Five years after CEO Crystal Officer took the helm during the most challenging era in disability care, Beverly Farm has rebuilt its workforce, modernized its operations, and is charting its next chapter.
When Crystal Officer became Chief Executive Officer of Beverly Farm Foundation five years ago, the disability-services field was facing its most difficult era in a generation, and the 128-year-old organization felt every bit of the strain. Five years later, Beverly Farm stands on a rebuilt foundation, with a stronger workforce, modernized operations, and renewed financial stability. The organization is now turning its attention to what comes next for the nearly 250 adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities it serves.
Since taking the helm in 2021, Officer has steered Beverly Farm through workforce shortages, rising costs, and a funding landscape that has squeezed disability providers across the country. Rather than simply weather those pressures, she set out to rebuild the organization from the ground up, starting with its people.
“Over the past five years, Beverly Farm has continued to build on its 128-year legacy while preparing for the future,” said James Pardikes, Chair of the Beverly Farm Foundation Board of Directors. “Crystal’s leadership has helped strengthen our organization, support our employees, and expand opportunities for the individuals and families we serve.”
Rebuilding the Workforce
Officer’s focus has been the quality of life of the people Beverly Farm supports, and that begins with a strong, stable team to provide their care. Under her leadership, Beverly Farm ratified a new three-year collective bargaining agreement with a wage increase for direct support professionals, recruited the organization’s first Chief People Officer, and replaced its onboarding with a hands-on “experiential” training model built to better prepare and retain new staff. Stay and exit interviews and expanded leadership development now make employees’ voices part of how the organization runs.
Modernizing a Historic Institution
Officer paired that workforce investment with a sweeping modernization of the organization’s operations. The organization implemented nine new technology platforms, including cloud-based clinical documentation and electronic medication records, real-time financial management and reporting, and modern donor-research and AI-assisted fundraising tools. Together, they bring the daily operations of a 128-year-old institution firmly into the present. Those systems, along with disciplined financial oversight and a series of campus improvements spanning heating and cooling, security, and residential renovations, have steadied both the organization’s finances and the spaces the people it supports call home.
That work is anchored in a clear set of organizational Core Values: People, Excellence, Collaboration, Innovation, and Integrity. These values now guide training, leadership development, and the standard of care delivered across every home and program.
A Community That Shows Up
Beverly Farm’s progress has been matched by deepening community support. The organization’s annual #Racing4BeverlyFarm campaign, a 24-hour matching-gift drive, has grown into a signature event that rallies donors, families, staff, and community partners to raise extraordinary support in a single day, most recently bringing in more than $880,000 to fund programs and services for the people it supports.
The Next Chapter
With its foundation strengthened, Beverly Farm is now looking ahead. Guided by a strategic plan introduced in 2025, the organization is focused on sustaining its workforce gains, continuing to modernize, and positioning itself to meet the evolving needs of the people it serves as it approaches its 129th year of service this fall.
“What I am proudest of after five years is not any one thing we built. It is the people who built it,” said Officer. “Beverly Farm is a home, in every sense of the word, and this team protects that promise every single day. More than a century in, no one we support has ever faced their day alone. None will, while we are at the table.”
About Beverly Farm Foundation
Founded in 1897, Beverly Farm Foundation provides loving homes and meaningful opportunities for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Located in Godfrey, Illinois, Beverly Farm offers a comprehensive continuum of residential, community-based, and support services designed to help individuals live fulfilling and meaningful lives. For more information, visit www.BeverlyFarm.org.
