People Helping People
We want to highlight one of our individuals in services recent success! Alea has recently fallen in love with the library and their staff. She really gets out of her comfort zone when she is there. She now enjoys story/song time, whereas before she was unsure of it. Alea recently put on a puppet show for a few other kids at the library! Whereas before, she would only observe from a distance. She also recently got her own library card independently and will check out her own books! Congratulations, Alea, and thank you to all the Support Inc. staff who have helped her along the way. Special shout out to Direct Support Professional, Raina (featured in the picture), her family and the Colorado Springs team.
We are very excited to announce our benefit change for 2024. This transition has been many years in the making. Even though we have been generally happy with Kaiser, as we have grown, we have had the desire and the need to move to a plan that does not have as many restrictions, offers national coverage, and at an affordable cost to participants and the company. After careful review by the committee, Cigna was chosen to be our employee health partner moving forward. Below is some of what you can expect with this transition:
The HR Team is happy to answer questions and help as we make this transition and do everything in our power to make sure you’re able to access our employee benefits with ease!
Check out pictures below from the trip of a lifetime for Support Inc., Host Home Provider, David Sakul, and our individuals in services, Jeremy and Eric. They recently went on a vacation in Europe!! A true example of innovative, in-home and community-based supportive services.
Please join us in welcoming new Residential Coordinator, Jennifer Schutz to the Support Inc. Family!! Jennifer will be joining our Northern Region team and supporting our individuals and families on the Eastern Plains. We’re excited to have a team member with local knowledge to help serve our many individuals and families in Eastern Colorado. Learn more about Jennifer below.
“Hello Support Inc., My name is Jennifer Schutz. I have joined Support Inc. as a Residential Program Coordinator. I have a B.A. in Psychology and have been a Case Manager for 8 years with Eastern Colorado Services serving individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. During my time there, I worked with ages 3-17 and adults. I have also worked with 6 different long term Medicaid waivers. When I am not working, I am at home with my husband and 3 kids (6-year-olds *yes twins* and an 11-year-old). Also, can’t forget the pets as well- 2 kittens, 1 dog and a hedgehog. We enjoy playing video games and I enjoy reading. I am excited for this opportunity and can’t wait to meet and work with everyone!
Café Show by Local Artist and Support, Inc. client- Maria
Maria has many talents. She is an athlete, baker, dancer, skilled with animals and very charismatic. She is also a prolific painter, using art therapy as one way to calm her busy mind. While flamingos in funny situations are a common theme, she also paints other marine life, horses, flowers, holiday settings and landscapes.
During the month of October, Maria was the featured artist at the French Press Café in her neighborhood on Iliff near Buckley. If you have not been there, they have the regular coffee and tea-related faire, as well as an incredible kitchen. (Their chilaquiles are THE BOMB!) Maria’s paintings covered an entire wall, which is really saying something in the small space the café holds. She wrote her own bio, which had a lovely photo of her with a horse attached and even sold two paintings!
Maria’s accomplishments are a source of pride for herself, her family and our community. Here’s to the next show where we have our eye on a certain flamingo wearing a pool floaty and carrying a cocktail. Congratulations to Maria on this amazing accomplishment!
Please join us in congratulating our November Host Home Provider of the Month, Lisa Mugalu!! Lisa was nominated for Host Home Provider of the month by the Support Inc. Denver Metro 2 Team. According to Residential Coordinator, Malika, “I have been working with Lisa since February 2022, and although there have been ups and downs with the health of the person in services in the home, she has remained resilient, patient, and most importantly kind. Coming from living in a home with her sister was a huge transition for not only the person in services, but the entire family, and Lisa has always had an open-door policy and treats them like family too! When the individual in the home experienced some health issues last year, she made sure to be proactive, ask questions, and be an advocate for the person in services to finally receive physical therapy, which helped tremendously. With thanks to physical therapy and Lisa, the person in services got so much healthier, stronger, and her lively personality was back. Every time I see the person in services, she is smiling, giving everyone hugs, laughing, and talking about pizza (inside joke). Lisa is extremely hard-working, and always does her best to make sure the individual in her home is getting the absolute best care. It has truly been a pleasure working with Lisa and I appreciate her positive attitude and kindness always. Thank you for all that you do, Lisa and congratulations on being the November Host Home Provider of the Month!!!
Please join our Operations Team on November 30th, 11am for our Family Caregiver Town Hall. This meeting will occur virtually on Zoom. The agenda is filled with updates regarding Support, Inc., and Pueblo Community Resources news, as well as reminder for upcoming events, staff appreciation and recognition, and an opportunity to connect and ask questions. For more information and the zoom link please contact info@supportinc.com
As summer ends and cold weather settles in so comes cold and flu season. Colorado has also seen an increase in COVID-19 cases. Protect yourself, the person you serve and your family. As a reminder, please do not send people to work or day program if they are sick. If people arrive to day program/work showing signs of illness, you will be asked to pick the person up.
Healthy habits to help protect against illness:
Forget Moves Like Jagger, You Want Moves Like CJ!
Support Inc. Residential Coordinator, Jennifer, went to see individual in services, CJ, in October just like any regular, monthly Home Visit, but he was not just any regular old CJ. He was so excited for the next day that he could not stop grinning. Jennifer has seen CJ many times when he is looking forward to something like a trip to see his family, a dinner at Olive Garden with his girlfriend or even a day at Elitch Gardens, but this was the happiest, most excited she had ever seen him. The next night he was going to see Guns N’ Roses in concert at Ball Arena with his buddy from church. He told his Host Home Provider that he might not come home until after 1:30 in the morning because he would be too busy rockin’. They talked about his favorite song, “Welcome to the Jungle” and there was no convincing him that “Sweet Child of Mine” was better. The next afternoon, Jennifer called CJ to see how the concert went. It was obvious even over the phone that he was still smiling from ear to ear. While he didn’t stay out until the wee hours, he still had an amazing time and said he definitely “rocked out”. When she asked him if he did the famous side to side sway move of lead singer Axel Rose, CJ scoffed and said, “No, I’ve got way better moves than that.” With as happy as he was, that must be true.