February SEEC Insider

SEEC Insider

February 2019 | Issue Seven

Dear SEEC Staff,

We are now in our second month of 2019 and I hope everyone is surviving these variable temperatures--sweaters one day and t-shirts the next!

This month, we celebrated Developmental Disabilities Day at the Legislature on February 13 ^thin Annapolis. Thank you to those who were there to show your support! If you did not join us in person, we hope you followed us via SEEC's Facebook page so you did not miss any of the advocacy in action!

Additionally, this month we will be going live with our new Penelope database! See the latest update at this LINK. There are lots of exciting things happening here at SEEC! Thank you to each and every one of you for all you do to help us be successful!

Best wishes,

Karen Lee, Executive Director

Inside This Issue

The Comms Bunch! Meet the SEEC Communications and Development Team
Start Spreading the Good News! Community Living Highlight
NADSP Competency #8: Advocacy

Next Issue! Do you like PRIZES? Well, you will LOVE the March edition of the SEEC Insider featuring a virtual scavenger hunt with PRIZES for the winner! You won't want to miss this! Stay tuned! Did we mention PRIZES? You get the picture. . .

The Comms Bunch!

Meet the SEEC Communications and Development Team

"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel ." -Maya Angelou

One of the key roles of the Communications and Development team is to ensure that each and every SEEC supporter has the tools to spread SEEC's powerful message to the community. To achieve this goal, SEEC is pleased to announce a restructured Communications and Development Team with several new faces and some familiar SEEC staff. The team's first order of business is to determine the needs of each department and develop a request process along with user friendly self-help tools so all SEEC staff have an array of options at their fingertips.

"The communications team shares SEEC's passion for the importance of inclusive community services for people with developmental disabilities. Our goal is to communicate that passion and widen our community reach even further by tapping into each and every potential touchpoint with our staff, people we support, families, and community partners," said new Communications and Development Director, Carrie McGraw.

Do you know which team member was an extra with Jodie Foster? Who is also a Barber?

Meet the full Comms Bunch HERE!

Start Spreading the GOOD News!

The Staff Behind CL's Weekly Stories

Ashley Paschal understands the power of a good story. Seeing life through the eyes of another person has the ability to transform world views, soften hearts, and allow people to listen in ways like no other form of communication. Understanding this, Ashley, a Program Administrator for Community Living (CL), began emailing a departmental good news story each week to "inspire staff and keep them mission focused".

Ashley enjoys each person's perspective, but one of her favorites is very simple. Ashley told the story of Chris (pictured above in green) who lives with a roommate and is supported by Community Living in his own apartment. Chris enjoys throwing parties and visiting with friends when he is not working at Home Depot. Chris shared, however, that two of his favorite things to do at home are folding laundry and washing dishes because these chores mean "he is his own man". A simple, but powerful reminder of the important work SEEC staff do every day to help others achieve these common joys.

CL provides supported living for approximately 50 men and women in their own homes. SEEC staff work with each person to ensure their home represents how they want to live.

Find out more about Community Living supports and see Ashley's stories HERE .

NADSP Competency #8

Advocacy

Question and Answer Session with Carola Gallegos,

Community Support Specialist

“ My strategy is quite simple. RESPECT. Once you build a foundation around respect, things will run a lot smoother. Make sure you are looking at the person you are supporting as a human being before a person with disabilities. ” --Carola Gallegos

Read Carola's Full Interview Here

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