National Nursing Home Week ran from May 8 to May 14. Garfield Neurobehavioral Center celebrated both staff and residents by having fun themed dress up days, and prizes were awarded to the staff member with the most spirit. On the final day, Garfield had a luau with gifts for every staff member.
La Paz, a 130-bed geropsychiatric center located in Paramount, CA, gets in the spirit for Cinco de Mayo!
TAO (top row) and La Paz (bottom row) celebrated National Nurses Week, which took place from May 6 to May 12. The nursing staff and mothers were celebrated at TAO, while non-nursing staff at La Paz showed their support and appreciation of the program nurses by dressing in scrubs.
If you live in California, make sure you get a voice in this election. Register now!
The deadline to vote in the California’s June 7 Primary Election is Monday, May 23.
Californians who have not registered to vote can sign up by clicking here. The step-by-step process is available in a variety of languages and only takes a few minutes.
If you do not know if you are registered, or if you do not remember your party affiliation, click here. If you’ve moved or changed your last name since the last election, you need to update your voter registration.
California's Secretary of State Alex Padilla is calling all eligible voters to action. He said in a press release, “If the election were held today, over 7 million otherwise eligible Californians would be left on the sidelines. Fortunately, there is still time to register to vote in the June 7 Presidential Primary Election. Whether you’ve recently turned 18, become a new US citizen, or just want to vote for the first time—I urge Californians to register today."
In California, the American Independent, Democratic, and Libertarian parties will allow No Party Preference in the upcoming primary. This means that voters who do not affiliate themselves with any party may participate in the June 7 primary.
More voter information can be found here.
Staff and members from SOAR, Jeremy House, and TEIR braved the rain to support the 2016 Northern California NAMI walk at William Land Park. Despite the weather, a great time was had by all! We even had a special visitor–former California Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg!
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"Let us strive to ensure people living with mental health conditions know that they are not alone, that hope exists, and that the possibility of healing and thriving is real. Together, we can help everyone get the support they need to recover as they continue along the journey to get well." -- President Barak Obama, Presidential Proclamation -- National Mental Health Awareness Month, 2016.
Every May we come together to combat stigma, provide support, and educate the public on mental health issues for Mental Health Awareness Month.
Each year the support grows stronger, yet we know to continue the momentum of breaking down barriers we must help increase awareness and understanding of mental health issues in the communities we serve. To help generate awareness, Mental Health America released a handy toolkit packed with fact sheets, shareable images for social media, and a call to action to share what life with a mental illness feels like. Download the toolkit by visiting here!
There are many ways you can help support Mental Health Awareness Month. Here are a few resources to get you started:
Telecare has once again been named one of the Best Places to Work (BPTW) in the Bay Area by the San Francisco Business Times. Staff from CHANGES, Gladman, Sausal Creek, Morton Bakar, Redwood Place, and STRIDES/STEPS/STAGES
attended the celebration in San Francisco on Tuesday, April 19.
Out of more than 400 nominations, only the top 125 companies are chosen for this award based on BPTW employee engagement survey responses. This is the 14th time we've been honored on this list.
Thank you to everyone at Telecare's 90+ programs and corporate office for your continued work in providing and improving mental health services!
Our Gresham Telecare team enjoyed an all day staff retreat at YMCA Camp Collins which is in Oxbow Park. We had a speaker come in to talk with us about effective communication, she was very informative! We then took a hike through the woods and along the Sandy River. We found several interesting things on our hike including a ropes course, we may have stopped and had a little fun swinging around! The building we were in (Jesse’s Lodge is one of many buildings they have at the camp), had windows all around it so we got to enjoy the view all day. That is when we all took a short break to look at the beautiful deer right outside our windows, they were so close to us we all had to stop and check them out!
Lena then lead an exercise “Getting to know you”, where we all shared about ourselves and learned new things about one another. Salena then presented some RCCS information that we all discussed together. Jen closed the retreat with “Next steps” where we spent time addressing our program, how we can improve, changes we want to make, and we discussed a list of suggestions from the residents obtained during a recent discussion group. It was a wonderful, productive, informative, and fun filled day!!
(L-R) Top Row: Bridget Murray, Recovery Specialist; Rachel Severson, Medical Records; Chad Hamilton, Recovery Specialist; Tim Leewehage, Recovery Specialist, the one with his hands up; Amy Lugo, HR Coordinator; Lena Witkowski, Nursing Coordinator; Brinda Peterson, Lead Housekeeper.
(L-R) Bottom Row: Jordan Simpson, Recovery Specialist and Jen Obermeyer, Administrator. Photo by Salena Schwartz, Clinical Director.
(L-R)Top Row: David Nez, Recovery Specialist; Cirsten Kimball, Recovery Specialist; Salena Schwartz, Clinical Director; Sharon Aumani, RN; Angela Gilleran, Recovery Specialist; Joyce Bailey, Recovery Specialist; Steve Ryniker, Housekeeper; Vieve, Art Therapist; Jacob Jonas-Closs, Recovery Specialist; Sarah Gracey, BOM; JoAnna WIlliams, Recovery Specialist; Petr Penkov, Housekeeper.
(L-R) Bottom Row: Jen Patterson, Admit/Discharge Coordinator; Jenny Siemens, RN; and Barbara Lee, Recovery Specialist.
For some of us on the West Coast, Spring has sprung! At the La Casa campus in Long Beach, CA, it seems to be in full bloom!
El Dorado Psychiatric Health Facility in Northern California celebrated St. Patrick’s Day with a tribute to the man himself. In one group, Eliza the Rehab Therapist put together a handout for the residents and discussed
St. Patrick as a role model, his history, and how he used determination, focus, and humanitarian skills to achieve
his goals.
The holidays were made a little sweeter by Medical Records Technician Tamera Simonson who surprised Clark County Telecare staff with personalized stockings. Tamera embroidered staff members names on the stockings and thoughtfully chose different material to match each staff member’s interests. She sewed a total of 52 stockings. Staff were delighted and touched by her kindness and continued the spirit of generosity by filling the stockings with small gifts, candy and cards. Many stockings were overflowing with treats, which goes to show that Telecare staff truly appreciate and celebrate each other.
Submission by Shawn Wolf (social worker)
Telecare Atlas / TABS / JETT rang in the New Year with our New Year, New You Transformational Resource Fair on January 29th.
Thirty-four agencies across LA County came to support the event and provided participants with a variety of information on educational, vocational, and benefits opportunities.
Several members also received haircuts, free phones, signed up for medi-cal, and obtained glucose/blood pressure/HIV tests. Members were given post-its to help write their hopes and dreams for the New Year and pleased to interact with the variety of different community programs.
A special thank you to Nick Shepard, Andrea Major, Rayzhone Davis and our wonderful support staff for helping organize the event.
Recently, a mother of a member from San Diego’s IHOT program reached out via the Telecare website and left a sweet message for staff:
“Your entire staff in San Diego County are the most compassionate, intelligent professional people our family has encountered in the too many years we as parents of a mentally unstable adult have met. We thank every person we even briefly talked to on our son’s behalf. You accepted him. THANK YOU for that. Your positive, sacrificial, professional ‘coaching’ will always be a golden memory. Thank you IHOT San Diego County.”
Wrapping up a party-filled 2015, Sanger Place in Fresno County celebrated Telecare’s 50th anniversary (and the programs fifth!) with a big party for their staff. Thank you to the party planners and all the staff that made this event special!
2015 was a wonderful, interesting, and exciting year for our San Joaquin Telecare family. First, I would like to express my deep and sincere appreciation to our Jeremy House family for the amazing team work, dedication, passion, and commitment to the day-to-day work that they do. I am grateful for the beautiful uniqueness in each of our members and the diversity that we all continue to learn and embrace. It’s the hard and heart work that is given to the program and the residents from each member of the team that makes us great in our ability to serve with passion, compassion, and quality. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for being the awesome team you are!
To our sister program, TEIR, I’m looking forward to the incredible journey ahead. Our TEIR team is tiny, but very mighty. Thank you for your eagerness to learn and your dynamic energy. We are rockin’ and rollin’! Go Team!
Special thanks to the wonderful and awesome communications team. Thank you for all your help and the goodies throughout the year. Thanks for keeping us informed and in the loop. Another special thanks to the IT team. You never failed us!
To the entire Telecare family, we would like to wish you and yours a very happy, safe, and stress-free holidays!
With warm regards,
Jeremy House and TEIR
This year, in honor of our 50th anniversary, we invited all of our programs to share their stories of recovery, values, and inspiration. We would like to say a huge thank you to all of the programs who put their time, effort, and love into this contest. Take a look at the videos below to see who will be bringing home The Morty, an award created in honor of Anne Bakar's father and one ofTelecare's founders, Morton Bakar!
Telecare staff and members of our inpatient program in Hayward, California, share what recovery means to them and what they are most proud of in their life and work.
Our community-based program in East Oakland showed their heart, spirit, and all the unique ways they are incorporating the Telecare values and Evidence Based Practices to improve the lives of the members they serve.
Telecare members and staff in our court-ordered program in Orange County share their stories of making it through hardship and give words of hope and encouragement to those on their own recovery journey.
In honor of the victims from the tragedy that occurred in San Bernardino December 2, San Bernardino ACT, MAPS, TIE-CC staff and members expressed their sympathy and condolences by visiting the memorial site leaving words of support and encouragement.
This tragedy has gathered worldwide attention and media coverage, but at the end of the day, families are still left with voids, and survivors with scars. Please keep San Bernardino in your thoughts as they begin the healing process. If you would like to support the families of those affected here is how you can help:https://www.gofundme.com/SupportSB
Throughout the year of 2015, Telecare San Bernardino ACT/MAPS/TIE-CC (IEHP) participated in a number of fundraisers in preparation of the Annual Inland Empire NAMI Walk. This year the committee consisted of members, team leads, PSCs, and administrative staff. The committee arranged a bake sale, savory casserole sale, dress down day, and a rummage sale totaling $1,125 in donations.
Our three programs (ACT, MAPS, and TIE-CC) had a total of 45 members and staff registered to participate in the NAMI walk as the “Telecare Heroes”; taking the challenge of walking the trail, obtaining local resources and education of services available through the booths, and enjoyed the sense of community ending out day with lunch and socializing under the tents. NAMI for us is not just a fundraiser, it’s a way for our members and staff to connect and start stomping stigmas of mental illness.
Telecare ACT / Community Nursing Conference
November 3rd and 4th, San Diego, CA
Workshops included Role of ACT nurses, Avatar, Order Connect, Med management practices, Physical conditions in individuals with SMI, Assessing side-effects of antipsychotics, Open Mic with Dr. Harvey Segalove, CMO.
50 Years of Services to People With Serious Mental Illness
