Two decades later, and we are still going strong. Our mission from the beginning has been to provide support, help, education, and referrals to our senior and disabled neighbors in the Morongo Basin. We are able to use volunteers to provide informal caregiving services to our neighbors, help with minor home repairs and yard work, and countless other services, events, and activities throughout the year. We have been helping fill in the gaps of traditional providers for 20 years. We would not be where we are today without the help of our amazing volunteers, generous donors and sponsors, and the support of some outstanding communities.
Having only catered to Twentynine Palms for many years, our organization decided it was time to expand our services to the whole Morongo Basin in 2006. Since then, calls have been pouring in from private citizens, caregivers, and other agencies seeking out help. We have done our best to answer these calls, and the number of neighbors we have helped has continued to increase each year. In 2018, Reach Out Morongo Basin helped 1,534 unduplicated clients with direct services throughout the Morongo Basin. Our vans drove clients 40,658 miles (2,868 trips) to medical, dental, and other health-related appointments within the Morongo Basin, to the Coachella Valley, and the San Bernardino areas, as well as grocery shopping, pickup and delivery of prescriptions, and rides to social services appointments as needed. The number of miles driven was a 13% increase from 2017, and a 19% increase in the number of trips. We have been growing each year, and our transportation program is a definite example of our growth.
Just when we thought our twentieth year could not get any better, it did. The Basin Wide Foundation awarded our Executive Director Robin Schlosser with the 2018 President’s Award. The Twentynine Palms Chamber of Commerce awarded Reach Out Morongo Basin with the 2018 Business of the Year Award, and they also awarded our Executive Director Robin Schlosser with the 2018 Individual of the Year Award. As a community organization, we work very hard to not only provide outstanding services to our clients, but we also strive to raise awareness of the needs within our communities and the unique challenges faced in our rural area. We are incredibly grateful to all of the organizations we work with for continuing to support us in everything we do.
We want to celebrate with everyone what an unbelievable 20 years this has been. On Saturday, July 13 from 4:00pm to 7:00pm we will be having a Twentieth Anniversary Celebration at the Joshua Tree Retreat Center. With a dinner catered by Bruce’s Place, a silent auction, and cocktails, it’s sure to be a great time! Tickets are $40 per person or $70 for a couple. Tickets will be on sale shortly, so keep a look out for when they are available.
These have been an unbelievable two decades of service to the community. Here we are. 20 years later and still doing what we love one day, one month, one year at a time. Here’s to 20 more!