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Newsletter for
June/July 2006
Volume 3 - Issue 6 - Page 2 |
Day
Services
Sarah Krom
“I need someone to…” seemed to be the catch phrase for summer. We
have been busy, busy, busy at the plant and with planning for
the summer at CHS. One of the best things about being busy is
that the days fly by and we are all more focused on getting the
job done. Challenged by the need to meet all of our customer’s
expectations we are more creative with staff and client
assignments and have found some new ‘niches’ and talents. I
frequently hear “I didn’t think that … could do that!” and on
one memorable day Jan came to my office {actually bouncing up
and down} and laughingly said “ I have 2 new 25’ hose wrappers!”
Keeping open minds about everyone’s potential is something we
strive for everyday and it’s rewarding when someone achieves a
goal, tries a new job, makes more ‘widgets’ then the day before,
or takes home their biggest paycheck ever.
The summer BBQ at Brit Spaugh that CHS staff throws for clients
was a big hit this year. Spending a few hours just able to have
some fun and eat always brings out the best in all
of us. I don’t make a lot of their special occasions but this is
one I try never to miss. Staff took folks to a miniature horse
farm in Hays and taught the finer points of Balloon Baseball.
The Walk Kansas program was completed and we had a team finish
in 2nd place. Walking 1206 miles the team of Cynthia Chestnut,
Lisa Daniels, Leanda Ditus, Joey Haberman, John Branine, and
Larry Clements fell just short of the 1st place honors.
CONGRATULATIONS!
Transportation
Drivers and vehicles are undergoing the preparation to bring the
agency in compliance with the KCC safety program regulations.
Soon you will see the Vans marked with the agency name and USDOT#.
This program is another way to make sure that we provide folks
with the safest ride possible. Along with this program we hosted
a AAA Defensive Driving course. In May we certified 17 staff and
have another class scheduled for July.
Route drivers {8 vehicles} completed a trip summary in May and
in a typical week we provide over 1000 rides. The majority of
these are rides to and from work, recreation, and shopping. When
you add the number of rides given for medical services, EEC, or
in other 20+ agency vehicles we probably average close to 1100
rides per week. It’s easy to see why we stress safe driving
practices.
Recycling
Landscaping improvements continue at the 1st step facility and
we have had positive comments about the addition of morning
hours. Material volumes are on the rise again and our baling
crew has had to work extra hours to keep up with the increases.
Our reputation continues to grow and I have had additional
business contact me as they look at starting up programs in
their facilities and want to be a part of our Business District
Pick Up services. The crews have become so efficient at this
time we are serving 188 businesses and have found some time in
the schedule to pick up a few more.
EMPLOYEES OF THE MONTH
Both Day Services facilities had employees honored this month.
Her co-workers recognized Ruby Philburn for her
dedication to clients and flexibility. Having things change in
the course of her day never seems to “throw her for a loop” and
always “going out of her way to help” seem to be just a few of
the personal attributes she brings to her job. Angie Ratcliff
‘campaigned’ and won nomination from her co-workers at the
Plant. Angie’s ‘pals’ commented on her flexibility also. Whether
working recycling, saw room, or driving a route truck Angie
‘makes sure the job gets done”. Her “ humor and lightheartedness
help us get through the stressful times and she oversaw the
production of 1,372 pallets in May” were just a couple of the
platitudes her co-worker wrote about her. An example of her
helping relieve the stress in the Plant was her ‘ campaign’ day.
She kept staff thinking of reasons she should or shouldn’t be
nominated during an afternoon {some of which were very
creative}. As one of the staff brought to her attention – no
campaign button was needed!
Medical
Services
Sharon Henderson, RN
Medical Services promotes wellness of body, mind and spirit
with education and positive supports. Medical Services staff
includes: Sharon Henderson, RN; Candra Deschner, Support Staff;
and Diane Ramos, Restorative Aide.
June has been a busy month for medical services. On June 5, we
recertified 30 residential and 22-day services staff for
Medication Administration. We do this annually to make sure that
our staff stay informed about changes and proper procedures.
This last week we have done 64 hearing assessments. This is done
annually and most of the clients enjoy having their ears
checked.
On a personal note, my surgery is June 20th. I will be gone
until July 10th. Many of my coworkers will be helping out with
my duties so say an extra “thank you” to them for me. If you
have questions or concerns and medical services can’t help you,
please call Decky, Sarah or Shelly and I know one of them will
be able to help you. I hope by the next newsletter I will be
back and will be able to tell you that I have a complete cure.
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Residential Supports
Shelly Shelton
The month of June we started off without our residential manager.
Brenda decided to take a week and go see family in Tennessee. It had
been so long since Brenda had taken more than a day or two off at a
time, I wasn’t sure that we would know what to do without her. The
residential program depends on Brenda and her knowledge of the
individuals and the sites and her willingness to do whatever it
takes to get the job done. With the help and support of the Triage
team, Cynthia and Cindy, we made it through.
This month at our residential meeting, the staff did yearly
re-certification on medication administration. Sharon, the agency
nurse, visited with staff about medical issues and then talked about
general medical information. A test was given to all staff to take.
The Great Bend program has a new person in our services that just
moved to Great Bend. She will be living in her own apartment. We
look forward to working with her. Another person in our program has
moved from an apartment in Great Bend to an apartment in Larned.
We hired our first student apprenticeship staff for residential this
month. The apprentice works along side experienced staff providing
employment, recreational and life skills support to our individuals.
Apprentices must be at least 17 years of age and a high school or
college student. We are looking forward to more participants in this
program hoping that they will find that this is the career for them.
We have hired quite a few new staff; so when you see new faces at
the sites, please take time to welcome them. This is the first time,
in what seems like ages, that we have easily manageable numbers of
staff vacancies.
Much fun and excitement at CP camp this month that was attended by
16 people. Thanks for the hard work of the staff, parents and
guardians for making it possible for folks to be able to experience
camp.
After reflecting back on all the support I have received from
everyone at Sunflower, I have realized that there are quite a few of
our staff that have family members working here also. Three of our
new residential staff have a parent working for Sunflower. A person
must feel good about the job they do and the people they work with
for them to encourage a family member to come to work here. This
says a lot about Sunflower Diversified Services!
Safety News
Harold Jones
Marketing News:
The Big News for me this last month was attending the 3I show
May 11, 12 and 13. With a little help from my friends we managed a
pretty good display of Pallets, Assembly Work, Commercial Sewing,
Recycling and Door Mats. If you attended the show and stopped by,
thanks for dropping in. If you didn't.... well, that's probably
because we occupied one of the far West outside lots. The weather
was grand, our neighbors in adjacent lots were all nice.... all in
all it was a really good experience. Door Mats were a hot item:
Alice and the crew were cranking them out as fast as I could take
orders for them. Thanks to everyone who gave me a hand setting up,
tearing down, manning the booth and building the displays.
Safety News:
Injuries and Accident numbers remain WAY down at the bottom of
the scale. Thanks to everyone for staying safe... and remember to
WATCH WHERE YOU'RE WALKING!!!
Recycling News:
We have a few light weeks during March and April, but judging
from the HUGE volume of material in the warehouse area we're making
up for it now. Roger and his crew are working extra hard (and some
extra hours) to stay on top of things. I expect our volume will pick
up some more before it levels off.
Last month - during our Earth Day celebration - we extended the
hours at the First Step Drop Off Center to include mornings. As
part of the publicity for that change we held a contest for the
community at large to see who could guess the actual amount of
material that came in on Earth Day. Karen Schank of Great Bend was
the closest guesser: she guessed 3,359 pounds and the actual amount
was 3,403. I wonder how she did that?
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