Holiday Message from TURN’s Board
This is a challenging letter to write to each of you, the family members and advocates for the people who have chosen TURN Community Services’ supports. And yet, as the year draws to a close, I believe that it must be done. TURN needs your help to continue the wide array of services it provides. I am asking each of you, who have given so much already to your family member, to give some more.
TURN is recognized throughout Utah for the highly individualized supports it provides to people with intellectual disabilities. Many of these services are paid for through federal and state dollars, so why is the agency asking for more financial support? I do so because personalized supports are staff intensive. To TURN employees, your family member is a multi-faceted individual with personal priorities, preferences, and needs. The time and energy it takes to fulfill these hopes do not always fall in the “fee-for-service” model that governs TURN’s reimbursement.
Your financial gift to TURN will help to ensure that the agency is in a position to go beyond contracted services and provide the highly individualized supports that bring joy and meaning into the lives of the 615 people who look to TURN. As you celebrate this season of giving, please consider supporting the agency you and your family member have come to depend on.
The Board of TURN Community Services sends its best wishes for joyous holidays and a satisfying new year.
Mary Grace Miner
TURN Board Chair
"I am an artist", said Kathy Thomas when asked to describe herself. "And there's a lot of talents I can do, like exercise dancing. I do word search and jigsaw puzzles. I do cursive writing and I can do printing. I am good at bowling." Kathy says she has lived in many places in Utah, and currently loves the little 3-bedroom house she shares with two roommates. She is happy that she can walk to the market and her bank. She also likes the Orem Center Street Day Program she attends because of the friends and all the creative activities. "I think being an artist is real good. You can make pretty pictures and hang them up everywhere." 
