Super Hero of the Month for January!

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 Lucy Mwangi, who is a Residential Counselor for our Group Homes program.

Lucy was nominated by her Supervisor, who wrote:

Lucy works overnights during the week at Foothills Group Home.  She’s always a positive presence, and consistently does far more than expected.  For example, Lucy’s morning routine usually involves assisting two people with morning routines, but I’ve heard about and personally witnessed a couple of times where Lucy has assisted a third person in order to help other staff with morning routines.  Also, on three separate days, Lucy has stayed extra to assist the house when coworkers have been out sick or unable to come to work due to an emergency.  She continuously goes above and beyond on a daily basis and all of her hard work has helped keep the house functioning during a time of short staffing and increased care needs.  Overall, I can’t say enough good things about her.

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

Super Hero of the Month for December!

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 Priyanka Giri, who is a Coordinator for our Host Home program.

Priyanka was nominated by her Supervisor, who wrote:

Priyanka Giri has been a rock star regarding two recent moves involving clients on her caseload.  She provided uninterrupted support to two new host home placements with new providers over the holiday weekend.  She received calls, counseled and supported clients, guardians, and providers, provided on site visits and training support every day over the holiday break.  She even picked up a client at the airport after a family vacation.  This type of support has become the norm for Priyanka, she is committed to making sure new placements go smoothly, are thoughtful and receive all the support they require to get off on the right foot and give everyone involved the best chance for success from the start.  She consistently makes herself available to the people she supports and always does so with a positive attitude and the compassion we all strive to meet.  I can always rest assured that new placements will go well and receive all the attention they deserve, dotting every “i” and crossing every “t” when Priyanka is on the case.  She just gets the job done, plain and simple.  Innovations is lucky to have her and I’m proud she is a part of the Host Home team!

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

Super Hero of the Month for November!

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 Fran Batts, who is a Coordinator for our Host Home program.

Fran was nominated by one of the Host Home Providers she supports, who wrote:

I wanted to take the time to highlight Fran and the outstanding job she does.  I can definitely say that without her support I probably would not have been as successful being a Host Home Provider. I feel that she goes above and beyond to help support not only me, but the also the people I take care of.  Even though I have been a host home provider for 7 years, she continues to educate me on various changes so that I can continue to support my clients to the best of my abilities.  As an example, she helped me with the new DentaQuest system.  I appreciate her as a member of the Host Home team, and just wanted to let you know she has always and continues to do an outstanding job. Throughout the years and the various clients I have supported, she has always been available when I needed support, and was always offered encouragement when it was greatly needed.  Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to work with her as a member of your Host Home team.

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

Super Hero of the Month for October!

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 Tim Johnson, who is the Program Manager for our Host Home program.

Tim was nominated by one of his direct reports, who wrote:

I’d like to nominate my supervisor, Tim Johnson, for the Super Hero of the Month Award. Tim spends a lot of time meeting with providers/guardians/coordinators to make sure that we are all acting in the best interest of the individuals that we serve. He is extremely empathetic, understanding and he communicates effectively with everyone. He always responds to crises with calmness and tact and helps coordinators to deal with these crises around the clock. He goes above and beyond to make sure everyone is happy, especially the individuals in services, and he is an amazing supervisor.

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

Super Hero of the Month for September!

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 Christina Raynes, who is a Program Specialist for our Nursing Services.

Christina was nominated by her co-worker, who wrote:

Christina has really gone to bat for a number of individuals in the Family Models. She is helping two families navigate the process of getting a new wheelchair through Medicaid – but to add to the difficulty, both requests for equipment have been for a specialty item. Christina has made herself an expert. I know that she has taken a load of stress and anxiety off of the shoulders of those families. In addition, she is helping two other families get the disposable medical supplies that they want and need. Our Family Recruited Employees/Parents don’t often have a lot of back up, but Christina is helping to fill the gap. By getting individuals the equipment and supplies they need, she is directly contributing to their health, safety and wellbeing. I’m very thankful for all of her help.

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

Innovations and the Imagine! Leadership Development Group!

We are thrilled to announce that one of our Innovations Group Home Site Supervisors, Cameron Navis, has been named to this year's Imagine! Leadership Development Group!  The Leadership Development Group is an annual program to find people at Imagine! who want to accelerate their growth within the company.  Cameron, along with four other Imagine! employees, will study leadership techniques, and will learn about how Imagine! functions within the broader system of services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.  The program will culminate with a group project aimed at improving an aspect of how we do business at Imagine!  We at Innovations are excited for Cameron, and look forward to the creative ideas he will bring both to this Group, and back to Innovations in return.

Click here to check out Imagine! CEO Mark Emery's post on this year's Leadership Development Group.

If you see Cameron around, congratulate him on being a member of this year's Imagine! Leadership Development Group!

A Special DSP Recognition Week Shout-Out to Our Innovations Super Heroes!

As part of our appreciation for our Innovations Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) this week, we wanted to highlight all of our Super Heroes of the month for this past year!  A huge thank you again to the following staff and providers who have best exemplified the quality standards we strive for here at Innovations.  THANK YOU for doing amazing work every day to provide exceptional support and care to the people we serve.

Marie Handlin - Program Specialist for our Host Homes program
Jennifer Carr - Site Supervisor II for our Family Model program
Martha Heimbaugh - Administrative Assistant for our Innovations for Children program
Ryan Brennan - Residential Counselor for our Manhattan Group Home
Alex Prokop - Primary Residential Counselor for our the Charles Family Group Home
Mike Fischer - Primary Residential Counselor for our Satellite Apartment Program
Margaret Kuwata - Primary Residential Counselor for our Bob and Judy Charles Group Home
Amy Brissette - Foster Care Placement Worker for our Innovations for Children program
Jamie Crawford - Residential Assistant Site Supervisor for our Manhattan Group Home
Diana Stobbe - Coordinator for our Host Home program