Well, I thought I missed a big opportunity by not posting during Direct Care Professionals Week Sept. 11-17.

I did miss an opportunity to thank all our staff, who are super heroes in their own right. But I have another opportunity to brag about them. A few weeks before this nationally recognized appreciation week, we asked our staff to share some of the comments they’d heard from the people we serve. I’ll share a few:

“Small things go a long way”

“Awhile ago a program assistant told me about this, and it just meant a lot to me to know that even the small things we say go a long way with our clients. This was her conversation with the client. It still makes me smile whenever I think about it”:

Program Assistant: “You look pretty today.”
Client: “Yeah, I know.”
Program Assistant: “How do you know that?”
Client: “Because [my direct support professional] always tells me that.”  (Submitted by services for people with disabilities staff)

“The best endorsement I’ve ever received”

“Recently a teenager I have been working with mentioned to a hospital social worker he did not like the in-home worker he was working with. When the social worker explored his reasons, my teen stated, “My worker is too good of a guesser.”  I told him his statement was one of the best endorsements I have ever received.” (Submitted by behavioral health intervention services staff)

“I can’t say enough about your direct line staff”

“I want you to know that I appreciate everything Bremwood has done for [client]. Bremwood was willing to give [client] a chance when no one else in the state would, and they stuck with him for almost two years . . . [Bremwood staff member] did an amazing job working with [client]. He was able to connect with him and truly care about him! [Staff] did a great job at helping to think outside of the box to maintain [client] at Bremwood. I also cannot say enough about all the direct line staff that helped with [client]. They had a very tough job . . . I appreciate all their dedication and support . . . Please share my gratitude with all the staff at Bremwood.”  (A message residential staff received from a DHS social worker)

 

About an hour ago someone on my team forwarded a photograph, which made me so proud! I just have to share it. So, I figured it would make a pretty well-rounded post to combine some kudos to our staff.

Following is a picture of a message that a client created for some of our staff. He reached his goals, which means we worked ourselves out of a job – he doesn’t need our services any more! This gentleman illustrated our partnership with all our clients (the people named are LSI staff):


 

 

 

 

 

 

And, finally, today I saw a copy of a letter from a fellow non-profit organization (Flickinger Learning Center in Muscatine) thanking LSI staff for helping them with a Day of Caring project.

It’s a great day.