2010 Annual Meeting & Awards Ceremony
Recipients of awards at the 2010 Annual Meeting and Awards Ceremony were honored at The Yorktowne Hotel on Tuesday, 5 October.
Outstanding Employee Achievement
When reviewing the nominations for outstanding employee achievement, it was easy to see that each of these folks experience lots of different things in the course of their work days (and nights). What was more noticeable, however, is all the things they have in common. No matter their daily tasks or how long they’ve been employed here, they are all choosing to be their best selves in service to others.
WENDY
It’s saying something that this is not the first time this administrative services employee has received the award for outstanding employee; she continues to demonstrate her loyalty to Bell and dedication to doing a great job. With Bell for more than 20 years, Wendy Beaverson was faced with a major job change this year, learning a new payroll system after a long time of doing her a job a certain way. She learned quickly, adapted to change, and rearranged her personal life to work well beyond her typical work week so our 300+ employees would be paid correctly and on time … all while relearning and adapting what she had done in the past. Things did not always go smoothly; there were many challenges with the new system but not once did she complain. She is still striving to improve the process and proves herself as a proactive problem solver as issues arise; facing situations head on and with professionalism. Wendy has given much to Bell in the past 20 years and her dedication to the agency and to its employees is apparent in the kindness and concern she demonstrates.
LAMAR
Our recipient of the mental health services Outstanding Employee award was nominated not once, or even twice, but by five of his peers for this award this year. They used words like tireless, hardworking, dedicate;, an outstanding and awesome person. In his role as a Mental Health Worker for Bell’s Community Treatment Team (CTT) Lamar Matthew works early and he works late. He goes above and beyond his assigned duties on a regular basis, giving 100% to any task, all the time. His coworkers refer to him as the “ultimate team player” and a great asset to Bell. Since day one, they’ve seen Lamar’s willingness to be flexible. He runs several consumer groups, serves as housing specialist, provides refreshments, washes linens on his own time, and is able to accomplish all tasks set before him with a positive attitude. His supervisor commented that he is a joy to work with and that even when workloads get rough he’s upbeat, singing, greeting others jovially and helping to keep spirits high.
SHAN
As a part-time resident counselor at Bell Family Shelter, Shan Caughman has demonstrated his abilities as a strong team leader. He shows dependability and flexibility and has again and again been willing to work overnight shifts, security awake shifts or any shift available as needed to provide quality services to shelter residents. With a number of senior staff changes during the past year Shan has remained dedicated and positive during the transitions, all the while maintaining a professional attitude despite the days events (which, as you can imagine, can get pretty hectic in an 11-bedroom house with nearly 40 resident every day). The clients respect Shan and they, too, comment on his leadership and consistency. He has been recently promoted to a full time hourly resident counselor position and we look forward to him being a further asset to the Bell Family Shelter.
BRIAN
If one were to look inside any of Bell’s 14 MR group homes around the county, there would be many similarities to every other home in the neighborhood: people going about the daily tasks of living, sharing time together as a family. If you’d look in the windows our Farmview Lane home, however, you may very well see the recipient of our mental retardation services Outstanding Employee Award marching around the house, clapping and singing. And he won’t be alone. Right by his side will be a consumer who very much looks forward to sharing her time with him. Brian Fox works in a behavioral house, where his primary role is to care for a consumer with intellectual disabilities and autism who has many needs and seeks attention non-stop. He has developed a great relationship with her and devotes much time to teaching her sign language, how to exercise and other ways to live a happy life. To witness Brian Fox at work, it’s apparent that he truly believes in what he does. He is always positive, incredibly patient, and very creative – with all his efforts dedicated to improving the quality of life for the consumer. Beyond his direct care work, Brian also extends his great communication skills and can-do attitude as a real team player with his coworkers, too.
KAREN
For the mental health services Personal Achievement Award, we recognized a woman who has grown into a strong role model for all receiving AND providing services at Bell. She has faced and overcome many difficulties – including housing, interpersonal and vocational – but always carried one goal: to get better, to feel better, and to be in recovery.
Facing these challenges has not been easy but Karen Trickett doesn’t give up. Karen has a strong voice and will speak up when she feels the need. Not only has she been active with several of Bell’s programs to help meet her goals, Karen now serves as an employee at Bell and demonstrates daily to others that dreams can be achieved.
LEON
A woman at Shadowfax who’s been working with the recipient of our mental retardation services Personal Achievement Award for more than 20 years said she can’t get over the change in him. Over the past year he has shown great personal and social growth. His personality bloomed – becoming so talkative and sociable at his job people have asked, “Who is this man?” Once socially withdrawn, extremely quiet and relying on multiple prompts to accomplish any task, there is no mistaking . . . Leon Kinley is doing great.
Leon has an excellent rapport with his housemates and the staff at his home in Dallastown and is always smiling. He enjoys cooking and helps staff with baking. He’s also become a more active member in his community and attends church services every Sunday with his housemates. He especially enjoyed attending the Dallastown Carnival this year, too.
At work, because of his demonstrated improvement, he’s earning higher paychecks by working at a steadier rate and continues to take direction from his supervisor in a positive manner. Leon is very friendly and interacts personably with his peers and is always willing to lend a helping hand.
TAVIA
The recipient for personal achievement is a part of Bell’s Bridge Housing Program. A single mother with four children and a growing mountain of expenses, she was in and out of homelessness three times in as many years. Overwhelmed and frustrated that no solutions seemed to be available, she entered Bell Family Shelter. There, she worked with her caseworker and applied for transitional housing. Her application was accepted on July 2nd and a better life for her family is now reality.
With stable housing, affordable rent, and case management services, Tavia Orr now has some stability in her life. Putting together workable budgets, she can now pay her bills on time and is starting to work on long-term goals which include registering for nursing school.
If you attended our Woman Empowered event in August (sponsored by the Junior League of York) you may recognize Tavia; she was one of the models in the fashion show.
All three of our community award recipient entities have shown wonderful support to our agency beyond the scope of just one year. Demonstrating Bell’s mission, each has provided an environment of support and empowerment where people can improve their quality of living. We extend are most grateful appreciation!
We also recognize corporate sponsors who helped us put on such a nice event:
AFLAC representative Michael Beck
Brown’s Orchard
Cherry Lane Realty
Emory J Peters Excavating & Paving
Gohn & Stambaugh, Inc
Holt Paper
K & M Home Center
Lackawanna Insurance Group
Mazzitti & Sullivan EAP Service
Quality Digital Office Technology
Telecom Business Solutions
Yorkshire Realty