Imagine; Egg Collection... May 2024

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Imagine That...May 2024

In Loving Memory of Cindy Cooper and Damien Tucker-Beck

In Memory of Damien

In Memory of Cindy

Leigh Ann, Danny and fish some of whom may also be named Leigh Ann and Danny.

The Boss Man in his Domain

Daniel's First Day. Hossein, Daniel, Laleh, Victor and Julie

David, Abi and "Fluffy."

Zaki's Birthday Party

Daniel's Team Meeting

Sandra and Jake getting lean and mean

Heidi and Eliot the monthly ussie.

Luis, Scott and Sophia

More Scott because dang

Zaki competing with Scott

David working at Common Roots Farm with Angie, Omar and Abi

Daniel enjoys a dip

Zaki at Pogonip

Hayley and Lia

Chris getting cosmetic surgery on his beard before restorative surgery on his eye

Welcome, Daniel, Leigh Ann and Jessica

Dear Imagine friends and family,

I am happy to introduce three new members of the Imagine family. At left (on some devices,) you will see Daniel, his parents, Hossein and Laleh and the first members of his Imagine team, Victor and Julie. This picture was taken a few minutes into his tenure at Imagine. Daniel is an artist, a pickle ball player and the friendliest grown-up at the playground.

Leigh Ann and her boyfriend, Danny, live in Soquel and have been a couple since the 90s. She works at Nob Hill, enjoys arts and crafts and I'm told she has a great sense of humor. She is social and likes taking walks. We are still hiring her staff and her Facilitator, Stephanie, is really enjoying the 1:1 time.

And we have a new Facilitator! Jessica Rodriguez (Jessica R because she is no match in combat for Jess) joins us as our newest Facilitator. She comes to us with more than 20 years of experience, having started as a caregiver in 2013, been promoted to a Facilitator at SVS in 2015 and served there as a case manager until coming to Imagine last month. Jessica has a great spirit for the work which she has been showing. Personality-wise, she rhymes with Alina whose clients she is inheriting. Her enthusiasm for the work she is doing, her thoughtfulness and her willingness to bring energy to the tasks and lives she touches promise to bring good things to her clients, families and teams.

By the time some of you read this we will be on a boat. Imagine's May event is an hourlong cruise on the Bay and it is happening this morning. Ahoy and argh!

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

In The Year of...a few updates on work we're doing to make the Facilitator's job easier to do better. Some progress. Not enough.

Patty Lopez thanks everyone for a remarkably smooth benefits roll-over and reminds you that it's ok to be not ok.

In The Service Sector this month, a little woolgathering about gathering

The Person-Centered Evolution column this month, in two parts, describes the One-pager and includes a photo essay of how one is assembled.

In Community Connections, our first big together in the Age of Rekow.

Our usual stuff in the column around self-determination.

The Advocacy Corner discusses the state budget, the master plan for developmental services and tries to chill your buzz.

Our monthly Transparency at Imagine column includes next year's approved budget and 2021's and 2022's final audits. By Jim, this is a productive one and a treasure for those not easily bored.

This month we have spotlights on Abi, Omar and Tom.

As ever, I am at your service. 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

The Year of The Facilitator

The report this month is a little mixed. The good/great news is that a couple Facilitators have worked through the catch-up process and are finding their work sustainable and fun. The not so good news is that absenteeism due to illness continues to be much higher among Facilitators than the rest of Imagine's employees and is highest among those who are who are behind in their work. The focus of this "Year of The Facilitator" project is to replace the vicious cycle with a virtuous one and we are seeing positive results but not yet universal ones.

While the turnover among facilitators has accelerated, one of the causes and consequences has been that we have generations now of Facilitators starting their positions with a deep and incompletely charted backlog of unfinished, belated tasks. Our goal in the restructuring of last year and the related restructuring this year has been to provide better maps of the work needing attendance and better support in catching up.

It isn't all humming yet. Specifically, it isn't at all clear that some of the new positions are producing as much support as they take away and we are behind on interviews. At this point, the main report is that with a third of the year behind us, we are aware that we haven't yet won the contest. We continue to learn, review and adapt. But we have affirmed the central theory- that catching up on the little things leads to better results on the big things. That is something.

-Submitted by Doug

Person Centered Evolution, Part I

Person-centered thinking tools are used well in three ways. Some are best used as a daily part of the life of an individual and their care team while others make the best sense on events designed for the purpose. It has long been a standard at Imagine that house meetings for each client and team are held monthly and that each one includes a person-centered thinking tool. If you just rolled your eyes, that's fair.

But in light of the column just above, once a Facilitator is on top of their work, the minimum standard that most Imagine Facilitators have failed to meet for most of the time starts to become addressable. Below are some photos of a house meeting that met the standard and did the work. These are photos of the agency we're still aspiring to be and the individual

This is what it looks like when Facilitators have time to focus

The Redwood Chronicles

One day I went egg collecting with Noah and our Staff. When, from the corner of my eye, I noticed 2 chickens roaming the farm. All of sudden one of the chickens would not leave my side and the one chicken was snacking on the crumbs that was left on my chair. Although I was letting the chicken know that I was not having it, the chicken would not leave me alone. After many attempts she went on about her business. I had a Fun Day Egg Collecting.

-Submitted by Jake

Moral: The crumbs of one are treasure to another, and the other is an annoying, disobedient chicken.

Human Resources Corner

Hello all,

I would like to thank everyone who has worked promptly on Open Enrollment. If you haven't already worked on it, please remember that Open Enrollment will close on Friday, May 3rd. Please feel free to reach out to me if need assistance with your benefits selections or if you feel like you should have received an Open Enrollment email but have not.

Imagine's benefits are one of the things that we value most as an agency, as it gives us an opportunity to support our employees' health. A big part of these benefits is our Employee Assistance Program. Our EAP provider, The Holman Group, offers free counseling services to every Imagine employee. The EAP provides 5 free face-to-face or telehealth counseling sessions per issue for all Imagine Employees and their household members.

As caregivers it is natural to feel overwhelmed, stressed out and even irritable after long periods of time caring for others. Imagine strives to have a culture of respect, trust, and understanding. Treating your consumer respectfully and supporting them through challenging behaviors is a part of a caregiver's daily job. Burnout can get in the way of that and cause an inability to feel empathy, or an inability to cope with your consumer's difficult feelings and behaviors.

If you feel like you are experiencing burnout, feeling overwhelmed, or would like resources to speak to a mental health professional please don't hesitate to reach out to your Facilitator, Doug, or to myself.

Remember that our Employee Assistance Program is available for all employees regardless of your Part-time or Full-time status. With our Employee Assistance Program, you have access to 5 free sessions with a mental health counselor. You can reach me at Patty@imaginesls.org or at (831) 325-7760.

You can reach our EAP directly, toll-free, 24 hours a day, seven days a week at: 800-321-2843 or visit holmangroup.com This line is completely confidential. Below is the information you will need to provide to access our EAP:

www.Holmangroup.com
User Name: ImagineSLS (case sensitive)
Password: SLS2023 (case sensitive)

In Good Health,

Patty Lopez

Assistant Director of Human Resources

Imagine Supported Living Services

Office: 831-464-8355 ext. 112

Cell: (831) 325-7760

Fax: (831) 612-6384

The Service Sector

Greetings Imagine friends and family!

Imagine's calendar of events is filling up for the year. This morning, we will be taking a cruise together, which will be fun and also a source of photos for next month's edition.

In July, we will support Shared Adventures' Day on The Beach. In August, the Gathering of Extraordinary People will be on the 16th. We are still venue shopping but assume the Film Festival will be in October.

But there are other enriching social events that happen much more regularly and don't need somebody to make a dog gone flyer. Employment is rare in the I/DD community but real friendships are rarer and we treasure when we can help the people we serve find real connections. Last month, for example, E-Dub and AJ went hiking on the north coast. Both really showed that they enjoyed the trip and being together. Events like that serve our mission as well as the public-facing ones.

Once we got too big to see ourselves as one small family, we started looking at ourselves as a village of small families. Our connections make the village a richer and better one.

Self-Determination

Self-Determination is now available for any regional center client who chooses it but it sure ain't running smooth. Tentatively, I think it is getting a little better but boy howdy, is there room for improvement to continue.

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 later this morning, Mayday, at 11AM. The Zoom link is here.

The Independent Facilitator Network, a confederation of professionals working self-determination (which started at Imagine!) has a Slack Channel you can join by clicking here. Individuals receiving services and family members are welcome and it's a great place to have your SDP questions answered by sad, wise experts.

-Submitted by Doug

Community Connections

We will have our first Community Connections meeting of 2024 on Wednesday, May 22nd @3:00 at the Imagine office. As a newer board member, I am looking forward to this encounter and what will be a wonderful opportunity for me to get to know more of the Imagine family.

Everyone is welcome to attend and in addition to myself, we will have Doug, Heather and our board president, Janine, in attendance. I know that I plan on coming to this meeting with open ears and I would love to hear what you all envision for the Community Connections committee moving forward. We will also make time during the meeting to answer questions from anyone in attendance, as best we can. Additionally, I would like to dedicate a substantial portion of the meeting toward highlighting both the progress we have made in increasing wages for direct care staff and also cost increases in other essential business operations.

Please join us for the first of what will be many Community Connections meetings, as we resume holding them regularly each quarter. Please come with an open mind, ready to ask questions and a willingness to help come up with some solutions as well. I look forward to seeing you all upcoming!

Thank you,

Raul

Transparency At Imagine

The next board meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, July 17. Close watchers will realize we are not meeting in June as we would normally. This is in order to accommodate my second-try vacation and some vacation planned by Janine. Plus, the board has approved our 2024-2025 Budget which I just be you'd like to pore over so it is attached.

Our meetings are open to all and if you email Maggie she'll make sure you get in and fed and heard. The agenda for the meeting will include a proposed budget for our fiscal year that begins July 1.

We have completed a two-year audit of our financials through June 30, 2022. You can read it here. It is an unmodified opinion, which is Accountantese for "we're good" and it came with a lot of suggestions with regard to how we can improve our reporting throughout the year. We give an unmodified thank you to our partners at BryMar.

For those of you keeping score at home, Imagine has had to discontinue fundraising due to a suspension by the State of California because our audits fell delinquent. We have one more year's audit which is delinquent and began that audit yesterday. Our plan is to incorporate it into a second two-year audit at which point we hope to be a few months ahead of schedule. We will be sending the engagement letter and new audits to the state later today in the hope that California will end our suspension, but we are prepared to wait until the 2023 and 2024 audits are complete, if necessary.

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. Neither would you. If you know someone with a passion for our mission who might like to volunteer, please write to me.

-Submitted by Doug

Advocacy Corner

The state budget is currently filled with worthy initiatives to benefit our community through regional center funding increases and other initiatives through other departments. If I can find enough people to bet on those, I can fund Imagine at that level.

In mid-month, the Governor's May revise budget should be out and much soberer. As mentioned before, the Imagine budget assumes no new rate increases and that represents not a surplus of caution but a minimum.

Additionally, the California Health and Human Services Agency has begun a "Master Plan" (See photo) for Developmental Services. During my career, state-led root and branch reform efforts are a sign that a positive fiscal environment is ending and not particularly a source of system change. It is however a good opportunity to learn more about trends in thinking among the advocates and policymakers in our system and for the therapeutic sharing of concerns. The working group has been generous with accepting public comment and I do advise participation for those with time, proximity and something to say. I also advise low expectations for consequences.

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. In the photo is Alex Omoto, Marty's son and my friend, at the Master Plan kickoff meeting, giving events their due.

-Submitted by Doug

Person-Centered Evolution, Part II

The "One Pager" is a tool designed to be a starting place or other way point. It is a simple tool and an elegant one with a profound impact.

It is often the first tool we use with a new client as a way to get to know them. It is typically the first tool we show a new caregiver.

It's also a powerful way to explore what we've learned and how the person we serve has grown and changed. When you workshop a new one-pager, its simplicity gives a great opportunity to realize how much more specific the team and the person can be. And whenever the one-pager is renewed, it is better and more helpful as the starting point for training a new caregiver, introducing a new doctor, etc.

Spotlight on Abi and Omar

I’d like to mention Abigail and Omar because their addition to our team has been such a success. I can’t thank each of them enough for being so great with David and bringing structure into David’s weekdays. I’ve noticed how much David’s mood has improved and his outings and activities help so much in expressing all of David’s energy. Again, a huge thank you to Abigail and Omar for all of their contributions to the team.

-Submitted by Russell

Whether volunteering at Commom Roots farm, trips to the park or long walks on the beach they have added happiness and excitement to David’s life. Their easy and calm nature is reflected in David’s positive attitude. They have solidified the team and we are so thankful how much they have positively affected David’s life.

Submitted by James

Editor's note: I appreciate these comments from Russell and James. From my perspective as David's co-facilitator, the arrival of Omar and Abi marks a transition from a team trying very hard to accomplish goals for David's mental and physical health to succeeding. By a lot. Quickly. Angie, the other Facilitator and I really are grateful that these two young people made so much positive impact.

Spotlight on Tom

My man, Tom, is Imagine's most introverted extrovert or else our most affable hermit. Tom is very generous with his care for others. He is genuinely and memorably delighted at the good fortune of others. He is also instinctively philosophical when people he knows fall on hard times.

Whether in his outgoing mood or his more artistic mode, Tom is a real friend to his friends. (Seen here with Chris). He loves good company, bonds with caregivers and an extravagant fan of his moms.

He's a hard worker, too, with years in at Safeway.

Tom is jet fuel for the caregiving profession and we appreciate him for keeping our jets charged up, turning and burning.

All of that said, Tom, I still have never been to Dave & Buster's. Just sitting here hoping for an invitation one day.