WHO IS THE 2016 PRESIDENT’S AWARD WINNER?
After sorting through nominations and receiving recommendations and words of encouragement from many of you, the decision has been made. The 2016 President’s Award winner will be announced this Thursday! First we want to share more about the 7 amazing individuals who were nominated. Please take some time to read the nominations below on some of FCC’s finest. Be sure to recognize your co-workers for all of their hard work the next time you see them. Check back Thursday to see who the big winner is!
Amanda Jalensky
Coordinator of Community Services
La Crosse, WI
Nominated By: Vanessa Southworth
Amanda is a strong, positive leader that embodies the agency’s Mission, Vision, and Values and well as effectively models the Leader’s Role. Amanda has consistently demonstrated her ability to embrace the “big picture” of working within an agency with multiple programs and locations, and while she is passionate about her individual programs, it is also important to her to understand the larger agency in order to promote other programs and think about potential opportunities for collaboration or expansion. Amanda competently shares information about other programs, is passionate about sharing information learned at community meetings, and is appropriately persistent to carry forward initiatives to strengthen services. Amanda has a tendency to “roll up her sleeves” and get involved in programming in order to best understand the perspectives of staff and participants, as well as to advocate for needed supports. Amanda appears to enjoy identifying what might make a program better and then exploring how to implement that change. She does this in a way that helps her teams get behind the change, because she communicates well and works hard to think through all of the moving parts that need to be considered, as well as all of the players involved. Amanda is not afraid of the hard work involved with this because she keeps the vision in the forefront. Feedback regarding Amanda’s supervision of others has been consistently positive and indicates the great level of support she provides for her teams. In summary, Amanda has been a valuable resource to FCC since the day she started, and I am very fortunate to have the privilege to work with her!
Betty Lacine
Psychotherapist
Outpatient Counseling
Winona, MN
Nominated By: Chris Hayden
A two-year-old little girl came in feeling lost, clingy, out-of-sorts, and had attachment issues. Betty was able to accommodate the client & family by taking them at odd times after court cases, and going out of her way to work with other providers such as school, pediatrician, adoption attorney, and the county. Betty had such a great reputation that the family came from two counties over to see her.
Play therapy was used with this little girl, while involving the grandparents as well. Play Therapy works well with small toddlers. It is hard to work with a traumatized 2 to 3-year-old. Through play therapy, Betty was able to get break the barrier that this child was having in not trusting her new caregivers, and just being a child. A year later out, the client is being a normal 3 to 4 year old. She is on task to start school. Grandparents stated, “You would have never known something had happened to her. She is a vibrant child. Thanks to Betty for getting our family on track again.”
Dianne Range
Case Manager/Social Worker
Hope Academy
La Crosse, WI
Nominated By: Amanda Jalensky & the teen parents of Hope Academy
Dianne Range is a prime model of the FCC Mission and Values. Her dedication to her work, fellow staff and the clients she works with are an inspiration to others. Dianne is Hope Academy’s Social Worker and educator of many of the groups the program has to offer including Parent Education, Relationship Smarts, PE Health & Wellness, and Life Skills. Dianne has inserted herself into the La Crosse Community to immerse Hope Academy and the Teen Parents into the community. Her genuine and caring personality is inviting to others and has strengthened FCC in many ways. Dianne has supported and helped many young parents though extremely difficult times in their lives. When I approached the teen moms and informed them I was interested in nominating a staff member for this and asked if they had anything they wanted to share, a number of them immediately said, “Dianne, because she is always there to help me no matter what.” Her name rose to the top time and time again in reference to her ability to support and guide them through life’s difficult journey. Dianne’s vision of strengthening and continuing services for current and past Hope Academy Teen Parents by providing Teen Parent Cafes is a prime example of fulfilling FCC’s Mission, Vision and Values.
JR Robertson
Lead Program Aide
Youth Night Campus
Rochester, MN
Nominated By: Kathryn Hollenhorst, Rachel Katzmar, Tyler Rashid, Anna Hughes, Lindsey Lilly, Leah Morken, Alex Jorisson, and Marci Hitz
James Robertson is the embodiment of the FCC Value of Respect and Excellence. As the Lead staff at YNC Rochester he has displayed and taught our clients respect as well as shown excellence by being a great team leader. He has been innovative in meeting with community business leaders and accessing donated services for our youth including opportunities for sports, leisure activities and food. In James’ words, he offered the businesses an opportunity to have a “slice of the YNC greatness.” James regularly meets with clients at their school for no other reason than to connect with them, have lunch and remind them that someone cares. He motivates staff and clients on a daily basis through humor, pep talks and example. James goes above and beyond to connect and build relationships with staff members leading to an overall feeling of importance to the program. Our program is run with staff members working together to create an environment of integrity and respect, and James is a leader in modeling these components to staff and clients. He is also a great group skills leader, presenting learning material for clients that is fun and relatable for their age group. It’s hard to really put into words the affect that James has on the program. A lot of times we nominate staff who embody what “we” want to be, or what we want “FCC” to be, but James embodies what so many of our clients can become. And that’s the true story of hope and healing and he brings to the table. I am so pleased, and honored, that JR continues to work for FCC. He is a powerful force in his community. The contribution James has made to the program symbolizes so many of the FCC values but I think it specifically speaks to the Value of Respect: We treat all people with Courtesy, Thoughtfulness, Honesty and Kindness. These value words describe James but he is so much more to all he has touched.
Laurie Williams
Nurse
WRIC Community Support Program
Sparta, WI
Nominated by: Kayleigh Marten
Laurie came on board when the Sparta office was first being started and was handed 12 clients without much direction; she was able to establish a functioning and efficient method for making sure all of these clients are well taken care of. Laurie has continued to adjust her process in the most effective way possible with the intake of new clients. Laurie has always gone above expectations and even though she is fully retired Laurie often fills in at other FCC locations even driving to Winona, MN to Hiawatha Hall in order to fill in while staff was being sought to fill the position permanently. Laurie has also filled in Black River Falls and Viroqua. Laurie has even taken on a new adventure through Monroe County in order to assist Deb Day until a full time nurse comes on board in May. Laurie has even volunteered to be on committees with Dr. Fassbinder in order to establish protocol for nursing through WRIC-CSP… Laurie continues to make the WRIC-CSP better through her continued hard work and coordination with not only staff but outside providers as well. She follows up with outside agencies and payers in a time efficient manner and will go above and beyond expectations in order to provide for client needs. I don’t think it is possible to put a value on the amount of hard work she does to make this agency better and the clients enjoy working with her and have often expressed to staff their enjoyment and appreciation for Laurie and I hear from other locations how wonderful of a staff Laurie is and a pleasure it is to work with her. Laurie was even nominated for a Values at Work Award by Suzie Howe in the Viroqua CSP which I think just continues to show the appreciation and dedication Laurie gives to every location she works and I think it speaks volumes to be nominated for an award in a place that is separate from your home office
Maureen Johnson
Therapist/Clinical Trainee
Hiawatha Hall & Youth ACT
Winona, MN
Nominated By: Erin Anderson
Maureen is a model staff member and clinician. She not only fulfills her required duties but goes above and beyond on a daily basis to meet client and program needs. If a client at Hiawatha Hall needs to talk, she drops everything to meet them and provide support. If another staff is unable to complete a task she immediately volunteers without hesitation. She has initiative, good clinical judgement, and a willingness that is very difficult to find in others. One incident which stands out in my memory is a morning, about 7am, which our overnight worker sent out a mass text: “SOMEONE NEEDS TO GET HERE NOW.” Before I could contact anyone, Maureen texted back “I’m getting my shoes on.” There is never a hesitation when someone needs help. I have had the pleasure of working with many good clinicians, but Maureen is exemplary. Her compassion and passion reaches staff and clients alike. I am so proud that I have been able to work with her for the past 15 months. I know that over the past year I have said to her on numerous occasions: “I am so glad you’re here, I don’t know what I’d do if you weren’t.” I recall when the state came to audit us at Hiawatha Hall last year and that statement was literally true. I could not have completed the daily client dilemmas, on-going paperwork, and also assisted the licensor and Darci with reviewing our program. Maureen is a staff member unlike any other.
Paris Moore
Team Lead
Residential Treatment
La Crosse, WI
Nominated by: Staci Glynn & Vanessa Southworth
Since my time with the Residential Program, Paris has demonstrated excellence and dedication to the program. Paris has offered many innovative ideas into restructuring and identifying areas that would enhance programming, most times without affecting the budget. Paris provides the utmost respect towards everyone that he works with on a daily basis. Often times Paris is asked to take on additional duties outside the realm of his tasks, and does so with pride and willingness. Although it is part of his duties to help with staff training as a Team Lead, Paris goes above and beyond in ensuring that his supervisor knows what he has covered and that documentation is provided, so there are no gaps in training. Consistency has been an ongoing challenge in the program, and Paris demonstrated a great responsiveness in supporting, training and providing feedback to me as a supervisor new to this program. Paris offered feedback on how to best create policies and procedures, has been accommodating to ensure attendance at newly schedule Team Lead Meetings, and provides support to supervisors and staff regarding consistency and expectation. Paris appears to me motivated by his desire to see the youth, the program, and the agency be successful. This is evident in the way that Paris has stepped up to do whatever is needed to ensure the program is operating successfully. Paris has organized multiple rooms and storage areas in the building, providing an efficiently organized system for staff to find what they need. Paris has also filled shifts at odd hours that are not typical for his schedule, and he has offered to help in any other way he can while we have been short-staffed. Paris has a positive attitude that makes him pleasant to work with, for both staff and residents. We are fortunate to have Paris on our team!