Clark County Telecare Celebrates With Stockings

/

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

/

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. 

IHOT Team Earns a Family's Thanks

/

Recently, a mother of a member from San Diego’s IHOT program reached out via the Telecare website and left a sweet message for staff:

“Your entire staff in San Diego County are the most compassionate, intelligent professional people our family has encountered in the too many years we as parents of a mentally unstable adult have met. We thank every person we even briefly talked to on our son’s behalf. You accepted him. THANK YOU for that. Your positive, sacrificial, professional ‘coaching’ will always be a golden memory. Thank you IHOT San Diego County.”

Happy Holidays from Jeremy House and TEIR

/

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!

/

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

/

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

/

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.

La Paz Veteran’s Day Recognition

/

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

/

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!

/

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!

/

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!

/

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

/

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.