marys place

This week

Hi everyone – I hope you all are having a good week.  Here is what’s been going on around here:

Sad news – one of this world’s great people passed away last week.  I respected and admired Bud Conklin and his amazing life.  After his son, Jerry, (who was a very good friend) and then Mary left us, we became friends.  Bud was no longer Jerry’s dad.  He will be missed.  Lots of prayers being said for the Conklin family.

Matthew turned 16 yesterday!  He is growing up so fast.  He continues to do well in school.

Billy has been sick since last Friday.  The good news it is a virus and not strep.  Hard to believe his last regular season basketball game is this Saturday.  Then the playoffs.

The friendAble social club had DJ night last Friday and we had at least 50 people.  Wow!  We are working with the city of Virginia Beach and the public school system to find appropriate space.

The Brain Injury Association of Virginia had its support group last Monday at the Beacon House.  Dr. Charles Parker gave a presentation on the impulsive brain and over 40 folks listened and learned from a very well done presentation.

I found a stack of unopened sympathy and mass cards from when Mary passed.  Surprise!  I found couple of checks dated in October of 2006.  Cyndi, please let me know what you want me to do with your and your Mom’s checks.

Thanks all

Musings

Hi all – I have to say Mary’s mom, Doris, threw a great 90th bday party for Mary’s dad, Gerry.  As Billy said to me – it was just like a huge reunion.  Family, friends, kids, cousins, kids’ friends, etc.  Danny did a couple of awesome slide shows with music that really had me connect with Gerry’s childhood and his growing up.  There were some great pics of Mary all through her life and some great kid pics of my boys.  Everyone treated Joann like she was part of the family and that meant a lot to her and me.

In standard Virginia Beach style, school was canceled one day last week because, as per the message from the school system, “due to the possibility of snow….”  And of course we never saw one flake come from the sky.

Great super bowl.  The only thing I was rooting for was for a good game.  And it delivered.  It did not look that way early in the second quarter but there I was watching with 40 seconds to go in the game.

That is all for this week.

Keep the Faith,

Matt

Last week

Hi all – I spent three days in Richmond last week in meetings with DRS (Department of Rehab Services) and brain injury alliance and clubhouse meetings.  Of course, as with everything these days, the major topic was funding and funding cuts.  It’s going to be a tough year.  The Foundation will be ok but it will be an austere near future.  I do very much appreciate the donations in these tough economic times and the dollars allow us to run our programs the way they need to be run.  Not a lot of margin for error though…..

Our social club continues to rock – almost 60 folks on Sat!  We are gonna need a bigger boat soon.  The word is out, we get calls all week long for directions, the event itself, etc.  It has taken on a life of its own.  I need your help – if you know of any space, facility that can be donated for us to use, pls, please, please let me know.  We need it!  My goal is in 2010 to find our own space – about 3,000 square feet and we can open several evenings every week, hire a staff and rent out the space to other organizations.  I would love to have seperate areas for Wii, karoke, dancing, games, a pool and ping pong table, eating area and a kitchen.  Oh, to dream.

Anyway, Keep the Faith,

Matt

As promised

here is this weeks post.  Heading to Richmond tomorrow for 3 days of meetings with a variety of folks – Department of Rehab Services (that’s who awarded us the contract), Brain Injury Alliance, Brain Injury Clubhouse Alliance.  I have not had to do so much on the job training since my first job out of college!  Talk about a whole new world.

We are very excited to go to NJ to celebrate Gerry’s 90th birthday.  There are not too many folks in who have lived in this world that can say that.  Part of me will always be meloncholy when we celebrate life’s milestones, but Mary would not tolerate me or us being sad.  Life is a celebration.  So let’s celebrate.

A couple of weeks ago, one of the Foundation’s Beacon House clubhouse members came up to me, crying and he said “Matt, thank you so much for opening the Beacon House.”  Talk about rewarding.  Man.

Oh, the friendAble social club had game night on January 9 and we had about 50 people come for a great time!  The social club really has a life of its own now.  This Saturday is karaoke night and that is always a huge hit.

Well, take care and I would invite y’all to give me your comments – it is very easy to do and I value the feedback.

Take care,

M

Happy New year

Hi all – here are a couple of my new year’s resolutions: 1. lose weight by changing my lifestyle – eating right and exercise.  Right now, you don’t want to know how much I weigh.  Let’s just agree it is way too much and now that I just turned 48………  2.  update this blog minimum weekly.

The Beacon House Clubhouse and No Limits are doing very well.  The staff is awesome and they have both places running very well.  This Thursday, the culinary unit will be serving lasagna for lunch.  An awesome deal and meal for $3.  My goal is to secure grant dollars so we can continue to run both programs the right way and the clients can continue to feel like first call citizens.  We will also be doing volunteer work at an assisted living home and food banks.

Personal notes:  Mary’s father Gerry will be 90 years old next month.  He is doing well for being 90 and we will be celebrating his birthday on January 31.  The boys are fine and doing their thing at work, school, sports, life.

Have a great week,

Matt

Christmas

is upon us.  Here it is, December 19th and I am all done shopping!!!!!!!!!!!  I find myself in great Christmas spirits this year.  The memories of the holidays pre 2004 are wonderful and heartwarming.  Not melancholy and so painful.  Instead of crying and sobbing and dreading put up the decorations, lights and doing the tree, I am singing and whistling.  Mary will always be in my heart and I miss her so much, not next to each other in church, decorating the tree on my birthday, boiling the net on the pitchback at 1 am.  But the new memories are just as special now.  Yes, you can throw out 2004, 05 and o6.  Besides, I don’t remember too much of those days.   A blur.

You may not believe this but the Buckley family in Va Beach is going artificial this year!  that’s right, I finally broke down and got a fake tree.  No more paying $75 for a three week tree.  No more falling trees, cussing, worrying about it drying out while we are in NJ…..

Please, everyone have a safe and fun Christmas.

Keep the faith!

Matt

Cancel

Hi all – sadly, I have decided to cancel the Nov. 14th’s NJ fundraising dinner.  It is due to lack of support in this economy and uncertain future, and I totally understand it.  Money is tight and we do what we have to do.  If you sent a donation, please let me know what you want me to do with your check.  You can reach me at:  matt@maryfoundation.org.  I do appreciate everyone’s support and help.

Thank you,

Matt

Open!

Hi All – yes, both Mary Buckley Foundation’s locations are open!  Both locations have been very popular and we keep getting more and more applications.  It looks like we will have to go to a wait list for Virginia Beach as we are running out of room – already!  We are looking at additional space in the suite right next to ours.  Every day when I go to either location – I hear “thank you so much for opening this.  I had no place to go and nothing to do during the day.  This gives me purpose.”  And the energy and good vibes are something special.  It is very satisfying giving back to the brain injury community.

The boys are doing well – Billy and Matt have very good grades, B’s football team is undefeated and has given up just one touchdown.  Basketball practice has started also.  Matt has rec basketball starting soon.  Tommy is doing well in his first semester at community college – he has been working hard as he quickly realized that it is not high school.  Ted is working lots of hours at Chemdry.  He is considering going back to school in the spring or summer.

That is all for now and I appreciate everyone’s support, help and prayers.

Keep the Faith,

Matt

Getting Close

Hi all – we’ve been very busy working to get our 2 new offices open – Virginia Beach and the Eastern Shore.  Believe it or not, we open this Wed in Onancock and one week from tomorrow for the Beach.  We certainly have come a long way, baby!  Its been a lot of blood, sweat and tears.  But well worth it.  Wish us luck.

Keep the Faith,

Matt

Great News for the Foundation!

Hi all – well, the Mary Buckley Foundation has found its mission. I just found out that we were awarded a state contract from the Department of Rehab Services (DRS) to run two programs for brain injury survivors!

One will be a clubhouse program in Va Bch ( to learn about the clubhouse model, you can go to http://www.iccd.org/ ). The other will be a day program for the Eastern Shore. We are so excited and cannot wait! We have picked out office space on Va Bch Blvd and in Onancock.   The contract is for one year with 2 one year options and we would have to really screw things up to not get those options.

My role will be fund raising, business development and public relations. Joann Mancuso, Program Director, will oversee the day to day programs. Joann has been involved in the rehabilation field for over 30 years and has worked with the brain injury community here in Tidewater for the past 12 years. She is well known and respected in her field and we are so excited to have her on board.

So much has to be done to open sometime between 9/15 and 10/1! And, of course, the state dollars are about 2/3 of what we need to run the programs the right way. We are putting a wish list together and I will send that out to y’all. Any help is a big help!

If you have any questions or want to talk, contact me at matt@maryfoundation.org.

Thanks and wish us luck!

Matt