newsletter- fall 09.pub

Ability Counts, Inc.
News To Count On
“P ro vid ing Vo ca t io na l Tra in i ng a nd Emp lo yment Op p o rtunit ies fo r P eo p le wi th Deve l o p menta l Disa b i l it ies”
Issue 3
September – October
Halloween Party 2009
It wasn’t your normal Saturday night.
It was October 31st. Halloween. At
the end of a lonely road, a tall
building gave sanctuary to a hundred
ghouls, ghosts, and monsters from a
thousand tales. The specters would
allow an innocent passerby to enter
the dark sanctuary, but it would be a
nightmare to escape. Once inside the
great hall, one would witness the
denizens in their relaxed demeanor.
On this night, they party not worrying
about angry mobs trying to catch
them. They rule this night!
During my brief stay in the
great hall, I saw ghosts, skeletons,
vampires and even a scarecrow. A
republic storm-trooper patrolled
throughout the night, keeping his
electronic range finder on me so no
harm would come to the patrons.
I saw Freddy Krueger stalking about,
though I was not asleep. Several
pirates drank and ate while sharing
stories of their oceanic adventures.
A lone Sleestak roamed the dance
floor while the Cat In The Hat chased
what he thought was a giant mouse.
A fireman made sure the snack bar
didn’t go up in flames.
Inside this issue:
Halloween Party
Sept. & Oct. Birthdays
1
2
The local Police and the S.W.A.T.
team were there trying to keep the
cowboys from fighting with the bikers
and wrestlers. Gargoyles flew overhead
waiting to swoop down on any undesirables.
Employee of the Month
Consumer of the Month
2
2
Career Center News
Technology
3
3
Employee Safety
Staff Years of Service
3
3
New Hire
Up-Coming Events
3
4
A ghoulish D.J. (Kevin Schwerdt)
played music to calm the beast in all.
The creatures paraded around to the
tunes of The Monster Mash, The
Chicken Dance and an assortment of
popular mortal tunes. Towards the end
of the evening, the results of the
Costume Contest were announced.
Cheryl Borough dressed in the Scare
Crow won the prize for the best ladies
costume. Devin Stewart won for his
costume as a cat girl, but there where
gifts for all. Special thanks to
Claudette Phelps for hosting such a
wonderful event.
New Community Work
Director’s Corner
4
4
Written by Blake Shimshock
Page 1
September Birthdays (Consumers)
Andrew Alleman, Stephanie Amick, Randy Arena, Debora Barton,
Jonathan Bauman, Ruth Ann Blackwood, Sam Brooks, Cheryl Borough,
Jamie Butler, Mark Chambers, Arturo Chavez, Monique Draper, David
Foster, Gary Fox, Christopher Gargan, Cletus Goible, Dustin Greeno,
Richard Hanna, Craig Hannah, James Harris, Jason Hodges, LaQurisha
Holloway, Akshay Joshi, Terrance Kern, Anscel King, Christopher King,
Gregory Silva Kissell, Mark O’Reilly, Daniel Perazzo, Lana Perea, Tuyet
Pham, Emmy Serrano , Melissa Shoptaw, Richard Smith, Geraldine
Steele, Robert Sweetwater, Sudhir Vasisht, Mathew Whitaker, Steven
Wilson, Damion Wright.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!
October Birthdays
Brian Bruneau, Fred Carson, Arturo Cervarntes, Tavares Dickerson,
Anthony Enriquez, Jeffery Fontes, Ed Harris, Karl Kappa, Michiko Kelly,
Adam Labanics, Candi Lane, Paul Laughlin, Hamad Mirmain, Norma Martinez, Thomas Mathews, Candace Moeller, Darryl Newman, Timothy Page,
Stan Reeves, Frank Rosal, John Stokes, Mark Thomas, Amber Todd,
Kimberly Veillon, Michael Wallander, David Wanamaker, Vickie Warf,
Melvin Watkins, Roger Williams, Almeda Yarborugh,
Employee of the Month
Employee of the Month for September is Rose Luquin who works
in Community Employment.
Employee of the Month for October
is Albert Felix who works in the
Corona facility.
They are both acknowledges for
having great attendance, taking
initiative and additional responsibilities, and having an overall great
work performance.
Rose Luquin
Albert Felix
Congratulations and keep up the
good work!!
Consumer of the Month
Consumer of the Month for September is Gilbert Dominguez who
works in our Landscape Program.
Consumer of the Month for October
is
Joe Valdez who works in
Greater Good Outpost enclave.
They are recognized for perfect
attendance, being team players,
having a positive and friendly attitude. Good Job! Congratulations!
Page 2
Gilbert Dominguez
Joe Valdez
News To Count On
Career Center News
We are very proud of the
number of consumers we were
able to place in community
employment work settings via
the Car eer Center J ob
Placement Assessment.
To name a few...
Efrain Saldana:
Efrain showed an interest in
working at various other things,
besides processing hangers at
the WAP program in Redlands.
His interest prompted his Job
Coach Yolanda Coker, to
recommend him for Supportive
Employment. After assessment,
we learned that he definitely
enjoys the outdoors and has
been subbing at Wildwood and
will be joining that group soon.
Devin Stewart:
Lawrence D. Arco:
Devin has had experience being
the assistant editor to a weekly
newsletter. His experience along
with his interest in being an
illustrator or designer of video
games in the field of art and
animation can be useful in our
newly
created Media enclave.
Among other, he is also interested
in sales and marketing, making him
a good team member for the
Greater Good Outpost (E-bay).
Lawrence has been working at the
Redlands Work Activity Program
for over two months now and is
really enjoying it.
Rose Le Quin
(Job Coach)
Laura DeHaro
David Brindley:
W hen the assessment was
completed, he showed an interest
in the Media dept., E-bay and office
work, as well as the Wood Shop.
Laura DeHaro received and award for
promptly reporting a situation that could
have escalated into a serious matter.
“ Don’t forget to inform your Case
Managers if you see something that
doesn’t look right.”
Technology
Downsizing, simplifying and enhancing our company communications and network has moved us into a new and
exciting direction this year, offering us more bang for our buck! Mid summer we switched from hosting our own
email and websites, to hosting with Google and GoDaddy. Google hosts our email, using the Google Apps program (Gmail email, shared documents and calendars), at zero cost to us as a non-profit organization. GoDaddy
hosts our websites as well. Having both systems hosted off-site frees us from the complex and costly network
systems we've had in place for years and saves us a tremendous amount of time and money. Now more than
ever, we have the power and flexibility to maximize our personal and company growth. But we aren't finished
with our improvements yet. We still have plenty more good stuff in the works!
Your feedback is always welcome. Thanks!
Written by Jeff Zimarik (Payroll / Tech. Manager)
Employee Safety
Accident prevention ... Your #1 intention! Be safe. Are you aware that each time an employee is injured, it
costs the company (and the employees) money? When the company is profitable, so are you! And when it's
not... well, you get the idea. Let's take care of one another. Work smart. Be aware. We are the company and
the company is us. Thanks!
Years of Service Recognition—September and October period New Hire—Job Coach
Guy Mersereau — 22 years (Wow!! )
Rudy Garcia—14 years (Wow!)
Leticia Moreno—6 years
Marcos Brynd, Justine Traupel, Russell Walsh, Corrina Willis—3 years
THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR LONGEVITY WITH THE COMPANY!
Issue 3
Ashley Gaji
Cora Alaniz
Sherlonn Bonner
Joanna Guerrero
Rita Lualemaga
Bertha Hernandez
Page 3
Director’s Corner
Up-Coming Events
Roger Cox
Chili Cook-off
11/14/09
Staff Christmas Party
12/12/09
Consumer Christmas Party
12/19/09
Community
Employment
(new worksites)
Director of Program Development
ABOUT ME: I was a co-founder of Ability Counts, Inc. in 1982, and worked company management for twenty years. Now that I am eligible for Medicare, my role is to help with health, safety,
first aid, and communication with the Ability Counts Board of Directors and accreditation. In fact,
many of you will meet me when you take Red Cross first aid, Cardio-Pulmonary Recessitation
(CPR) and Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) training sometime in the next year.
To best serve the people with disabilities at Ability Counts, we need to ask the question: how are
we doing? There is no one answer. It depends whether you are a consumer, care provider, IRC case
worker, staff member or customer. To get a sense of how we are doing on a monthly basis, we ask
questions. The questions are reviewed annually and changed as needed. The good news is that in
general, the people who respond to our questions agree in varying degrees with five positive statements about our programs. Opinions vary among our various stakeholders. I would like to invite
you to look at our outcomes saved on the “Help Desk”.
Our earthquake drill held on October 15 was a great first step toward becoming prepared in an
emergency. The challenge we all face is that we are responsible for a large number of people, many
Die Cutting Solutions, Inc.
of whom are not even at our facilities on any given day. Each facility is stocked with enough food
(parts assembly and removing holes and water for three days. In addition, each program has extensive first aid kits, easy-ups and tarps
from die cutting parts)
for shelter, and additional provisions for sanitation and comfort. We are also equipped to perform
search and rescue for any individuals not accounted for after an evacuation. When you think of it
there are a number of other emergencies to which we might need to respond including fire, bomb
Taikon Corporation
threat, police activity, and even chemical spills followed by a noxious cloud. Over time we want to
(Disassemble Electronic Parts, Recyprovide everyone with training and updates on this preparation.
cling and Front Desk Receptionist)
We keep our facilities and vehicles safe. Regular inspections reveal relatively few problems considering the number of vehicles, facilities and people we serve. Job Coaches review the safety of
our facilities and vehicles on a monthly basis. The quality of the safety program depends on these
responses being accurate. Safety corrective action should be made in a timely manner. Job Coaches
“The tragedy of life does not lie that do not have first aid supplies available in their vehicle or in their work area should raise their
in not reaching your goal. The hand and get the situation corrected. Our program is only as good as we make it at all levels.
tragedy lies in having no goals to We will be preparing for our CARF review at this time next year. CARF stands for the Commisreach.”
sion (for the) Accreditation (of) Rehabilitation Facilities (and programs). This accreditation process
Quote of the Day
focuses on how well we are doing in providing vocational skill instruction, recording progress and
providing a safe and appropriate work environment. We are already prepared for CARF by doing
the regular tasks of our work day. Accurate recording of production, time studies and quality case
records are an example of the work we do regularly, so CARF just takes a snapshot of all of our
Have an idea, comment, or activities at one point in time. The importance of CARF is first a matter of pride. The fewer the
suggestion for the newsletter? recommendations, the happier we are and the more certain we are that our program is the exemContact Blake Shimschock at plary program we think it is. Also, we must receive a three year accreditation to continue to provide
vocational services in the State of California. So, CARF is important but it is really just a matter of
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doing all aspects of our jobs well.
As we approach the holiday season, I would like to be the first to offer my sincerest wish that you
and your families remain happy, safe and healthy during this festive time of year.
Roger