Quarter 3 Newsletter - eQuality
Transcription
Quarter 3 Newsletter - eQuality
Quarter 3, 2015 New York, New York!! This Fall eQ eXplorers set out on an adventure to New York, the city where dreams are made. This was a first for eQuality’s travel club but it was a trip that will definitely be repeated in the future. Upon arriving at our hotel we were in awe of our incredible view of Times Square. The excitement was a bit overwhelming but not enough to keep us from immediately dropping our bags and setting out to see all that New York has to offer. We saw a host of attractions, such as Madame Toussaint’s Wax Museum, and the American Museum of Natural History. We took a guided bus tour of the entire city, visited the Battleship Intrepid, Rockefeller Center, and took a boat tour to the Statue of Liberty. The experience that will forever remain in our minds and hearts was our visit to the set of Good Morning America. Our 6:00 AM wake-up calls paid off as we were among the earliest fans to arrive. The producers noticed us peering through the window and invited us to come onto the set. Once in studio, the associates met Michael Strahan, Robin Roberts, Lara Spencer and George Stephanopoulos. As one of our associates Cathy stated, “They were so close I could reach out and touch them. This is amazing!” The filming process was a blur of activity. We were directed constantly on where to stand, when we could talk and take pictures. The associates were thrilled to find out they would be on camera. They listened intently to all of the instructions that were given to them by the producers. Just when we thought the morning could not get any better, we learned that we could meet pop singer Rita Ora. We eagerly lined up right next to the stage and watched her performance, after which Ms. Ora came and introduced herself and took pictures with us. We were completely star struck. As we walked out of the studio we took a minute to reflect about everything that had just happened. New York truly was the City of Dreams. Thank you Good Morning America and NYC for making our eQ eXplorers dreams come true! The many hats of a Job Coach Being a community-based job coach we are often times find ourselves explaining to the community what it means to be a job coach. We respond to this question with the quick and easy response “we support adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. We seek out and help them maintain employment”. This is the quintessence of being a job coach. The community often praises job coaches but you seldom hear them say "what a great job you are doing helping maintain community employment for the individual." This is in part because the community has no idea that being a job coach is much deeper than simply relating well to your associates. It goes much deeper than that. While recently sitting down with a group of equality associates I asked them how their job coach impacts their lives. The list we came up with was enough to fill this entire newsletter but the overarching theme of what we discussed is that their job coaches have many hats to wear. Simply put, hats refer to the different roles job coaches have to assume each and every day. The first hat is that of a” leader”. As a leader the job coach must make sure the associates know how to complete their jobs correctly and meet all of the objectives they have been given by the site personnel. The next hat a job coach wears is “safety manager”. The job coach takes to heart the responsibility of keeping all of their associates safe. They place the safety and well-being above everything at the worksite. Another hat job coach wears is that of “nurse”. Equality associate Karl stated “sometimes I fall down because of my disability but any time this happens my job coach, Gwen would sit with me and help me until I feel better, even if I felt upset she would make everything all right”. Their next hat is “counselor”. The ability to problem solve is a must in this field. Being on site a job coach is readily available to assist with any issue an associate may have, be it big or small the job coaches are there to help. Now we come to the big hat which is and advocate. Job coaches are responsible for being the voice for our associates while helping them develop their own. There are countless times when a job coach has made a huge impact on an associate’s life by simply standing up and advocating for them when they needed it and could not do it for themselves. There are times when the job coach is the only voice to be heard. The last hat that the quality associates picked out was by far the sweetest and it was “friend”. The friendships made any quality are to be cherished. Our associates and their families are a huge part of the job coaches’ everyday life and we consider ourselves fortunate to be their friend. On the surface it may appear that being the job coach is easy but this is far from true. Being a job coach comes with high expectations and a lot of responsibilities. EQuality staff receives constant continuation training on how to interact with our associates as well as open new doors for them and also how to empower them to become more selfsufficient. I believe what makes equality job coaches so special is not just their intelligence and how well-trained they are but the ability to wear all of these hats and to touch the lives of our associates every day. Thank you to all of our incredible job coaches for all the amazing work you do every day. It is sincerely appreciated. A Community Creation For the past several years, Minnetonka Center for the Arts has curated and managed a program of visual art displays in the public spaces of Ridgedale Center. With the completion of Ridgedale's renovation and the addition of a new anchor tenant in the fall of 2015, the Partners in Art program will reappear on a larger scale, including art from eQuality Associates. This Mural sized recreation of Henri Rousseau’s painting “Trumgarten” (Dream Garden) was painted by associates from eQuality and Opportunity Partners who participate in the outreach program by the Minnetonka Center for the Arts. This project was facilitated by Ruth Mason, a long time art teacher and friend of eQuality’s associates and sites. Ruth’s teaching style has helped our associates build confidence and has given them the opportunity to proudly display their artistic talent in their community. A very broad definition of art is free expression of oneself. The partnership with Minnetonka Arts Center has fostered this concept. The associates have grown artistically, expressing themselves through bright and bold colors. It is a means for them to work through any emotions they are feeling. When they are in a good mood the job coach sees a lot of yellows and reds. When the associates are in a down mood, often more blues and browns appear in their pictures. The art class has challenged their comfort zones, teaching them to think differently about the objects they draw, paint and color. They learn that life is not linear but full of circles, triangles and a multitude of other shapes. It also helps develop hand and eye coordination, as well as increase the manual dexterity of the associates. A very unexpected and awesome benefit of the program is the art teacher, Ruth Mason. She is warm, compassionate and has a heart large enough for all of our associates. She adores them and they absolutely love her. The partnership is a win-win for everyone involved. This beautiful piece of art can be found in the Ridgedale Center at the Ridgedale Mall. Created by associates from eQuality’s JCC and PCC site. Written with the support of Gwen Ghess, eQuality Job Coach eQuality Farms Community Partner of the year Kathy Maguire has been a dedicated volunteer at eQuality Farms for many years . We are thankful for her service and support to our mission and to our associates. We are pleased to announce Kathy Maguire as eQuality’s 2015 Community Partner of the Year! Congratulations! Upcoming events Winter Celebration 12/10/15 Fresh Produce from eQuality Farms 2016 eQuality Farms CSA Program Receive 16-20 weeks of fresh, Certified Organic vegetables $575.00 for a Full Share and $325.00 for a Half Share. Please visit our "eQuality Farm" page at www.equalityonline.org for more info, and or contact David Gray at 763.222.9548 [email protected] Donate Now Thank you to our 2015 Sponsors for your generous support of this years Growing Dreams Gala eQuality depends on donations from friends, family and community members to fund projects, events, and educational programming. You can donate to eQuality in several ways: The Duddingston Sylvester Group Merrill Lynch Wealth Management Visit our website: www.equalityonline.org/donate-toequality and click “Donate Now” Donate through your employer or the United Way. Many employers sponsor giving programs such as the United Way. Just identify eQualityPathways to Potential as your intended recipient and your employer handles the rest! Or, simply return the enclosed donation envelope. Thank you for considering eQuality in your giving plans! 3717 Colgate Avenue Minneapolis, MN 55410 Phone: 612-703-3337 Fax: 612-216-1379 www.equalityonline.org www.facebook.com/equalityptp www.twitter.com/equalityptp www.linkedin.com/company/equality--pathways-to-potential www.youtube.com/equalityptp Contact the Editor Amanda Helm 612-232-9208 [email protected]