LifeScape Live - September 2014

LIVE

2501 W. 26th St., Sioux Falls, SD 57105-2498

A Quarterly Publication for Families & Guardians of Those Supported by LifeScape September 2014

Quality KUDOS

A community forum for educational opportunities, exchanging ideas, and partnering for success.

Registration Ends September 19th! Registration Includes: Vendor fair, lunch, keynote speaker, breakout sessions with current trends and topics, and endless networking opportunities.

Register Online Now for the 8th Annual GreenSTAR Symposium Friday, Oct. 3, 2014 • 8:30 am-4:30 pm Sioux Falls Convention Center

Sponsored By

100 Standard Registration 50 Self-Advocate Registration

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For More Information, Visit achievesd.org/greenstar or Call 605.274.1208

CQL Accreditation Successful!

In our last newsletter we reported that a national accreditation agency, The Council on Quality Leadership (CQL) would be onsite at both Western and 26th Street locations to review the basic assurances related to services offered by LifeScape. We are proud to report that we have been officially accredited by CQL! This accreditation helps ensure ongoing quality improvement with a focus on person-centered and self-directed practices. Many of our staff as well as children and adults supported and their families participated in the accreditation week activities. We appreciate everyone’s participation and input in this very important process.

LifeScape Email Migration Completed If you have received email correspondence from an employee at LifeScape recently, you’ve likely noticed that our email addresses have changed. All LifeScape staff addresses are now on the new LifeScape domain. The old email addresses continue to work, but you may start using the new ones at any time. Just replace the ‘@cchs.org or @achievesd.org’ with @LifeScapeSD.org. Some phone numbers have also changed, but the old numbers will transfer for awhile.

Interested In Testing Out The NEW Website?

The Marketing Department at LifeScape is getting ready to launch the new www.LifeScapeSD.org website (currently active, but you are driven back to one of the old sites). We are looking for family members and people supported to test out the new site when it’s ready. Please contact Julie Gehm, Director of Marketing, at julie.gehm@LifeScapeSD.org or call her at (605) 444-9528 if you’d like to test out the new site for us and offer feedback.

LifeScape Signs Are Going Up! If you’ve been to the Western Avenue, 26th St., N. Louise, or Foundation office sites at LifeScape, you may have noticed our new signs!

It’s so exciting to see our new name “out there” for everyone in the community to see. The LifeScape Rehabilitation Center (18th St.) in Sioux Falls, and the LifeScape facility in Rapid City will be getting their new signs very soon!

Gym Remodel at 26th St. Complete The gym at the 26th Street location has just undergone a remodel. This multi-purpose room is used for many school-related and recreational activities, as well as meeting space for larger groups and social events such as the Homecoming dance and Graduation ceremonies for students at LifeScape Specialty School. Check it out if you are visiting the building!

Mission Statement

LifeScape is committed to promoting independence for children and adults with disabilities by providing specialized services, healthcare, community connections, and lifelong learning.

Values

Integrity • Compassion • Fiscal Responsibility • Collaborative Relationships • Excellence

Meet our Staff Marty Jolley Director of Nursing Western Avenue Location Being a caretaker at heart meant only one career path for Marty Jolley, becoming a nurse. “It’s what I was meant to do,” says Marty, who is Director of Nursing at the Western Avenue location. With Bachelor of Science degrees in Nursing and Human Development & Families, she has been with LifeScape (then South Dakota Achieve) since 2010.

Marty started her professional career at Advance in Brookings, where she worked for six years and became a supervisor. After attending SDSU’s accelerated nursing program at the University Center, Marty worked at Avera McKennan for three years on their medical/surgical floor. She then moved to South Dakota Achieve, where she worked as a staff nurse for Mariana, Holly, and Campus, as well as some people in Supported Living.

Others in Marty’s department include 13 Registered Nurses, three health service coordinators, a communications aid, and three restorative technicians.

Besides overseeing the medical tasks of her staff, Marty’s responsibilities include staff training and creating policy and procedures. She says she enjoys helping people in times of crisis and with everyday medical concerns. “I love working at LifeScape because I work with an amazing group of people who make me laugh every day,” says Marty. “We have something truly special in this department.”

She is constantly challenged and learns new things as a nurse and a director. One of Marty’s future goals is to revamp the Annual Medication Review in the hopes of providing better education/updates for long term employees regarding safe medication administration.

In her free time, Marty loves spending time with her family and her two boxers, as well as camping.

A Message from Anne Parents, Guardians, and Family members, I hope you have all had an enjoyable summer! Things were incredibly busy here at LifeScape. We are now entering our 6th month as LifeScape and have much to celebrate. It is wonderful to see our staff working together – assessing the best ways possible to move forward together. We are reviewing all policies and procedures; employee benefits; facilities and office locations; and ways that we can enhance our existing services with the expertise that we gained when we joined together to form LifeScape. We are working hard to integrate our staff and develop the “culture” of LifeScape. Our mission, vision, and values are the core from which decisions are made, so we want to make sure those are truly engrained in the minds of our employees.

In the near future, you will be given the opportunity to complete a survey and provide input on how you think we are doing and what we could be doing better. It’s very important to us that the children and adults that we support, as well as their parents, guardians, and family members have a voice in decision making. When you receive your survey, please take a few minutes to share your thoughts, ideas, and concerns. We are also initiating parent/guardian/family member focus groups to provide input on a variety of topics. Please speak with your service coordinator, case manager, or social worker if you have an interest in being a part of the new focus groups.

Remember that my door is always open. Please contact me by phone at 605-444-9515 or by email at anne.mcfarland@lifescapeSD.org with any questions or concerns. I would love to hear from you!

Anne Rieck McFarland, LifeScape CEO anne.mcfarland@LifeScapeSD.org 605-444-9515 2501 W. 26th St., Sioux Falls, SD 57105

Upcoming Events Tuesday, September 16 • 6:00-7:30 Strategies for Picky Eaters Free Parent Education Sioux Falls Rehabilitation Center Register at Free Parent Education on www.cchs.org.

September 21-27 National Rehabilitation

Awareness Week October- National Disabilities Employment

Awareness Month Friday, October 3 • 8:30-4:30 GreenSTAR Symposium Sioux Falls Convention Center. Register by September 19 at www.achievesd.org/GreenSTAR Tuesday, October 7• 6:00-7:30 Positive Parenting for Challenging Behaviors Free Parent Education Sioux Falls Rehabilitation Center Register at Free Parent Education on www.cchs.org.

Tuesday, November 4 • 6:00-7:30 Strategies for Picky Eaters Free Parent Education Sioux Falls Rehabilitation Center Register at Free Parent Education on www.cchs.org.

Tuesday, December 2 • 6:00-7:30 Toy Adaptations Free Parent Education Sioux Falls Rehabilitation Center Register at Free Parent Education on www.cchs.org.

Check out www.LifeScapeSD.org for more info on events

Would you like your own LifeScape logo wear?

Get your t-shirts, polos, sweatshirts and many other things at www.hansonlogowear.com/lifescape.

Thank you for giving us the opporunity to work with your family member!

Meet our Staff Becky Weeldreyer, Director of Nursing 26th Street Location Becky Weeldreyer was studying for a psychology degree at USD in Vermillion and working at SESDAC, a Community Support Provider, when she decided to move back to her hometown of Sioux Falls. She needed a night job while continuing to attend classes, and SESDAC co-worker Angie Brown (now LifeScape’s VP for Marketing and Strategic Initiatives) recommended that she apply at Children’s Care Hospital & School. Becky was hired for a direct care position, and expected it to be a short stay. She fell in love with the job, however, and is still here nineteen years later, as Director of Nursing at LifeScape’s 26th Street location.

Becky wanted to be able to do more for the children, so she returned to USD for a nursing degree. After becoming a Registered Nurse in 2004, she began working on the specialty hospital unit. She was also the nurse for Dr. Julie Johnson at the Rehabilitation Center for two years.

Becky became Director of Nursing in 2009, and is also the director of the 18-bed specialty hospital, otherwise known as the Fisher Coon Unit (named for founding nurse Irene Fisher Coon).

Becky has clinical oversight for all medical treatments at the 26th Street facility and supervises all the nurses.

She says the best part of her job is seeing the children grow, change, and improve in health and skills. “It’s also really gratifying to be able to provide the extra love and attention for the kids who don’t have families around to provide that nurturing.”

Becky and her husband Eric have two children, Isabella, 9, and Jaxson, 7. Her mom is Deb Haas, who works at LifeScape (formerly from the South Dakota Achieve side) in purchasing.