Resource Center

ARRM Cares Award Winner
7 Years of Service

Natt is always advocating for relationships for the individuals he supports. For example, the house landscaping is admired by all the neighbors and the community in which it is located. Natt plants tremendous flowers and gets the individuals that reside there involved in the preparation and maintenance of the flowers he grows. The individuals waited patiently during the winter months the see the beautiful tulips they helped Natt plant in the fall. Natt also encourages and escorts individuals to give neighbors bouquets of fresh flowers for their homes. Numerous neighbors have also enjoyed sharing the flowers with us as well. Natt is also well known at the neighborhood bowling alley and community center with getting the individuals he supports in the community enjoying themselves. Numerous friendships have emerged between the individuals Natt supports and members of the community. Members of the community are often stopping by the house just to say hi or drop off gifts for the individuals that reside there.

ARRM Cares Award Winner
3 Years of Service

Keith exhibits remarkable qualities such as flexibility, leadership, and teamwork. Keith's collaborative spirit is exemplified through his willingness to cover shifts for his coworkers and his thoughtful gestures, like remembering and celebrating birthdays and holidays with small tokens of appreciation. He demonstrates a proactive attitude towards tackling challenges, illustrated by his initiative in simplifying a complex insulin sliding scale into a more comprehensible cheat sheet for his coworkers. This action not only facilitated better understanding among his coworkers but also ensured the safety of the person served. He often serves as a leader, acting as a resource for training new hires and facilitating shadowing opportunities for his coworkers. 

ARRM Cares Award Winner
9 Years of Service

Lyle Odegaard exemplifies the standard for direct care. Even as he faces his own incredible challenges, he is concerned first and foremost with the growth and wellbeing of his clients. This faithfulness and dedication to the people he serves has been shown too many times to list in this letter.
Currently at 72 years old, Lyle continues to ask for as many hours as he can get working one on one with clients in the IHS department at SMB. While others are planning for their own retirements and vacations, Lyle couldn't be forced away from serving the people on his case load, even as he undergoes treatment for his recently diagnosed terminal brain cancer. While undergoing treatments that put many with less difficult jobs out of commission, Lyle insists that his life's mission is to serve his family, his faith and those he's been entrusted to support at work. There is nothing that could compromise Lyle's integrity or soften his resolve to serve the people he's entrusted with, even terminal brain cancer and chemotherapy. In fact, before he had even left the chair at his last round of chemotherapy, Lyle asked for a note from his doctor to increase his hours at SMB. As another example of his integrity and commitment to excellence, he will often invite new employees to go out for coffee on his own time . The writer of this letter benefited several times and can attest to the amount of care Lyle puts into making new employees feel comfortable within their job.

ARRM Cares Award Winner
27 Years of Service

Joey's commitment to high standards is obvious when you understand that she has been with the organization for close to three decades, starting when she was just three weeks out of high school. Over the years she has filled many positions with the company, including personal advocate, senior advocate, committee member, direct support professional, and assistant program manager. She has shown up for the people she supports, staff and the entire organization from the beginning. Joey has made the care of others a priority throughout her career and her commitment to the work is obvious to all who meet her. 

Rising Star Award Winner
1.5 Years of Service

Jessica is always brainstorming to help make the guys' lives better. For instance, if a program created by BA services is no longer helping someone, she asks the individual and their team for their thoughts and works with the behavior analyst to implements changes until they hit upon something helpful. During Jessica's time at the program, it has gone from a home where manual restraints were sometimes needed to a house where there are no longer any significant aggressive behaviors. One of the guys' case managers had this to say: “Jessica has been instrumental in supporting stability and success in the house she works in. She demonstrates kindness, encouragement, and advocacy towards the individuals she works with, highlighting their individual strengths when problem-solving. Jessica has been very successful working with young adults, assisting them to gain greater independent living skills. As a case manager, I am so grateful for her hard work, integrity, and care.” Jessica has also been to the capital to advocate for the people she serves and staff. This year she spoke in the meetings with representatives and did an amazing job of advocating.

Rising Star Award Winner
1 Year of Service

Greta is an amazing staff member who takes person-centered care to the highest level””seeing what her clients need and looking for ways to make it happen.  
Though she's only held her position for a little more than a year, Greta reliably and thoroughly trains in new staff to make sure they feel comfortable with the clients before working with them on their own. 
Greta works closely with her clients' families, and she shows up to every shift with a smile on her face and a seemingly unlimited amount of patience. In fact, the mother of one of her clients specifically requests Greta to work with her son over the summer. Greta always shows up to work with a positive attitude, which makes a big difference for her clients and their families.