2025 IMPACT REPORT

From our Executive Director

Dear Friends,

CherishAbility has always been, at its heart, a community of care. As our programs continue to grow, what moves me most is not simply the expansion of our activities, but the widening circle of love, support, and belonging that families experience.

As new families join our programs, and others return year after year, it’s heartening to see that we are building sustained, ongoing relationships with our community. And it’s exciting to see how our programs are impacting lives like Jeffrey Linehan’s. CherishAbility’s Vocational Training Program launched him into his current job—and it’s launching others too. Last year we saw a 70% increase in participation!

I am deeply grateful that the generosity supporting this work has grown alongside our programs. This year, your gifts have enabled us not only to strengthen our offerings, but also to begin exploring a significant new area of service: long-term residential care for adults with developmental special needs. Speaking for families like mine, this represents an urgent and deeply felt need for the future.

Our growth is not simply about doing more. It is about responding more fully to what families are asking for. I am profoundly thankful for the trust, encouragement, and partnership that make this work possible, and I look forward to sharing the impact of this year with you.

With heartfelt gratitude,

Julie Finnin Day

Julie with her daughter, Sabine, and participant, Austin, at CherishAbility’s Adaptive Family Camp

In 2025, we grew…

MORE PREPARED

70%

growth in Vocational Training participation

“My job coach helped me a lot. Having a job makes me happy.”

MORE CONNECTED

25%

growth in Parent Gathering participation

“I like being able to work with friends.”

MORE ENGAGED

175%

growth in Adaptive Family Camp attendees

VOCATIONAL TRAINING

“Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven” – Matt. 5:16

Summer, 2025 marked Year Five of the CherishAbility Vocational Training Program, and we are grateful to witness tremendous growth!

Why is growing this program important? Because employment is important to our trainees. They tell us they like working, making a difference, earning money, and spending time with friends—similar to why most of us work: to make a difference, for a sense of belonging, and to contribute to the fabric of the community.

Take Jeffrey, one of our senior trainees, who’s been a reliable kitchen worker at a neighborhood elementary school going on three years (see story, p.3); Peter, who has advanced from courtesy clerk to cashier at his local grocery store, where customers repeatedly choose his line because of his radiant smile; and Jenna, who recently increased her work at a local salon from one to three days per week.

These trainees are just a few who are joyfully defying expectations—shining their light “unto all that are in the house.” (Matt. 5:15)

With the support of our donors and partnering organizations—the A/U Ranches (CO), Camps Newfound and Owatonna (ME), and Wellspring Gardens (TX)—we have served more trainees than ever before, and we are just getting started.

HOUSING: MEETING A COMMUNITY NEED

I often hear from parents about one of their greatest concerns: finding safe, nurturing housing for their adult children. Over the years, this need has grown more urgent as our network of families expands.

In the past year, we began the process of exploration to better understand the need and the possible solution: what matters most to them in a Christian Science-based home. We asked families about their current living situations, the features and accommodations they hope for, and how they envision a supportive, spiritually aligned community. We also invited input from Christian Science organizations to gain broader guidance.

This information will help us ensure that any future housing initiative thoughtfully reflects both the practical and spiritual needs of the families we serve. There is no set timetable guiding this work; rather, we are prayerfully listening to hear God’s direction for meeting this important need.

As we prayerfully explore these options, your encouragement and insight are deeply valued. Your support—through prayer, guidance, or financial encouragement—allows us to take these first steps in a way that honors both the spiritual and practical needs of our families.

Together, we can ensure that every step we take reflects the love, care, and adaptability that God places in our hearts for those we serve. We will keep you updated as we continue this exploratory phase and prayerfully discern the next steps.

DONOR SPOTLIGHT:

FIRST CHURCH, WILMINGTON

“We feel it’s important for Christian Scientists to support each other.” That was the message delivered by Patricia Elliott—Clerk, Treasurer, and “wearer of many hats” at the First Church of Christ, Scientist, Wilmington, Delaware.

Members of the Wilmington branch church are grateful when they are blessed with the occasional influx of funds, and they “pay it forward” by donating those funds to local, regional, and national causes.

Recognizing the unique role CherishAbility plays within the Christian Science movement, First Church, Wilmington made its first gift in 2021. “CherishAbility is the only program serving Christian Scientists with special needs that we’re aware of,” Patricia explains. “A former member of our church had a family member who had been very blessed by the CherishAbility programs—both online and the summer Vocational Training Program at Christian Science camps.”

Gifts from branch churches are “gifts that keep on giving”—they sustain CherishAbility’s vital work, produce transformational change in the lives of Christian Scientists, and ripple back into church communities. The story of Jeffrey Linehan (p. 2) is a perfect example: thanks to his participation in a CherishAbility Vocational Training Program, he not only was able to find work, but he re-engaged with Christian Science and even became an usher in his local branch church.

When deciding to make their gift to CherishAbility, Patricia says, the Wilmington church was particularly moved by the breadth of CherishAbility’s activities, from Adaptive Youth Camp to online gatherings. “We saw this expansive approach as an important way that CherishAbility supports people leaning on the sustaining infinite,” she says. “And it doesn’t just happen with wishful thinking. This work needs to be supported, both prayerfully and financially.”

Patricia summarizes their perspective on charitable gifts by saying, “we realized that it’s part of unselfing. And isn’t that what church is all about?”

Working Together

From Adaptive Family Camp and Adaptive Youth Camp to Loved One Gatherings and Vocational Training, CherishAbility collaborates with partner organizations to provide the highest quality programs for Christian Scientists with developmental special needs. We believe that working together benefits both our families and the wider constellation of Christian Science organizations, and enriches CherishAbility’s mission to create a compassionate sense of community and support for these families. Thank you to all of our partner organizations!