Our 8th Annual October Fall Festival has been a way for the community to be a part of the Vanderheyden experience, and our Human Resources Training Specialist Robin Doptis is instrumental in making this happen.
Robin has been part of the Vanderheyden community for the past eleven years, starting off as a Direct Care Worker in one of our facilities that evolved into Van Leuvan. She has also been a Supervisor of a Cottage at our Wynantskill campus and in our Quality Assurance Department, before beginning her current position in Human Resources two years ago.
Robin says what she loves about Vanderheyden "are the people, the mission and her colleagues." She said she feels this way since she celebrated all her adult milestones with team members, and that "Vanderheyden has become a second family and home."
The Annual Fall Festival, which is free and open to the public, will be held on Saturday, October 15th on our Wynantskill campus. Robin has been part of the activities from the event's creation eight years ago. The Rensselaer County native says the event "helps the community to know that we are here to help youth, adults and families, and to see how we support them." She says the event initially began to introduce the agency to Team Members and their families, and is now a way to bring in the surrounding community to share a day of fun." The event was opened to the public three years ago.
Robin says the event will also spotlight our facility by showing "we are not a place for bad kids. That's not what we are all about. We are here to change lives...to save lives."
She says the event is also a way to remind the public that we are an agency that follows a Sanctuary model, and is one of only a handful in the country with that certification.
A new contest will be unveiled at the Fall Festival. Our individuals and Team Members will be making life-sized scarecrows, which will be judged and displayed in front of our campus along Cooper Hill Road. Robin thinks the scarecrow contest is a great way to pull the community into our event, and advised that all the credit goes to Medicaid Service Coordinator, Tammi Miller for thinking of the idea.
In her spare time, Robin loves spending time with her young daughter, and participates in family oriented activities and craft projects.
