2021 Funding Drive
We're asking for your support after a challenging year.
Today, as we move through Spring, phones are beginning to ring again as area practitioners who had closed their offices early in the pandemic begin to consider reopening. A large segment of the population, after confining themselves to home for long periods of time, are cautiously beginning to emerge from isolation, and many are experiencing physical, mental and emotional stress. The need for professional bodywork therapies, counseling and healing services in general is expected to surge over the coming months. We will be ready.
We feel fortunate to have survived the past 14 months with our business intact, and to have done so without becoming mired in debt. Even so, our programs and revenues, have been heavily impacted by the pandemic, and our cash reserves are sorely depleted.
The past year has presented historical challenges: from life and death issues of health and safety during a pandemic to helping many of our practitioners avoid catastrophe in their own businesses via substantial rent relief. Now, as pandemic restrictions begin to lift and the economy begins on the long to recovery, we are taking a good look at where things currently stand, in terms of both Ruscombe business and our community, and we’re forging plans for the short and long term future.
Pandemic Impacts on Ruscombe
- For safety reasons, we had to suspend our popular co-op café days, and all classroom and conference room rentals, early in the pandemic shutdown.
- We provided substantial and extended rent relief to many of our practitioners based on need, as clients vanished into home isolation and the economy essentially shut down.
- We put substantial funds and a great deal of care into making our campus as safe as possible from COVID. Daily professional cleaning and sanitation were arranged, new products, hand sanitizing stations, masks and thermometers purchased. A large outdoor tent was purchased to allow small, socially-spaced classes or meetings to take place in fresh air, as weather permits, and for our Community Hall, we invested in an industrial air purification system with specialized anti-virus HEPA filters and virus-destroying UV lights. Ruscombe’s already minimal staff has been consumed with pandemic related tasks, requiring the postponement of non-essential activities.
- Pandemic restrictions have made it extremely difficult to find and bring new practitioners on board to fill the openings left by those who retire, move, or close their practice.
Building for the Future
We can now finally begin charting our way forward with confidence. Our goals for 2021 include:
- Returning to in-person classes and meetings, as well as developing a robust catalog of online classes.
- Reopening our popular co-op café days.
- Increasing occupancy rates, and expanding services and offerings.
- Launching a newly-designed website with greater functionality, including a webstore with products of special interest to our community.
- Rebuilding the financial foundation that keeps Ruscombe, Inc. strong and resilient.
- Redeveloping our social media presence.
- Refreshing Ruscombe Mansion and Hill House, inside & out.
We are now asking for your support. Please consider donating in an amount that is comfortable for you. It has never been more important. Donations can be made either to AUM, Inc. (tax deductible) or directly to Ruscombe, Inc.(not tax deductible). AUM supports Ruscombe Mansion Community Health Care Center by subsidizing programming and wellness initiatives.