Kokua newsletter Issue 10/11

Kokua Spirit Newsletter Vol. 19, Issue 10/11

Bravo, you!

Shout out to Amy and the Trenton To: Lena at Nepean team! No matter what obstacles gets in Thank you for all you do! You their way, they ensure their clients are are amazing and have been so getting into the community and still wonderful about stepping up and bringing a smile to their faces. They helping out! And thank you for have a great team and client group to being willing to be the Acting RM. be around, if you have not had the You will do a wonderful job! pleasure of meeting them! Great Job!!

- TJ My team is always happy to help our acorn. - Abel Shout out to Leanna Summers for being so hard working and going above and beyond to help out here at Kendra. -Bri Thank you, Meredith for your continued support of all employees, but specifically our DSPs and RMs to feel valued, respected, appreciated and acknowledged for their work. You are a true advocate for those served and those who serve. With profound respect, Cari R.

Shout-out to our male DSPs! We appreciate all you do for client support and care and are lucky to have you! We have some very caring and compassionate guys working here and we thank you!- Anon

Abel-you rock! Thanks for all your help at Trenton!

-Amy

I would like, to shoutout to Rina at 51st C! She is always going over and above to help and cover shifts.

-Adara

Rijoun H has gone above and beyond, making sure our clients have been getting out into the community and has picked up a lot of extra shifts to help with Trenton's short staff issue. His extra effort has not gone unnoticed!! Amy RM Joseph, Thank you for all the help with our schedule and ensuring our delegated shifts have been getting filled. All the extra shifts you are picking up are helping the Trenton team immensely. :-) - Amy

Siskiyou gets out and enjoys...

Siskiyou would like to send a shout out to our house RM, Katelyn. She has been absolutely awesome as an RM!. She has done a marvelous job organizing the house and identifying client needs, and ensuring each client is going on outings.

Katelyn has truly gone above and beyond for our clients and securing shifts are covered (often picking up shifts herself), so that they receive the best care possible. Siskiyou team is proud to call her our RM! - From Renee and the Siskiyou Team!

November is American Diabetes Month:

Maintaining a healthy diet and regular exercise is key to the healthy management of diabetes.

To the right are lots of healthy snack options for those needing limited sugar and starches and below are some very easy chair exercises that you could try from the comfort of your own living room!

Remaining upright after eating is an important way to avoid aspiration that could lead to pneumonia. Be sure to follow all provider ordered protocols as they are for your health and safety.

Contact Noah re: vehicle maintenance! If your house vehicle needs work or maintenance, call Noah @ (360)764-3132 or scomm via Therap!

Mo has new hours (Thurs-Mon) and is available to drive the Kokuber on Sat and Sun to help get people out over the weekend!

Please be looking for ways to get people out and get in touch with Mo to schedule these rides! (Currently, the Kokuber lift is not working, but it hopefully will be fixed soon...)

Costco Cards are coming! If you would like a card you need to let Bennilyn know by Nov. 30th. (See your Scomms for more details).

KOKUA EAP (Employee Assistance Program) BENEFITS: https://uprisehealth.com/ member login access code: KOKUA or call 1 (800) 395-1616, for up to 6 counseling sessions.

Contact Rebecca in training, directly, for all delegation requests!

Scomm: Rebecca Clark Email address: rebeccaa@kokuaservices.org Text number: 360.968.0574

Kokua Giving Tree 2023:

Head to the Kokua website: https://www.kokuaservices.org/kokuastaff-giving-tree-2023

and either sign up on the left to “adopt”- buy the gifts, or “request”, on the right- to receive the gifts.

Requests must be received by December 1st and are only open to your immediate family.

November also includes a day called, “America Recycles Day.” Following general guidelines for recycling makes the process go smoother, and our Lemay drivers a lot happier!

The below infographic shows what generally can and cannot be recycled.

Happy holidays!

We would like to take a moment to provide information on how you can support client(s) with holiday shopping.

Please take a moment to talk about the upcoming holidays with the people you support. Ask them what they would like to do to make their Christmas/Holiday special and if they would like to participate in holiday shopping. Of course, everyone celebrates in a different way and perhaps they may not want to celebrate at all. That is okay too.

Gifts Discuss with clients whom they would like to give gifts to and their ideas for gifts. Clients can give gifts to whomever they choose except Kokua employees. Staff are similarly prohibited from giving gifts to clients, as per Kokua policy and State WAC. Clients may choose to purchase gifts for themselves.

Budgets & CI checks Some people’s budgets may be tighter than others and we will be including these folks on the Kokua giving tree. We will also be reaching out to these clients and staff privately for gift ideas for the client’s giving tree tag. Each client will have their own personal holiday budget to buy gifts for themselves and others if they choose to do so. The money for their Christmas budget is used from their social security benefits. Jessie or Tracie will let each client know how much they can afford to spend. Budgeting is an important life skill, and you can assist the client(s) that you work with by helping them to keep track of how much has been spent and the remaining balance. We have blank Christmas lists available for clients to use.

Shopping in stores We ask that clients pick up CI checks and do as much in store shopping as possible. It increases the selection of items, it teaches multiple life skills, people can take advantage of in-store discounts, and money is saved by not having to pay for shipping and handling.

Online shopping However, we understand that some people may prefer not to shop in stores and may only prefer to shop online. Please scomm Tracie with the website links for the items that the clients have chosen. If there’s any special instructions (I.E: prefer to have item shipped to the office, etc.) please add it in the scomm as well.

Christmas shopping deadline: Please encourage and support clients to have all their Christmas shopping completed by December 11th.

Thank you for your support! If you have any questions, please ask us! We are here to guide you through the 2023 holiday shopping season.

Thank you, Jessie McDonnell & Tracie Dutton

Client Finance Coordinators