INTEROFFICE MEMORANDUM

TO:

JAMES KALES, PRESIDENT & CEO

FROM:

TENAI WOODS

SUBJECT:

ASPIRE CHICAGO, BUSINESS ACTION PROPOSAL

DATE:

DECEMBER 8, 2014

CC:

JERILYN WILLIN

______________________________________________________________________________
I have had the opportunity to observe the day to day operations at Aspire Chicago over the last 4
years. Through my observations I have seen that Aspire Chicago is a small not-for-profit
agency located and operating in the western suburbs of Chicago and now in Albany Park, that
began servicing children and adults with developmental disabilities in 1960. Aspire was founded
by a group of families that resided in this area and decided to create a place where their sons and
daughters could learn life skills and job training. Today Aspire Chicago continues to uphold the
legacy that these families started. They have expanded the programs and services offered making
them a leader in comprehensive services for children, adults and their families in the Chicago
land area. The mission of Aspire Chicago is to support the successes of children and adults with
developmental disabilities strengthen their families and build embracing communities. Over the
past year, Aspire Chicago has gone through many changes that in my opinion, has helped the
organization continue to strive for excellence. Aspire Chicago launched their new brand in
August of 2014, including a new name, logo, mission, values and focus.
Aspire Chicagos core business is serving over 585 kids and 320 adults, offering day services
and a newly established career training program through Office Max for higher functioning
adults. Aspire Chicago also operates 16 community living homes, and offers an independent
living program for adults that desire to live on their own. Aspire Chicagos services for kids
include pediatric therapy, inclusion consulting and family enrichment. This organization offers a
variety of innovative programs for developmentally disabled children, adults and their families
that continue to keep them ahead of the game.
Government funding, grants and donations are the leading sources of revenue for this
organization. The development team here is in charge of finding new and inspiring ways to
obtain funds for Aspire programs. The formal team consists of the Vice President for
Advancement, marketing and public relations coordinator, volunteer coordinator and the donor
and special events coordinator. They put together fundraising events, coordinate volunteers to
come and donate their time and manage in-kind donations along with a host of other duties.

The agency has done a lot of reorganization over the past 3 years, eliminating parts of the
business that had been making it difficult for Aspire Chicago to move forward into new ventures.
After the reorganization, newly assigned VPs, Associate Directors, and Team Leaders now
played a more central role in the planning and execution of the agencys development endeavors.
Although this type of involvement is great from executive, senior and mid-management levels,
the involvement of the direct care team, the people that work directly with our clients, are
lacking, nearly non-existent.
My suggestion to increase direct care involvement is better communication, relationships and
more trust between higher level and direct care team members. The number one source of
communication at Aspire Chicago is email, and the number one thing I have heard from the
direct care team is that they didnt know about it. Policies on computer usage are more
restrictive for the direct care team than any other team members, because their main concern
should be the care of our clients. A sign of good faith would be to allow more intervals of time
to check email throughout the day for direct care team, rather than a short period of time at the
end of the work day. In order to stay a leader in the Chicago land mental health industry, agency
wide communication and participation is necessary. The direct care team is the most essential
part of Aspire Chicago and when they are more knowledgeable about all that Aspire does and
offers, it should motivate them to look at the bigger picture and want to be a more integral part of
the mission.
Another problem I observed within this agency is its outdated technology. We are presently in
the midst of a global telecommunication revolution (Kumar & Zahn, 515). Over the past 3
months the facility that holds day services for our clients has experienced a series of
technological malfunctions that have compromised the performance and customer service.
Things of this nature are not acceptable in this day and age. Ignoring the problem until it
becomes more serious is a poor way to handle this issue. This facility experienced a complete
shutdown of the phone system and was not well prepared for this kind of situation. A way to
avoid catastrophes such as this one is to simply keep the technology well maintained and up to
date. At this time there are no on-site IT personnel to maintain things and that also is a problem.
The agency has over 20 different sites and having a team that is on-site and working remotely
would greatly benefit this agency.
Aspire Chicago has a great team that constantly strives for innovation and excellence. The
healthcare field is ever changing and the services that they provide will always be a necessity. As
long as the focus remains on making positive connections in the community, achieving and
superseding what is possible for our clients and supporting their families, Aspire Chicago will
continue to grow and will continue to lead the mental health industry in the Chicago land area.
Upon future relationship building inside and outside the agency, I believe that Aspire Chicago
could be recognized not only within this community, but statewide.

Works Cited
Kumar, Sameer, and Christopher Zahn. Mobile communications: evolution and impact on
business operations. Technovation 23.6 (Jun 2003): 515-520. Web.

Links
http://www.aspirechicago.com/

http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy.depaul.edu/science/article/pii/S0166497202001207