Give a hand, don’t turn away. Be the sun, on a rainy day. Lift them up so they can stand. Love is stronger if you give a hand! Be someone’s sun!”
Jan Franken, Billing Director
The kindness of CLC team members is truly incredible! It can be seen every day in the caring relationships built with older adults, their families, and their fellow team members.
This month, team members took that kindness to an incredible new level – dedicating a portion of their paychecks back to CLC to make life better for residents, team members, and their community through the Give a Hand Employee Giving campaign.
Started in 2014, the Give a Hand campaign is an easy way for CLC team members to invest in their communities. Those who want to sign up choose the amount they want to give and the fund that they want to support.
Whether team members give $3 a paycheck or $50 a paycheck, their small generous actions truly add up to a big difference over time! In the last three years alone, Give a Handers have invested more than $75,000 of their earnings into their communities.
The Campaign
I give because God has called us to be cheerful givers.”
Hellyn Dudley, Concierge for Holly Creek
Concentrated sign-up for the Give a Hand campaign runs from July to August of every year, however, an employee can continue to enroll throughout the year. For the 2025 Campaign, we had two goals. The first was to find 10 new caring team members who wanted to Give a Hand and make life better for the residents they support or the team members they work with every day.
Instead of 10, we found 12! Neighborhood managers, chaplains, environmental services techs, department leaders – people joined the campaign from departments and communities across the organization.
Our second goal was to raise $34,000 over the next year. Thanks to our current amazing Give a Handers, our new Give a Handers, and two kind team members who made one-time gifts, our projected total for the 2025 Give a Hand campaign is $34,040. Their gifts over the next year will make a huge difference at Christian Living Communities.
Tremendous Impact
I give because it fills my heart to serve!”
Jenny Graham, Regional Director of Operations
The campaign demonstrates the incredible generosity of team members, and how it continues to grow.
How much CLC team members gave back over the last three years:
- 2022 Give a Hand Campaign: $23,900
- 2023 Give a Hand Campaign: $25,887
- 2024 Give a Hand Campaign: $27,841
The top three funds supported by Give a Handers are the Team Member Critical Needs Fund, General Mission Fund, and Resident Assistance Fund. With their generous gifts, these amazing team members have made a powerful impact:
- Residents who could no longer afford the full cost of their care through no fault of their own stayed in their cherished homes thanks to the Resident Assistance Fund.
- Team members who needed help with rent, car repairs, or piling up bills no longer had to worry about where they would live, if they had reliable transportation, or could catch-up thanks to the Team Member Critical Needs Fund.
- CLC communities could offer impactful training programs, enriching experiences for residents to enhance daily life, and vital community improvements that would not be possible within current budgets thanks to the General Mission Fund.
Culture of Caring
I give because I care. I give because I want to help lift others up and help them become stronger.”
Shaundra Holmes, Director of Nursing for Rhythms Home Care
Sometimes people are surprised to learn that team members choose to give back some of their earnings. But they shouldn’t be! While it would certainly be strange in some organizations, with CLC’s culture of caring, it just makes sense.
Team members care deeply for the older adults they support, their families, and the team members they work with. We! Care For Each Other is one of our four values for a reason!
In fact, “Caring” was the number one value chosen by team members across the entire organization when they were asked to identify a list of their personal values for the Barrett Culture Values Assessment.
It’s also really an act of citizenship. Our Citizenship Model is the idea that all of us – residents, families, team members, our mission partners – are citizens of Christian Living Communities. And giving back through the Give a Hand campaign is a really meaningful way that all of us can give back and make our communities stronger and better.”
Jill Vitale-Aussem, CLC’s President and CEO
We are blessed to have team members who don’t turn away when they see those needs in their community. Instead, they choose to Give a Hand and lift up those around them. As Kris Worthy, the Director of Assisted Living at Someren Glen, put it – “Sometimes we just need a helping hand.”
Please join us in celebrating the kindness and generosity of our team members! You can send a note of thanks to a team member who has made a difference for you or a loved one, share this story with a friend, or, if you feel inspired, make a gift in honor of a caring team member to the fund closest to your heart.
About the Author
Stormie Foust Maley, Annual Giving Manager, is a born Midwesterner and Certified Eden Alternative Educator who believes passionately that individuals can make a difference in the lives of others. She worked for nine and a half years at Dayspring Villa Assisted Living, a neighborhood of Christian Living Communities, prior to her role as Annual Giving Manager. There she learned firsthand the joy of building a purposeful and resilient community through a person-directed care mindset.
