Welcome to the newest series on the Depot, “A Day in the Life”! Each segment will feature one FCC staff member, sharing a snapshot of a typical day in their life both at work and at home. Through these articles, you can learn about the wide variety of programs we have here at FCC, find out about the incredible work that is being done in each of them, and get to know one of the great people who helps make it all happen!
Kellie is a Vikings fan, but is surrounded by Packers fans! (Shown here at Maureen’s desk)
Kellie Shawback has been a Mental Health Practitioner at Hiawatha Hall for a little over a year, but she’s known for a lot longer that she wanted a career helping people. She began her education in nursing and earned her CNA, but soon found that she wanted work that allowed for deeper relationship building. Kellie shifted gears and pursued a major in therapeutic recreation and a minor in psychology, and graduated with her bachelor’s degree from Winona State University in December 2015. Shortly thereafter, she worked as a behavioral therapist at an autism center in Rochester before joining the FCC team. Now you can find her at Hiawatha Hall Monday-Friday (and the occasional weekend) helping individuals with mental illness or substance abuse challenges prepare to live on their own and lead happy, healthy lives.
6:15 am – Kellie’s alarm clock rings and she hits the snooze once or twice. Okay, maybe three times… by her own admission, she isn’t a morning person. She quickly gets ready for the day, feeding Hazel, her 1 year old golden retriever, and Lucy, her long-haired farm cat. She packs a lunch for herself, grabs a yogurt for breakfast, and heads to Hiawatha Hall.
Kellie at her own desk
7:30 am – Kellie settles in at her desk. Her workspace is decorated with handmade drawings made for her by her clients- a friendly looking cow, a fluffy orange cat. She reads the log to catch up on happenings from the prior evening and then digs into some paperwork. Kellie case manages about half of the 8 or 9 clients that Hiawatha Hall is currently home to, so there’s always a treatment plan or functional assessment to work on.
8:00 am – Kellie begins the first set of hourly checks. At Hiawatha Hall, staff check in with clients once each hour to document their activity throughout the day. During the 8:00 am check, Kellie ensures clients are awake, dressed, and started on breakfast.
9:00 am – The first group of the day begins. This is typically a diary card meeting – clients self-report about the day before, skills they used, and whether they met their daily goals.
10:30 am – The second group of the day begins. This group could be IMR – Illness Management Recovery, IDDT – Integrated Dual Disorder Treatment, or a nursing group in which med management, healthy eating, and lifestyle choices are discussed. Kellie facilitates or co-facilitates some of these groups.
Kellie gets the Group Room ready
In between groups, or during client free time after groups finish meeting, Kellie works on case management activities. She might take a client to an appointment in the community, help them prepare for post-discharge life by identifying housing or an outside therapist, or help them get assigned an ARMHS worker (ARMHS, Adult Rehabilitative Mental Health Services, is another one of FCC’s programs).
12:00 pm – Kellie brings her own lunch, usually leftovers from dinner her boyfriend, Alan, prepared the night before. Today, she has a taco salad with black beans, ranch, and a little Frank’s hot sauce. Yum! She eats at her desk, gets some paperwork done, and rocks out to some music on Pandora – she likes oldies from the 60s, 70s, and 80s, along with Disney tunes, rock, and country.
1:00 pm – For the rest of the afternoon, Kellie may meet with clients, sometimes with a treatment team. She typically works on her daily documentation, case notes which cover the daily activity of each client assigned to her.
3:00 pm – 2nd shift staff begin arriving, and meet with 1st shift staff to catch up on what happened during the day.
Kellie with her boyfriend Alan – They’ve been together for 8 years!
3:30 pm – Time for Kellie to go ho home!
4:00 pm – Kellie takes her pup Hazel for a walk (she’s tried taking her kitty Lucy on a walk too, but Lucy was not a fan). Sometimes, Hazel gets to have puppy playdates with fellow FCC staff Maureen Johnson’s pup, a lab! For even more pup time, Kellie works part time at a local dog kennel.
7:00 pm – With any remaining free time, Kellie likes to spend time outside on the river with her boyfriend Alan, who is a football coach at Winona State. You can also find her hanging out with her friends at Betty Jo’s, her favorite restaurant in Winona because of its cool atmosphere.
9:00 pm – Like many of us, Kellie can’t resist a good Netflix binge – right now, she’s watching One Tree Hill.
10:30 pm – Kellie heads to bed to rest up for another day.
Hazel the pup
Kellie with her family in Cancun
Fishing trip
Lucy the cat
Kellie, thank you for sharing a day in your life with us and for all the hard work you do for FCC!