CHAI Life, a fiesta-style party, is June 4 at Southfork Ranch

By Deb Silverthorn

CHAI, Community Homes for Adults, Inc., is celebrating 40 years of support to and from the community, stepping out for a night of dinner, drinks and dancing to the music of Side Gig. Beginning at 6 p.m. on Sunday, June 4, at Southfork Ranch, generations of joy will come together to recognizing the rich and meaningful lives provided for adults with intellectual disabilities.

“CHAI’s 40th anniversary year is amazing. We’re so proud of what the agency has done, and continues to do, to provide all that it takes for our residents to live meaningful lives and for their families to have peace of mind that their loved one is being cared for,” said Lisa Brodsky, CHAI CEO.

CHAI was founded in 1983 and it is, as always, looking ahead.

Todd House, a duplex long licensed as an assisted living facility for six residents, has been modified to add space for two more and will become licensed as a Home and Community Based (HCS) facility. With its HCS license, the property will now be open to residents receiving Medicaid benefits to pay for their care. Four male and four female residents of the agency’s 31 in all will call CHAI’s ninth group home theirs.

CHAI’s group home offerings include room and board for 23 other residents at its Bauer, Levy 1 and 2, Miller 1 and 2, Toub and Yale houses. In addition to its residential homes, as needed, CHAI provides services through its Wolens Program Services, Host Homes and Individualized Skills and Socialization (ISS) program.

“One of our board’s priorities this year was to develop a strategic plan. We hired an outstanding consultant and developed a committee which has incorporated input from CHAI current and past board members, staff, families and community members about our priorities,” said Julie Morlend, granddaughter of CHAI co-founder Milton Levy Jr. Morlend is a former Levy House volunteer and serves as  president of the CHAI board of directors. “Taking that feedback into account, our strategic plan will include growing without sacrificing quality and strengthening and maintaining the CHAI workforce,” she added.

The evening will include visits through a gallery of CHAI photos and memorabilia from the past four decades and a silent auction of artwork pieces painted by CHAI residents.

Sponsorships for the event are still available with levels paying tribute to the Joseph, Fruhman, Bauer, Woolf, Wolens, Levy and Michael donor families, who contributed to CHAI’s purchasing of group homes, the establishment of programs and endowment of the financial future of the organization.

“Our residents are back at work, at our synagogues and at events and activities throughout the community and they are so very happy to be around the people they love — their families, of course, but also the community they love. We look forward to toasting all that CHAI is with a dairy Tex-Mex dinner, sangria, frozen margaritas and great music. Our residents are ready to party and so are we,” said Patsy Goodman, CHAI’s development director.

Rounding out the event committee are Melissa Ackermann, Minnie Blackwell, Elise Donosky, Janis Gail, Sandy Kaman, Susan Kramer, Beverly Rossel, Ricki Shapiro and  Linda Swartz.

For more information, reservations ($180/person) due by May 19 and sponsorships, visit chaidallas.org/chailife.