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Imagine That...October 2022

In Loving Memory of Dean Wilson and Dana Hackett
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Briana at Spirit Halloween Store!

Charlie enjoying a chocolate brownie! 

Cindy dressed up on her birthday! 

Cindy and Malcolm double birthdays for the couple! 

Hailey enjoying the sun! 

Julia Haifley & Stephanie Urbina at their doctor appointment! 

Nate preparing pizza!

Nate's Hawaiian pizza! 

Ron running for president! 

Ron working out! 

Scotty's 44th birthday breakfast 2022!

The Film Festival Returns


Dear Imagine friends and family,


The Film Festival is back, two Fridays from today, October 14 at the Tannery Arts Center's Colligan Theater.  There's more information below but I'd like to talk about what the film festival means.  


As Imagine works to help Santa Cruz County become more inclusive, this is the single annual event that best reaches our neighbors with the message that their neighbors with Intellectual and Developmental Disability are wonderful to know and to work and share life with.  


During lockdown in 2020, we moved the event to a COVID-safe drive-in format.  Last year, as the world crawled back to something normaller, the theater was closed and the Boardwalk was open so we had to skip 2021. Finally, though, the theater is open (for vaccinated, masked people.) This will be our tenth annual film festival and it takes place in Imagine's 20th year. We're very excited to have it back.  (See HR Corner below for more information including how to register.)


The more things go back to normal, the more they keep changing.  Ron, one of the longest-tenured connoisseurs of our SLS service moved Friday into his new family home with Angie, Alicia and their children, supported through Imagine's FHA program.


Pasquale is here now, and I have really enjoyed my few chats with him. If you meet him, welcome and enjoy him. We have two other new clients we are preparing to welcome.


More about one of these clients: because I have a favor to ask: In September we were made aware of a young woman, a member of our community and served by the Regional Center.  She is currently under 18 and in protective custody of the Department of Family and Children's Services, but she will turn 18 this month and that support will end.


Erika, her Service Coordinator, has really gone to work trying to acquire for this young woman that her needs can be met without support from family.  She has temporary housing available, but only if she brings her own support.  Imagine is working with Erika (some of you will have known her when she worked with adults,) and a local ILS agency to provide those supports necessary that this young woman doesn't begin adulthood homeless.  


As you are all aware, hiring is hard right now and we can't afford to create new vacancies on teams to help.  I reached out to existing staff and also Imagine families in the hope that caregivers might pick up a shift or two or maybe some family members would take a temporary gig. It's gone well enough that we can almost commit.  We think we can cover the afternoons and evening weekdays and that the ILS agency will cover the mornings.  But we still have blocks of time on the weekends that we will need to cover until we can find a permanent person to take those shifts.  If you live in the area and are willing to give up some time weekend afternoons or evenings to help this young woman until we can find a permanent replacement, please write to me or to FabiAll of our work makes a difference across the long lives of our clients and communities, but this is a chance to make a profound impact at the start. And, by the way, if you help this young woman and find you have a taste for the work, we'll be glad to keep you hired on.


The Imagine Holiday Party is coming back! December 2 for your calendars. Because food will be served and singing is inevitable, the event is not recommended for people who are worried about COVID and if you feel you can't or shouldn't join us, we will miss you. Let me know, though, and I'll be glad to bring you by a plate and have a holiday visit. We're looking into whether we can live-stream the event for that "Feel like I was there" feeling.



Further down, this month's newsletter includes the following:.


Patty Lopez, Imagine's Assistant Director of Human Resources, is also the producer of our Film Festival.  She hijacked her own column for the purpose of helping you attend.


In The Service Sector, Charlie answer questions from several family-members for everyone around how we find new caregivers and bring them to our clients.


No Community Connections because Susan Douglass, a parent and board member, is taking a couple weeks off from her community and connections.


Our usual stuff in the columns around advocacy, self-determination, and the Imagine Endowment.


The Person-Centered Evolution this month concerns the trade-off that sometimes exists between expectations of performance and the benefits of helping staff stick around.  It's a tricky issue that invites a lot of controversy and very little resolution.  But like every issue of care, it also requires a person-centered approach.


This month we have spotlights on Ron and Vanessa.


As ever, if you have any questions, feedback or concerns, please don't hesitate to get in touch. You can write me here. I look forward to hearing from you.



Gratefully yours,


Doug




Imagine About Town

Stephanie & Santiago at Imagine's booth! 

Stephanie Urbina our FHA Facilitator explaining to the families the programs

that Imagine offers to the community from FHA & SLS. 

Santi & Gia having a blast at the Special Needs Resource Fair! 

This is a new, probably occasional, column in our newsletter, meant to feature Imagine's role in building a stronger community that is more inclusive of people with developmental disabilities. This is work we embrace in our mission and do a lot of but don't always make people aware of. In as much as we can remember to do so, we want to engage our community in our community and to be good neighbors to our neighbors.


On September 24, Salud Para Gente, the Pajaro Valley Unified School District and the State Council on Developmental Disabilities sponsored a resource fair for people with special needs at Watsonville High School.


Imagine employees showed up to help demystify adult services and explain SLS and FHA services from the provider, caregiver and client perspectives.


Norma Villarón, Administrative Assistant, Stephanie Urbina, FHA Facilitator and Faviola Ramos, Staffing and Recruitment Specialist represented Imagine and talked about what we can offer, the support received by adults in our programs and also the opportunities we have for care providers. Gia and Santi made sure people understand that we're also adorable.


Service and Advocacy are side by side in our mission and values. If you know of a person, network or organization that you think needs to know more about who we are, how we participate in the community, what people with I/DD contribute or how our system functions, write to Norma. At long last, we have extroverts in our Leadership Team and they'll come out on Saturday.


The Imagine Endowment
We have an endowment to support Imagine's future. Beginning this year, Imagine will receive regular payments of the returns from these funds. Initially, we expect the impact to be small but as the endowment grows, it holds the promise of helping Imagine help others through hard times to come.

If you are considering a gift to the endowment, either right now or as part of a giving plan or bequest, we have information available here. And thank you.

To make direct contributions please make checks payable to; The Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County.  Designate the "Imagine Supported Living Services Fund". Mail to;   Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County, 7807 Soquel Dr., Aptos, Ca.  95003.


-Submitted by Doug

The Imagine Nation Wander


The Imagine Nation Wander, our response to the elimination of the Human Race, happened September 24. It was not a great success, but Orion and I enjoyed ourselves. We will put some more thought into whether to continue this fundraiser and how to make it more appealing if we do. For what it's worth, we raised about the same amount as we did in the Human Race my first year. But as an exercise in empowering individuals with developmental disabilities in a person-centered way, I confess not much good was done. For the record, Orion and I took our wander in Marina, California and not on Tatooine.


-Submitted by Doug

Human Resources Corner

Hello Everyone, 


It's time to register for the 10th Annual Imagine Disability Film Festival! Please follow the link below to reserve your ticket. 


On Friday October 14th, Imagine Supported Living Services will host its 10th annual Disability Film Festival event from 5 PM to 9PM. at the Jewel Theater at the Tannery of Arts located at 1010 River Street, Santa Cruz. The mission of the film festival is to celebrate the members of our community who are living with developmental disabilities.

If you are an individual with a disability and require an accommodation to attend this event, please register below and contact me at Patty@imaginesls.org


http://events.constantcontact.com/register/event?llr=na6g55cab&oeidk=a07ejehcyda56eb43b0


We thank our Sponsorship Partners at Aveanna Healthcare, and all those who donated prizes to our raffle.


Patty Lopez 

Assistant Director of Human Resources 

Imagine Supported Living Services 

Office: 831-464-8355 ext. 112



The Service Sector

Greetings Imagine Family, 

 

Summer’s officially over and we look towards fall and the end of the year. The clear goal we are looking at during this period is getting our caseloads full again without straining our existing teams. Staffing continues to be our number one obstacle though we have been fortunate with the pandemic being less disruptive recently then it has in previous months.


               I’ve had a few families ask about our hiring process so I thought it might be good for me to address that here. Firstly, there is how people find out about our job openings. We mainly use indeed.com though we also have a lot of success with word of month from existing employees. This is an area where everyone can help contribute, if you know someone who may be a good fit, please encourage them to contact us whether that be through our website or contacting Doug, Patty or myself directly. Staff who refer new Imagine employees will receive a bonus after the new employee has worked a certain number of hours. We also attend as many community booth events as possible to spread awareness. Again, if you know of an event you think Imagine would benefit from, please reach out in case we missed it.


From time to time, we experiment with other advertising and recruiting resources, different online platforms, local job boards or even sponsoring local sports teams.  We focus on the things that work best, stick with ones that work a little and move on from things we have tried that didn't produce results.

 

               Once a potential employee applies, they then get screened by our staffing coordinator Fabi before a formal interview. This stage ensures no one gets through to a meet and greet with a consumer without meeting all the essential criteria needed for the given position. Facilitators work closely with Fabi and provide daily updates on needs to ensure this process is as streamlined as possible. We have been focusing on not making the potential employee wait too long for a meet and greet to minimize the risk of losing them to another company. 

 

               The meet and greet with the consumer and support team is ultimately the most crucial part as we want the consumer to be as involved as possible with who works with them. We also want the potential coworker to feel the consumer and team is a fit for them to increase the chances of a long-term fit. If after the first few weeks, we find out it’s not a great fit the staff will then meet other consumers they may be a better fit with. We also encourage all existing staff to train with other teams so they can take on sub shifts as needed. If you’re a staff that would like to train at other homes, please reach out. All training time will be paid hours worked. 

 

               This is essentially our current recruitment process. We are very open to new ideas or suggestions. The recruitment process should reflect the current working landscape which could be dramatically changing following the pandemic. Imagine will look to constantly evolve its process to ensure we are doing our best to produce full teams with staff that match the requirements to provide quality support for our consumers. 

 

Until next time.

 

Charlie.



Self-Determination

Self-Determination is now available for any regional center client who chooses it but it seems to be a slow process enrolling. If I can be of any help, please feel free to contact me. I'm pleased that there are a few current and recent Imagine employees who are developing Independent Facilitation practices and I'll be glad to connect them with those looking.


This month, the Independent Facilitator Roundtable will be Wednesday, September 7 at 11AM. The Zoom link is right here.


For people interested in Self-determination, there is also a monthly zoom event to introduce individuals and families to Independent Facilitators.It's the third Friday of each month and the time is supposed to rotate but we seem stuck on 2:30-4. Let me know if you're interested and I'll send the link and confirmation of the time.


-Submitted by Doug

Transparency At Imagine

Our next board meeting will be October 19. Most likely by Zoom. Write to Norma if you'd like to attend. Enhancements to direct care wages that should be possible a few months after the first of the year is a topic I would anticipate.


Our most recent form 990 is here. You can also find it on our website. Our catch-up audits are in process but not obviously on a catching-up trajectory.


We are still recruiting board members. We are working to diversify the board and to add a GAAP-trained treasurer. An attorney wouldn't be bad either. If you know someone with a passion for our mission who might like to volunteer, please write to me.


-Submitted by Doug

Advocacy Corner
At the present moment, the biggest advocacy challenge is figuring out what recent changes in regulations, funding and prospects actually mean. This is doubly true in this moment when the Department of Developmental Services seems to be struggling to define its own interpretations. We're glad for most of the changes under way. This sort of chaos is a real opportunity for advocates but also confounding to their coaches. Feel free to get in touch or track the many projects in process and find a way to influence them.

As always, thanks to Marty Omoto of CDCAN for amplifying the transparency and circularity of information between the community and policy-makers. If you would like to receive CDCAN's extensive reporting, write to Marty. CDCAN's work is entirely funded by the donations of those of us who benefit. Write to me or to Marty if you'd like to kick in.

-Submitted by Doug

Person-Centered Evolution

Between a competent caregiver who would stay five years, and a very effective one who will be gone in a year, which would be best for the individual served?


There's no standard tool that answers the question. The topic is half thought experiment and half confession and entirely a telegram from the spectrum. I'm including the topic because I've been pondering it a lot lately and because It's an example of how person-centered thinking continues outside of the plan and the tools.  This question is a consequential one but often mainly a concern for managers and family members of our clients.


The long version of the question would be this: For the health, security, and richness of life for a certain individual, is the difference between a long-serving caregiver and a relative short-timer more or less than the difference between a brilliant one and one who does the minimum? You can imagine that a person with fragile physical or mental health would be better off with a series of extremely capable, cautious and careful caregivers. Someone with less to fear from error and more to gain from a stable relationship would be better off with dedicated caregivers who pay less mind to protocols. Certainly, the invisible, unmeasurable question has a person-centered answer.


Happily, the choice isn't either/or. I'm always proud of the direct care providers at Imagine who are smart, conscientious and stay a long time. Also, the theories and wisdom we can offer caregivers can be given constructively and positively.  While correction sometimes hurts staff morale, investment is often empowering.


We, in the profession, probably have a bias to over-value long-term commitment. Those who watch their loved ones rely on care may be biased in favor of protocol and skill. There have been more disagreements between Facilitators and parents over why we don't push staff harder than over any other issue. It's a conflict between persecutors of complacency and gratitude-worshipping barbarians. I look forward to the day both sides submit to charts.


Like everything else, thinking about how to balance our approach needs to be person-centered and our rethinking needs frequent refreshing.


-Submitted by Doug

Spotlight on Ron

Ron is one of Imagine's long-time individuals and we sure our glad he stays with us. He recently made the courageous choice to move out of his home and end almost two decades of SLS support in favor of a family home with Angie and Alicia through our FHA program. Like most of our long-time clients, Ron has been encircled with loyal long-term (10 years + in two cases) staff. It was, in fact, a former caregiver who opened her home and family to him.


It takes a lot of nerve to disrupt long patterns and relationships. Ron made sure his friends will stay his friends after the move, and I'm confident we will. But living out his life as a part of a kind and caring family was worth it to Ron. We wish the whole family the best in this new relationship and remind you all, as I recently did Ron, you can't lose us.  Also, happy birthday once more.


                                                              -Submitted by Doug

Staff Spotlight on Vanessa Magaña

Vanessa Magaña is a lead at the Kennedy house and I would like to acknowledge her hard work and commitment at imagine. Over the  years, she has shown what a good team player can be and is always willing to go above and beyond for the clients that she serves.


Thank you Vanessa for all your amazing support we really appreciate your work.


                            -Submitted by Brenda Lopez


Birthdays & Anniversaries


Staff and Client Birthdays:


Dan D. 

Norma V.

Cailin N.

Patty L.

Yvette G.

Janet P.

Heather M.

Leslie R.

Noelia C.



Staff Anniversaries:


Kristin M. - 8 Years!!

Rachel N. - 8 Years!!

John A. - 2 Years!!

Lluvia V. - 5 Years!!

Melisa O. - 1 Year!!

Cynthia V. - 2 Years!!

Kenia V. - 2 Years!!

Leslie R. - 5 Years!!

Guadalupe Z. - 1 Year!!

Tristan A. - 2 Years!!

Norma V. - 1 Year!!

Vanessa M. - 5 Years!!

Ashley T. - 1 Year!! 




Thank you for your commitment!




Imagine Supported Living Services
9065 Soquel Drive
Aptos, Ca 95003
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