The Values at Work award is given four times each year for outstanding examples of our values at work, as demonstrated through specific, on-the-job examples. Please congratulate our 2015 third quarter winners!
Ken Weinberg
Drop-In Center Facilitator, Viroqua
Ken was nominated by Suzie Howe
The following are excerpts from Ken’s nomination: Ken is a part time staff in our drop in center. In the past 2 months Ken has held three events with minimal help. Ken is known for keeping the drop in center open during holidays, a time when many are alone. He does this as part of his recovery and as part of the drop in center out reach.
To this end he kept the center open on the solstice, Independence Day and he created a special event for LGBT and spiritual communities to come together to discuss issues of spirituality.
The impact of someone being with other people during a holiday when they would otherwise be alone is difficult to measure. There were 30 such people during each of the three events held. Each of them was able to socialize, eat and recreate with others. Something many of us take for granted.
During one of these events a mother and her three children came. The mother was in a domestic abuse situation. Her children were traumatized and the mother could not tolerate being away from them for even a second. They were staying at a local hotel and saw the event from the hotel window. After meeting with Ken and another staff she became comfortable enough to allow her children to go with the other staff so she could get help from Ken. Ken provided resource information and support.
Julie Fogel
CRS Specialist/Case Manager, La Crosse
Julie was nominated by Kathy Rohr
The following are excerpts from Julie’s nomination: Julie also works at La Crosse County Mobile Crisis and she assists staff in providing phone crisis services, including providing consultation, coordinating with WWC about services provided to WWC clients, and coordinating with the county. This connection is very helpful for our program. The WRIC CSP, La Crosse location, just began providing phone crisis services at the start of the WRIC contract. Staff were concerned about how the roll-out would work and providing quality phone crisis services. Julie provided a crisis service training to staff and also volunteered for staff to call her upon any difficulties. As a staff person not in a supervisory position, she really stepped up and helped her team in a very special way that would not necessarily be expected. As a result, the crisis service roll-out was not only smooth, but entirely without issues.
She organizes activities for the staff of the program, which make work more fun and give everyone a chance to connect and regroup. One example of such an activity is the Knights of the Round Table potluck she organized, for which she decorated the John Burgess Room and brought in life sized medieval knight statues.
Julie inspires me and to be a better worker, by her example. She inspires me to do a better job of celebrating my coworker’s achievements, checking in to connect, and helping coworkers through adversity. Her attitude provides an “attitude check” for me when mine gets problematic and she probably doesn’t know what a leader she is with her example.
Other nominees for this quarter were:
Claire Hansen Nominated by Craig Putz, Matthew Birckl, Kathryn Hollenhorst
In June, 2015 Claire stepped up to help out in Youth Night Campus – Rochester to help out during a time when the program was short a case manager position. When Staff in YNC-R learned that she was a program aide in Winona they were shocked because she is so efficient, thorough and skilled that they had just assumed she was a case manager.
Sam Tooke Nominated by Lindsey Purl
Recently, Sam was a part of two extreme incidents demonstrating his RESPONSIVENESS. He has been put in situations where he needed to respond to serious self-harm and suicide attempts. These dangerous situations required someone who could stay calm while acting quickly. This is something that is trained on but really takes special skill to act out in the moment. Sam’s response helped guide/support other staff through the situation, take control of a dangerous situation, and most importantly ensured the renewed safety of the client.
Carol Adams Nominated by Suzie Howe
Carol noticed many of our clients have metabolic syndrome. Often times their conditions are life debilitating and/or life threatening. She researched and found an evidenced based curriculum to use with persons who have severe and persistent mental illness and metabolic syndrome. She then developed the program with incentives for attendance and consulted with the CSP team to provide information about the program and obtain names of clients for the group.
Kristen Berg Nominated by Carol Caldwell, Staci Glynn
With the regionalization and downsizing of our Black River Falls CSP office, clients and full time staff in Jackson County -and our fabulous nurse, Kristin – have gone above and beyond in many areas during these times. Kristin continues to fill in, wherever needed. She was extremely helpful in packing the office, when she had extra time between her full time position and CSP hours.
Congratulations to our winners and all nominees! Thanks for all you do!