Looking Back… Looking Forward — 50 Years!
Message from Rebecca Lienhard, CEO
I am not the same person today as I was 50 years ago. Thankfully, I have grown, matured, and learned from my mistakes as well as honored my successes. It is in these significant passages of time that we are able to reflect on who we really are, as people, as a family, and as a community.
Like myself, Tierra del Sol may not be the same organization as we were when we first started, but our heart and our soul still shine with the same guiding light. This light is our values and our values are this light. Although not quite worded the same way in 1971, our values have guided our way for 50 years, rain or shine.
Let me introduce our values to you one more time – person-centeredness, passion, honesty, respect, and full-engagement.
Despite the chaos of the 2020 storm in which we were all shaken to our very core, Tierra stood firmly planted in these values. They did not fail us; they did not fail you.
From our early humble beginnings of one location, born for the sole purpose to serve individuals with developmental disabilities, to our current vast array of creative pathways to employment, our commitment to being person-centered, passionate, honest, respectful, and fully-engaged can be seen by the success of those we serve and by all those who serve.
2020 provided Tierra an additional opportunity to streamline our Mission and Vision statements and by doing so, we became laser-focused on creating productive and personally meaningful lives in partnership with those we served. Let me introduce you to our newly worded Mission and Vision.
You will see, throughout this issue, our values in action. You will hear the voices of those we serve. You will see their successes and joy. You will see a road that clearly says, “We are champions of inclusion and value for all individuals with disabilities”.
Won’t you join me in celebration as Tierra rings in another 50 years of productive and personally meaningful lives, regardless of the notion of one’s disability.
