La Paz Veteran’s Day Recognition

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Happy Veteran’s Day to our special LVN Malcolm Edrada. Malcolm served in the U.S. Navy for 10 years as an Engineering Mate. He served on five deployments to the Western Pacific areas such as Singapore, Japan, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Australia– just to name a few.

One of his greatest accomplishments was when Malcolm was awarded an ESWS pin. This pin is a surface warfare insignia that is a military badge of the U.S. Navy and issued to personnel who are trained and qualified to perform duties aboard surface warships.

When Malcolm was in San Diego, he was “volun-told” to join the Naval Security Force, also known as the Naval Law Enforcement, and he shined. They recognized his talents and Malcom graduated with honors out of a class of about 50 students. Malcolm had an average of 97.5%.

When Malcolm left the U.S. Navy he took about a year off until he decided to become a nurse — LVN.  In January, Malcolm will have worked four years with us. We are honored to have such a kind, courageous, and patient man working with us. Malcolm is the epitome of a great nurse.

Happy Veteran’s Day to Malcolm and all the men and women that serve our country, past, present and future.We are deeply grateful for your service!

San Mateo County Recognizes Transitions as a Housing Hero

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Telecare’s Full Service Partnership in San Mateo, Transitions, was among a handful of programs and organizations recognized for excellence in providing stable housing for people with mental health and substance use issues. The Behavioral Health and Recovery Services of San Mateo County held its annual Housing Heroes awards ceremony Oct. 22, at which FSP’s administrator Kevin Jones accepted the award—a plaque and potted plant. The Housing Heroes awards were instituted in 2008, and this year is Telecare’s second award. Current FSP housing coordinator Lee Cates was recognized for excellence in housing in 2013.

Kevin Jones, second from right, stands among three other honorees at an Oct. 22 award ceremony recognizing excellence in housing. Also pictured is Ohevet Fotofini, a board and care operator; Georgia Peterson, a shelter operator; and Karen Francone of the Service League of San Mateo.

Kevin Jones, left, spoke briefly to accept a Housing Heroes award from San Mateo County on Oct. 22, while county health and recovery director Stephen Kaplan and Telecare housing coordinator Lee Cates (seated) and PSC II Yesenia Cortes (standing) listen. Cates was recognized as a Housing Hero in 2013.

Kevin Jones, right, anticipates his staff will enjoy reminding him of the unintentionally humorous mis-attribution to a presentation slide identifying him as “Millard.”

Gateway to Recovery and Pathways to Recovery Party with Special Guests!

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For some Friday fun, check out Gateway to Recovery and Pathways to Recovery special celebration of Telecare’s 50th anniversary, with special guest appearances from Flat Anne, Flat Gary, Flat Jessica, Flat Mary, and Shamu!

Thank you to Elise Naughtin and the entire teams at GTR and PTR for sharing the fun!

Garfield Celebrates Telecare’s 50th!

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Last month, Garfield hosted a red-carpet soiree for Telecare’s 50th anniversary. Staff munched on a great buffet and delicious cake, played Telecare Trivia, and watched the 50th commemorative video, as well as one put together by staff for a special occasion. Garfield’s many longevity employees got up to say a few words, followed by a touching speech from Regional Administrator Kier Taylor who spoke on the random acts of kindness he sees from staff daily.

Thank you to Reiko Takaishi and Garfield staff for throwing a fabulous party!

San Bernardino’s Team Building Day!

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Submitted by Norma Bermudez
AA/HR for San Bernardino ACT, MAPS, and TIE-CC

In late July, San Bernardino ACT, MAPS, and TIE-CC programs went to San Juan Capistrano for team building with a day full of activities. Staff were able to learn about each other and their surroundings. Everyone joined in team building exercises/games, a guided tour of San Juan Capistrano Mission, and ended with a nice luncheon at a restaurant by the mission. This was fun team building! A BIG thank you to the management team for making this possible!

Gladman Celebrates Telecare's 50th

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Gladman MHRC celebrated Telecare’s 50th Anniversary with a big party in their back yard. The entire Gladman crew set up a fantastic party  that included a live band, fun party games, and face painting! A big thank you to the dietary team at Gladman and the amazing job they did whipping up burgers and hot dogs in a flash! They catered the entire party and served some delicious food for all to share. Check out a glimpse of the activities below.

Sausal Creek Parties at the Ballpark!

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Sausal Creek staff and their family members celebrated Telecare’s 50th birthday by taking it out to the ballgame!

On July 19th, staff had the pleasure of watching the Oakland A’s hit home run after home run while playing the Minnesota Twins. Final Score: a whopping 14-1 victory!!

It has been a year of many transitions at Sausal Creek as they said good-bye to the long-time leadership team of Pansy Taft-Butkowski (Administrator) and Sabrina Spellman (BOM/HR/AA). Pansy and Sabrina have moved onto other positions within the organization and Carolyn Rapier (former Administrator for Cordilleras) is now leading the Sausal Creek team into Telecare’s next half century!

SOAR Gets Spirited!

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By Kezzia Bullen
Clinical Director at SOAR

SOAR has some very spirited team members and we like to have spirit week (yes, like in high school) a few times a year. We have a theme each week and one of them was celebrating Telecare’s 50th year anniversary! We all love to eat and we have a themed potluck each day of the week too. We know that working in this field is very stressful and is often not immediately rewarding (and can take a lot of energy.) So, we like to make things fun whenever we can–often it’s all that gets us through on really tough days.

A special thank you to Bisa and Sheila for their spirit leadership. Bisa made all the props and decorations each day; THANK YOU!  Everyone on the SOAR team participated and chipped in for a fun and food filled week. I feel incredibly lucky to work with this work family.

LA Step Down Recognizes Members with Annual Picnic

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By Kathleen Wells
HR/AA, Telecare LA Step Down

Each year, members participate in an art contest to design our annual members picnic t-shirts. This year, Priscilla R. was the winner. All members and staff wore the t-shirts while participating in an array of activities including but not limited to; arts and crafts, dominoes, water balloon toss, basketball, Frisbee, ladder golf, arts and crafts, dominoes and other board games, also there was a karaoke and dance contest. We all enjoyed a wonderful barbecue meal of hot dogs, hamburgers (with all the trimmings), beans, potato salad and cookies for dessert.

Santa Cruz PHF and CSP Celebrate Telecare’s 50th!

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On July 17, 2015, Santa Cruz Psychiatric Health Facility and Crisis Stabilization Program celebrated Telecare’s 50th anniversary by hosting a big party at the facility. The festivities included a BBQ with wonderful food and treats. Telecare employees and County related staff and visitors attended. The theme of the celebration was Community Awareness and how Telecare can make a difference in Santa Cruz County.

Thank you Mark Kik for planning and cooking, and everyone who made this celebration a success!

LA Step Down Celebrates Telecare’s 50th!

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Los Angeles Step-Down has had a very busy month! We’ve celebrated our members annual picnic with many activities and an ole fashion barbecue in the park. Then, two weeks later, we also celebrated Telecare’s 50th Anniversary along with our open house! The “Taco Man” came in and cooked up some carne asada and pollo street tacos with beans, rice, and salsa. There were gift bags for our visitors; and for entertainment our members provided karaoke, dominoes and dancing. All were a huge success with our members, family, friends, colleagues, vendors and neighboring businesses.

Sonoma ACT Celebrate Telecare’s 50th!

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By AJ Rylaarsdam
Clinical Director at Sonoma ACT

On July 1st, Telecare Sonoma ACT celebrated the Open House of the McMinn Housing Project while also celebrating Telecare’s 50th anniversary. Staff and members relaxed in the shade of the redwood trees, enjoying lunch and visiting with each other while appreciating the community benefits of this stable housing project. One resident generously gave tours of her apartment throughout the afternoon for those curious to get a closer look. This was a celebration that brought together people from different community agencies.

Along with the ACT members who are residents of the McMinn apartments, staff from Sonoma ACT, Sonoma County Behavioral Health, Sonoma Community Housing and Eugene Berger Property Management were all in attendance. The McMinn housing project is a very successful collaboration between these agencies providing affordable housing in a remodeled apartment complex for eight ACT members. The McMinn apartments are more than a home for our members; it is a healthy recovery community in which members know and support one another in their daily lives. We honored Paula Cook of Sonoma Community Housing, by presenting her with a plaque, for her hard work on seeing this project through from its inception several years ago to its success today. Thank you to everyone who attended and made this celebration a fun and successful day.

La Paz Celebrates Telecare’s 50th!

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La Paz celebrated Telecare’s 50th year with a fun Mardi Gras theme party. Staff munched on BBQ chicken, tri-tip, pulled pork, ribs, salads, a 4-tier cake, and cookies, while listening to tunes from 1965! They even played Telecare Bingo and had 1965-themed trivia. Overall, the party looks and sounds like a great time! Thank you to the staff that worked hard to organize this wonderful event!

TAO Throws a 4th of July Bash & Welcoming Celebration

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Submitted by Anthony Delgado
Administrator at TAO

One of the ways in which Telecare TAO welcomes its members is through celebrations! They are a great opportunity for members and staff to play and enjoy each other as part of one single tribe or community. This is a time when in the spirit of celebration, recovery, and community, all divisions between members and staff disappear and all that remains is the humanity that binds us together.

Orange County is currently developing a newsletter to highlight the FSP philosophy and how it’s visible in programs. TAO submitted this example to the county as an example of the practices they have used within their program in hopes to encourage others.

Santa Barbara Programs Celebrate 50 Years!

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by Richelle Bucayu
Administrator Santa Maria ACT & McMillan Ranch

On June 26, 2015, Santa Barbara County programs Santa Maria ACT, McMillan Ranch, and CARES Crisis Residential took time away from superhero duties to celebrate 50 years of helping members recover and obtain the life they envision.

Staff, members, and member families came together at a superhero-themed summer BBQ picnic to acknowledge and thank the heroes among us - staff for their dedication and limitless compassion; members for their resiliency and hopefulness; families for their support, patience, and willingness to understand; and our community collaborators such as county Alcohol, Drug, and Mental Health Services for striving to make positive changes in the community and allowing Telecare to make that difference.

Thank you to our fabulous party planners for a successful picnic: Megan McGuire, Anita Morin, Michele Chisum, and Carla Anderson. Thank you to Tele Trujillo and Dr. Levy for the tasty BBQ. Thank you to my managers, Robin Squires and Martha Mancha for your behind-the-scenes assistance. I am so grateful for every staff contributing to the teamwork needed to make this a successful Telecare birthday. Thank you everyone!