New Avenue Foundation, NAF, is inviting you to work with us to improve community inclusion.
While there has been marked progress toward community living for people with intellectual disabilities, there has been very little success with true community integration.
On May 18th, we will be setting up our portable canopy and table at the Haverford SpringFest. Haverford Spring Festis a live music and arts festival Sunday, May 18, 2014, Noon to 7 pm on Brookline Boulevard in Havertown PA. (http://haverfordspringfest.com).
In September 2014, we will be setting up our tent at the Haverford Music Festival http://haverfordmusicfestival.org. Last year we were successful in promoting awareness among the 15000 people who walked by our display. We received happy smiles from those we knew, and inquiries from those we didn’t.
In a couple of weeks we will re-open our plants, flowers, and crafts stand at the Media Farmers Market http://mediafarmersmarket.com. Last year that was a great venue for connecting with the local community, and it provided a vocational opportunity for our family members. 
Opportunities to promote community inclusion abound – you just have to look! NAF has been successful in directly connecting with community residents on a personal level in natural settings. We have been successful in expanding awareness and engendering good will. Many organizations such as yours attempt to connect with the community through fund raising and traditional marketing or corporate strategies. We offer a pathway for achieving true community integration by connecting with the most important element – people in the community. Our strategies are also very effective in creating a positive image for agencies such as yours.
We are asking you for very simple help in improving the quality of life for people with intellectual disabilities.
Our tent at the Haverford SpringFest and the Haverford Music Festival will have an arts and crafts activity for the children and families passing by. People will be able to make bracelets and masks, play with sidewalk chalk and blow bubbles. A simple activity like this is the same approach that banks, insurance brokers and other businesses use as these events. It works for them and it works for us.
NAF’s community activities have been funded personally by Thomas Reinke and Jim Wurster. We know this strategy works. We need help in promoting community inclusion in new ways and we would like you to join us. We will be following up with a phone call to encourage you to work us in promoting inclusion and improving your agency’s public image.
Sincerely,
Tom Reinke and Jim Wurster
Co-Founders, New Avenue Foundation