"page-hero__preheader\">GERTRUDE&#8217;S BLOG<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"page-hero__header\">The Latest at Lifeworks &#8211; December 2024<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"buttons-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"page-hero__image-wrapper \">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"page-hero__image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lifeworks.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/Page-Hero-Image-_-gmm.png\" alt=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n<section class=\"wysiwyg left gutenberg-block\" id=\"\">\n\t<div class=\"outer wysiwyg__outer pad-top-default pad-bottom-default\">\n\t\t<div class=\"inner wysiwyg__inner\">\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wysiwyg__text-wrapper wysiwyg__wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Lifeworks Community,<\/p>\n<p>As we approach the end of 2024, I feel pride and gratitude for what we have accomplished together at Lifeworks. It has been a year of growth, innovation, and community impact. Our success is a testament to our team\u2019s unwavering commitment, the trust of the people we partner with, and the strong support from our community members. Here are some of the highlights from this year:<\/p>\n<p><u>Expanding Our Reach <\/u><\/p>\n<p>Lifeworks supported more than <strong>5,400 people<\/strong> in 2024! We welcomed <strong>more than 500 new clients<\/strong>, <strong>48%<\/strong> of whom are from rural communities or are Black, Indigenous, people of color. We also expanded our reach by adding <strong>five new counties<\/strong> to our service area, ensuring even more communities have access to the resources they need.<\/p>\n<p><u>Supporting Inclusive Workforces<\/u><\/p>\n<p>We are proud to have partnered with <strong>35 new employers<\/strong> who are hiring people with disabilities. This year, the average starting wage for our clients was $14.16 per hour \u2013 an <strong>increase of $1.55 per hour<\/strong> over last year, a significant step toward economic equity for workers with disabilities.<\/p>\n<p>Our team of over <strong>4,500 direct support professionals<\/strong> provided <strong>more than 3.1 million hours of care<\/strong>. Their dedication and compassion are the backbone of our mission, and we are deeply grateful for their essential contributions.<\/p>\n<p><u>Advancing Disability Inclusion<\/u><\/p>\n<p>This year, we expanded our Disability Inclusion Trainings to offer ten unique sessions tailored to meet the needs of businesses and organizations looking to advance disability inclusion. We delivered <strong>28 trainings<\/strong> this year, reaching <strong>over 1,600 people<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><u>Fueling Innovation with Fundraising<\/u><\/p>\n<p>The innovative work and services we offer are funded by generous donors and grantors. Our dedication to advancing disability inclusion was recognized this year through grant funding from the Department of Human Services, as well as generous donations from our community, <strong>totaling more than $1,350,000<\/strong>. These funds are not just financial support but a vote of confidence in Lifeworks\u2019 vision for the future, allowing us to pilot new projects to help us create a disability-friendly Minnesota.<\/p>\n<p>Our achievements this year were made possible because of you. You believed in our vision, supported our programs, and joined us in advocating for a more inclusive Minnesota. For that, I am deeply grateful.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lifeworksmn.smugmug.com\/2024-Lifeworks-Year-in-Images\/n-HWXVRN\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>You can look back on some of our best moments of 2024 in this photo gallery.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Together, we have made a meaningful impact in 2024, and I am so excited to see where we will go in the year ahead. Here\u2019s to a future filled with possibility, progress, and partnership.<\/p>\n<p>Warmly,<\/p>\n<p>Gertrude<\/p>\n\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t    \t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wysiwyg__button-wrapper wysiwyg__wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t    <a \n    href=\"https:\/\/us4.campaign-archive.com\/?e=__test_email__&#038;u=40f01f6eb04e3a565c2c21b26&#038;id=ae944debb2\" \n    class=\"btn wysiwyg__button blue-primary\" \n    target=\"_blank\" \n    aria-label=\"Read the Full Newsletter. Clicking this link will open another site on a new tab.\"    >\n        <span class=\"btn__inner\">\n            <svg class=\"btn__svg\" width=\"16\" height=\"13\" viewBox=\"0 0 16 14\" fill=\"none\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\">\n\t\t\t\t<path d=\"M14.3773 1.13028C11.5612 1.8213 8.60155 1.73225 5.83524 0.871008L4.74099 0.530571C4.35308 0.409952 3.94664 0.65908 3.89222 1.0525L3.568 3.36567C3.2322 5.75436 2.31627 8.03146 0.895483 10.0053L0.240091 10.9162C-0.451197 11.8766 0.455467 13.156 1.62267 12.8697C4.43877 12.1787 7.39845 12.2678 10.1648 13.129L11.259 13.4694C11.6469 13.59 12.0534 13.3409 12.1078 12.9475L12.432 10.6343C12.7678 8.24564 13.6837 5.96854 15.1045 3.99469L15.7599 3.08385C16.4512 2.12341 15.5445 0.843953 14.3773 1.13028Z\" fill=\"currentColor\"\/>\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n            Read the Full Newsletter        <\/span>\n    <\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/section>","protected":false},"featured_media":3427,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":true},"news-category":[85],"class_list":["post-3968","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":{"excerpt":""},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.3 (Yoast SEO v26.3) - 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