Staff Spotlight: Adult Services recognitions (Part 1)

In honor of Direct Support Professionals Week, our Adult Services team has created a blog series to share our staff members’ positive feedback and recognition with the greater Latham Community. Today, we begin with a shout-out to our staff at Weir, quoting the words of our staff and supervisors:

• Lisa M. is awesome!! I love her realness and her humor.  She brings a knowledge of the house and clients and is a priceless help to all that work at Weir, including Brenda C. We couldn’t be such an awesome house without Lisa!

• Lisa is a shining star in a big way in part because she is so humble she doesn’t even realize it.  She doesn’t announce what she does….she just DOES it.  She churns out double the amount of work as you would expect from a staff who works twice as many hours.  I wish wish wish people like Lisa, who aren’t the loudest, most hour-prolific workers, got more recognition publicly. Our house would experience a huge huge loss without her.

• I’d like to recognize Jen TS. She does our Peapod but just ask anyone who works here at Weir… she goes above and beyond keeping us stocked, organized, within Latham guidelines, bills paid, and she even makes sure to watch prices to help Latham keep costs down! She really takes her time and energy and if she is going to be away, she asks for help ahead of time with ordering and paying. Staff are always telling her what a great job she does (and I tell her often as well) but an “official” shout out would make her day!!!!

• Jen TS – the Organizer! Peapod, and making sure the guys are out on Mondays with everything they need for success. 

• Nick P – has “a way” with each of the guys to make sure they understand their finances and have the best plan for their shopping experience. 

• Nick has a great rapport with the guys.  While I don’t ever see him due to our schedules not crossing paths, what I hear from our individuals is that they’ve loved having a “guy” on our team and they trust him to make thoughtful and reasonable decisions around their quarterly meals and Friday night social.  Our individuals speak positively of him, which shows his value…as we know our guys don’t hesitate when they have something negative to say about a staff.  And they rarely have a negative thing to say to me about Nick! 

• Kristen F – empathy-r-us.  She can sense what is needed to fix a problem or just give comfort without batting an eye.

• Kristen is just excellent energy all around.  She was assigned as my mentor in the Children’s Program and I could see why immediately. I am thrilled she joined our house.  She encourages the guys to be their best and own their own path of accountability while vocally supporting our staff as well. She isn’t afraid to speak up, and she’s easy to talk to when trying to problem-solve an issue.

• I couldn’t ask for a better team of co-workers! Brenda — no better delegator to make sure we run without a hitch. 

• Brenda is hands down a fantastic manager.  She sticks to her guns but does so with invitation and respect of her staff’s input.  She encourages me to stick to what I know is right even if it’s not the option that makes life easier for her or us.  If it’s better for our guys, she will give us full support to do what we need to do. She encourages me to keep at it, and when I overthink if I’m on the right track she clearly and with enthusiasm makes me feel extremely valued and respected. She shines love and respect for the four men who live in this house in a big way. I love working for Brenda.

• Alanna C comes to our house with a “get it done” attitude and isn’t afraid to speak her mind.  I value her attention to detail when it comes to reporting and not overlooking sharing with staff details of her shifts…..even if refraining in doing so would make her life easier.  I value hearing about her interactions in other houses.  She has always expressed to me that what she values most about me is my clarity and honesty and this means a lot. She is the best at getting our guys out and about!

• Peter is a wonderful new addition to our house.  Peter has no great ego about having all the answers. He wants to do best by the guys and he wants to learn.  He is flexible to re-working things and changing and learning.  His positive attitude is the number one reason I shouted a happy “yes!” when I heard he was joining our house.  He continues to prove himself as a caring, considerate staff person.

Our direct care staff here at Latham is greatly appreciated! (More staff recognitions will follow in the coming weeks.)