Super Hero of the Month for July!

Every month, Innovations presents the “Super Hero of the Month” award to the employee or provider who has best demonstrated excellence in one or more of our Innovations Quality Standards:

• Health, Safety, and Wellbeing
• Effective and Efficient
• Respect and Dignity
• Opportunities
• Integrity
• Care

This month, the award was presented to Paula McCormick, who is a Primary Residential Counselor at our 19th Street Group Home.

Paula was nominated by her Site Supervisor and Nurse Case Manager, who wrote:

Paula has been such an asset to the 19^th St. team. She’s reliable, caring, hardworking, and always willing to go above and beyond for our people and team. Paula is an incredibly creative problem solver and has earned the nickname MacGyver for all of the projects and creations she’s come up with. She’s also volunteered on numerous occasions to cover shifts or put in extra hours to make sure we’re covered or so that we have enough staffing to do activities with our people. She’s built very strong relationships with our people and they all respond favorably towards her. Paula is a natural problem solver and leader and we are very lucky to have her on our team.

She has done many improvements at 19^th St such as painting the walls, improving the area where med cups and syringes are washed, and even retrieving a large bookcase (on the sidewalk), bringing it to the home, and cleaning and painting it.  I noticed yesterday while there that one of the individuals seems very fond of her and that’s unusual for him!

If you see Paula around, please congratulate her on being our Super Hero of the Month!

Super Hero of the Month!

Every month, Innovations presents the “Super Hero of the Month” award to the employee or provider who has best demonstrated excellence in one or more of our Innovations Quality Standards:

• Health, Safety, and Wellbeing
• Effective and Efficient
• Respect and Dignity
• Opportunities
• Integrity
• Care

This month, the award was presented to Robin Phillips, who is a Site Supervisor II.

Robin was nominated by one of her co-workers, who wrote:

Robin Phillips is being nominated as Innovations’ Super Hero of the Month because she is extremely efficient, provides excellent care to everyone she works with, and she has handled stressful situations with compassion and grace.  Robin has had to train at new houses, get to know staff and individuals, and assume her new role all within a short period of time.  Robin is prompt to answer messages and she shows a genuine care for every person she interacts with.  Recently, Robin had an individual go through the Hospice process and she supported the house she was supervising through the loss.  Robin has worked closely with various departments to assist with staffing shortages and address problems.  Robin is a shining example of Innovations’ core values and mission, and Innovations is proud to her name her the Super Hero of the Month.

If you see Robin around, please congratulate her on being our Super Hero of the Month!

Super Hero of the Month!

Every month, Innovations presents the “Super Hero of the Month” award to the employee or provider who has best demonstrated excellence in one or more of our Innovations Quality Standards:

• Health, Safety, and Wellbeing
• Effective and Efficient
• Respect and Dignity
• Opportunities
• Integrity
• Care

This month, the award was presented to Heather Christensen, who is a Primary Residential Counselor at our Manhattan Group Home.

Heather was nominated by one of her co-workers, who wrote:

The work Heather does with one of the individuals is amazing. This individual is typically quiet and chooses to isolate in her bedroom. I worked at Manhattan for a couple of months, a few years ago, and remember this individual’s behavior. Working at Manhattan once again, I am shocked at the difference I see in this individual’s behavior. When Heather is working, the individual is social, eats dinner with her roommates, and has a wonderful sense of humor. I'm not sure what Heather has done to support this individual in the time she has been working at Manhattan, but whatever it is, it works. From what I have heard, the Staff at Manhattan are also very impressed with Heather.

If you see Heather around, please congratulate her on being our Super Hero of the Month!

Super Hero of the Month!

Every month, Innovations presents the “Super Hero of the Month” award to the employee or provider who has best demonstrated excellence in one or more of our Innovations Quality Standards:

• Health, Safety, and Wellbeing
• Effective and Efficient
• Respect and Dignity
• Opportunities
• Integrity
• Care

This month, the award was presented to Pema Chosang, who is one of our Foster Care Providers here at Innovations.

Pema has been a foster parent for several years.  Pema is an exemplary foster parent in every sense of the word.  Pema makes a concerted effort to understand the needs of the children in her care in order to create a home environment that allows them to thrive.  Last month, she took both children in placement on a month long trip to India with her family.  When the foster family returned home from the trip, one of the foster children commented that he felt like he truly is a part of the family.  Her ability to integrate her foster children into her extended family is admirable.  She feels strongly that her foster children are her sons, and treats them as such.  Pema is organized, efficient and an absolute pleasure to work with.

If you see Pema around, please congratulate her on being our Super Hero of the Month!

New Innovations Logo!

We at Innovations are excited to share with you our new logo!  This logo was created by the Innovations Management team. We think it does a great job of communicating who we are and what we do.  Enjoy!

Volunteering at Imagine!

This week is National Volunteer Week. Volunteers are a huge part of Imagine!’s success. In the fiscal year 2013-14, 409 people volunteered for Imagine!, providing 12,261 hours of service. The estimated value of those volunteer hours to Imagine! during that time is $275,025.45!

Volunteers bring much more than monetary value to our organization. Imagine! is a community-based organization, and we can’t do what we do without the support of our community. Volunteering offers a great opportunity for members of our community to experience first-hand the vital work Imagine! employees do, and just as important, to see the amazing contributions that individuals served by Imagine! bring to their communities every day. Imagine! volunteers frequently become donors to our organization, and many end up working for us full time!

All this week, Imagine!’s Facebook page will be highlighting some of our fantastic volunteers and the positive impact they have on our organization.

By the way, do you know of someone interested in volunteering for Imagine!? Or do you have an Imagine! project that could use assistance from volunteers? If so, contact Imagine!’s Volunteer Coordinator Elizabeth Hill at 303-926-6460 or ebaumann@Imaginecolorado.org.

Finally, check out the short video below, created to encourage more people to volunteer at Imagine!

Super Hero(es) of the Month(s)!

Every month, Innovations presents the “Super Hero of the Month” award to the employee or provider who has best demonstrated excellence in one or more of our Innovations Quality Standards:

• Health, Safety, and Wellbeing
• Effective and Efficient
• Respect and Dignity
• Opportunities
• Integrity
• Care

For the month of February, our Super Hero is:

Jesse Kennedy
Primary Residential Counselor - 19th Street

Jesse was nominated by a supervisor because:

He is calm, patient, respectful and person centered.  He takes everything in stride, is cool under pressure and never complains.  I never have to worry when Jesse is working because I know he’ll make sure that everything is taken care of and that our people remain happy and healthy.  Jesse has been present for crisis situations and he always steps up.  He does whatever needs to be done with a smile on his face.  Jesse is exactly the type of employee everyone wants to have. 

For the month of March, our Super Hero is:

Codi Ford

Primary Residential Counselor - Timber Ridge

Codi was nominated by a supervisor because:

She stayed with an individual who lives alone and has in the past not been able to successfully complete the pre-colonoscopy preparation routine on her own.  Codi stayed with her for nearly 24 hours, even getting up through the night to help this individual maintain her good spirits and not give up on the long unpleasant process.  The individual had a successful procedure.  The individual’s guardian/Sister expressed gratitude that Codi was able to help.  Codi offered to do it, and when I expressed gratitude to her for it, she replied with “Well, that’s what she needed, and I can do it.”  I didn’t even need to ask her if she could do it.

If you see Jesse or Codi around, please congratulate them for their hard work and dedication!