Corporate Staff Celebrate Thanksgiving 2019

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On Thursday, November 21, the corporate staff at Telecare celebrated Thanksgiving by holding a luncheon.

Turkeys were cooked by staff members, and everyone brought in appetizers, side dishes, and desserts to share with one another.

Telecare’s CEO and President, Anne Bakar, wanted to share her photos from the event and wish everyone at all of our programs nationwide a very happy Thanksgiving.

Oregon ACT Comes Together for a Holiday Meal

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Oregon ACT staff and members gathered together to celebrate the holidays by sharing a nice meal together.

More than 26 members, an interpreter, and staff from both ACT and the Recovery Center at Gresham were involved.

Staff thoroughly planned, organized, cooked, gave rides, set-up, served, decorated, and cleaned after the event.

There was plenty of music, food, and decorations to set the tone for the beginning of a wonderful holiday season.

Enjoy their photos below!

Celebrating the Opening of Mark Reed E&T

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Telecare Corporation, with the support of Great Rivers Behavioral Health Organization, is pleased to announce the opening of Mark Reed Evaluation and Treatment Center in McCleary, WA.

This new 16-bed facility is designed to provide recovery-centered inpatient care for individuals experiencing an acute behavioral health crisis. The goal is to help those in need to regain stability, connect to additional resources, and return to regular life as soon as possible.

The program serves adults in Grays Harbor County who meet the criteria for an Involuntary Treatment Act (ITA) detention and/or a 14-day commitment, and it is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Nearly 50 people gathered to celebrate the center’s ribbon-cutting ceremony on August 14. Many people who had worked at the facility when it was a hospital and were thrilled to see what Telecare had done to the building.

The Mark Reed Evaluation and Treatment Center is Telecare’s first program in partnership with Great Rivers Behavioral Health Organization. We are honored to be new members of this community.

Morton Bakar Center Makes Learning Fun Through Skillympics!

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Congraulations to Morton Bakar Center for completing their first “Skillympics” (Skill and Olympics) event!

What are the Skillympics? Great question! It is a unique and FUN way to educate staff in all aspects of Morton Bakar’s policies, procedures, and many state and federal regulations that are critical to the proper management of the facility. The goal is to make learning fun, engaging, and competitive.

Like the Olympics, there was a torch and a parade. However, in true MBC style, they were exclusive in the series of competitive academic events. The events were managed and graded by the department heads. The winners were awarded gold, silver, and bronze medals based on academic and skills performance. Each employee had the opportunity to interact with all departments, gaining critical knowledge and skills throughout the process.

This event will now be held quarterly. The goal is also to prepare employees for the annual state and federal survey by having each employee be academically competent and engaged.

The Skillympics is also intended to be a staff development and team building event!

Transforming Everyday Household Products Into Hygiene Kits and More

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When Lindy Cain sees baking soda and vinegar, she doesn't just see an elementary science project in the making; Lindy sees an opportunity to teach the members of Telecare's Sierra Vista ACT how to make a variety of household products in her DIY group hosted at the program every week.

Lindy Cain, Team lead at Telecare's Sierra Vista Act, makes bug repellant from household items at her diy group session.

Lindy Cain, Team lead at Telecare's Sierra Vista Act, makes bug repellant from household items at her diy group session.

"I taught our group how to clean their entire house with baking soda and vinegar," said Lindy. "I mostly focus on household and hygiene products. We do laundry soap every couple of months, we do dish soap, we've made dandruff shampoo, we make face lotion, face wash, face scrub, chap stick."

The DIY products are easy to make and use low-cost ingredients, most of which can be bought with food stamps or EBT funds.

"Many of the members don't have much money, and the money they do have, they need it for other things. I try to make things that our members don't normally have and can help them out in the community," said Lindy.

One of the members was having trouble walking on the weekly mile-long hikes they would take as part of a health and wellness curriculum at the program. The member's heels were scaly and cracked, which made it painful to walk long distances. He tried using a salve the doctor prescribed, but it didn’t work. Lindy looked up how to make foot salves and found a recipe for one that included magnesium.

“We melted magnesium flakes into water with oregano oil, beeswax, and water to make a lotion," said Lindy. "He started using it and his feet cleared up, which remedies had never done before. Now he can go on walks and exercise and his feet feel good."

Lindy Pull Quote.png

"Lindy goes above and beyond in her creative ways to engage and activate the members to live the lives of their choice," said Jennifer Hinkel, Vice President of Development at Telecare. "I participated in a DIY session where members were making a bug repellant lotion out of beeswax, coconut oil, baking soda, lemongrass, and lavender. Since many of our members walk or spend time outside, they really appreciated the session and the product that they could take and use that day."

For ideas and recipes, Lindy says she looks mostly on Pinterest, Wellness Mama, or Mountain Rose Herbs. Members also come to her and pitch ideas to replicate items they like to see if they can make them in the DIY group.

"It's skill-building and it’s also socializing with other members and myself, while they are learning about things in the environment. They enjoy learning about the different oils and the different properties and what they are used for," said Lindy.

Setting up a DIY group is easy, said Lindy. If you're interested in trying one at your program, Lindy provided some helpful tips for getting started.

How to Start a DIY Group

  • Buy ingredients in bulk. Lindy uses Amazon and Sam’s Club to purchase larger items at a lower cost.

  • Don't think too hard about containers. For dish soap, Lindy uses water bottles. For laundry soap, you can use plastic bags. You can also use portion cups, like for condiments, which you can buy in bulk at Sam's Club.

  • Just do some research and don’t be afraid of it — it's really easy.

Products the DIY group make include lavender, coconut and honey soap, lotions, face scrubs and much more!

Products the DIY group make include lavender, coconut and honey soap, lotions, face scrubs and much more!

Clark County Telecare Celebrates With Stockings

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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)

New Year, New You Resource Fair with Telecare's ATLAS/TABS/JETT Program

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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. 

Happy Holidays from Jeremy House and TEIR

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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

And the Winner Is... The Morties!

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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!

Recovery Stories: Morton Bakar Center

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.

Living Our Values: CHANGES

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.

Inspiration: WIT

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.

San Bernardino Tragedy Memorial

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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

San Bernardino ACT, MAPS, and TIE-CC Raise Money for NAMI

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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.