
A Message from our Board President
Hello to our members and to the national community at large! 2023 was a year of achievement for Changes, after two years spent revitalizing and refreshing our brand as well as adapting our processes and practices to a fully online presence. Here’s a short recap of 2023 achievements:
- We greatly expanded our outreach efforts and formal presence at addiction and parenting-related events, particularly in Utah. This represents a major rebound from the COVID period.
- We exceeded our annual fundraising goal, for which we are extremely grateful. So many nonprofits have struggled and even disappeared in the COVID and post-COVID period.
- We consolidated and streamlined our new member orientation process, which has significantly reduced the time from a new call into our intake line to active support of a new member.
- We undertook our first-ever advertising efforts, starting with a print ad in Seattle’s Child Magazine’s Family Resource Guide, and continuing with Facebook advertising and Google search advertising. This is a totally new motion for us, so there’s still a lot for us to learn.
- We sponsored and conducted presentations by nationally-recognized authors and made them available to the general public. This is something we hope to increase in the future.
- Some of our members were interviewed on podcasts and shared their personal experiences with Changes.
2023 was not without its challenges, however. Our biggest challenge has been to secure a roster of new volunteers to replace those that have been long in role and tenure. We are an entirely volunteer-led and run organization, so this is our lifeblood. To that end, we’ve streamlined and consolidated volunteer roles. I personally find great inspiration in the story of one of our co-founders, Dennis Dudder, who is still active in Changes today – 28 years after he helped create the organization. Dennis is profiled in our latest annual report, linked below.
- Karen Gustafson, Changes Board President