t h ig
October 2019
l F g
in k a
Mary (91st Street) Aisha Raini (11th Avenue) Iman Mohamud (Wentworth) Abubakar Osman (Troseth) Nancy (48th Circle) Tawrence McMiller (29th Avenue) Julie (Colfax) Jenny (Glenpaul) Colette Tauer (In-Home) Charleston Azonwu (Skillman) Kathleen (Portland Avenue) Ayan Sheikh (In-Home) Tsehay Melka (Portland Our House) Geehan Mohamed (Fairview) Tammy Caldron (Wentworth) Shirley Saydee (48th Circle) Sarah Oni (Skillman) Michael Akindele (Portland Place) Nicole Casey (In-Home) Wanda Davis Portland Place) Tiesha English (Harmony) Aretha (1th) Comfort Meh (Wentworth) Sewunu Samuel (York Lane)
Birthdays 1 1 2 3 3 4 4 4 6 6 6 6 7 8 9 9 10 10 10 11 11 13 14 14
T
Colleen Colonna (In-Home) Aaron Irvin (In-Home) Nancy Klemz (Plato) Dana (11th Avenue) Huda Hassan (Wentworth) Carolyn Ann (In-Home) Bill (1489 Hoyt) Stacy Jacobsen (RN) Lametria Bland-Williams (1250 Hoyt) Pat (Oakland) Taoreed Majekodunmi (29th Avenue) Joel Olaniyi (Thomas Avenue) Rebecca (In-Home) Kevin (In-Home) Sandy Sabey (In-Home) Mojisola Olafeso (Glenpaul) Karen Schreifels (48th Circle) Nichole Hofbauer (16th Avenue) LaTasha Robinson (Portland Our House) Nigeria Boclair (Colfax) Adeola Oluwinners (Skycroft) Emilie Huber Rodriguez (17th Street) Tyler (Skycroft) Jonna Karan (Aurora)
Happy Birthday!
14 15 16 17 18 18 19 21 21 21 22 22 23 23 24 24 25 26 26 27 28 29 29 30
Anniversaries
Bolade Omole (Colfax) 1 yr, Holly Jones (Colfax) 1 yr, Olaniran Ayodel (Troseth) 1 yr, Tiesha English (Harmony) 1 yr, Vanecia Samuels (Troseth) 1 yr, Victoria Nash 17th Street) 1 yr, Yolawnda Shockency In-Home) 1 yr, Diamond Dixon (In-Home) 2 yrs, John Brewer (Groveland) 2 yrs, Sarah Alemneh (Dayton Our House) 2 yrs, Tsehay Melka (Portland Our House) 2 yrs, Ajoke Adeniyi (Aurora) 3 yrs, Imani Bellamy (29th Avenue) 3 yrs, Steve Chinatu (Portland Avenue) 3 yrs, Annette Ogamba (91st Street) 5 yrs, Charles Akyigyina (Fairview) 6 yrs, Martha Adghe (29th Avenue) 6 yrs, Lori Mason (Oakland) 7 yrs, Gifty Narh (91st Street) 8 yrs, Nancy Klemz (Plato) 8 yrs, Thomas Herbst (Maintenance) 8 yrs, Stacy Boehmer (Plato) 9 yrs, Saidat Adetunji (91st Street) 11 yrs, Mark Lawson (Demont) 12 yrs, Mary Hall (In-Home) 13 yrs, Jacinta Gortmaker (1489 Hoyt) 15 yrs, Karen Nelson (In-Home) 17 yrs, Colleen Colonna (In-Home) 32 yrs, totalling 181 years. Congratulations everyone!
You Rock! Angela lives at Skycroft, and she has become adept at dealing with the public. As part of her paid job training in our Supported Employment Program, she sometimes goes to neighborhood Caribou Coffee houses, and posts job openings for Wingspan, talking to the managers about our job openings in their neighborhoods. Caribou does this service for non-profits. Angie and a co-worker, Sue (Groveland) also go to Feed my Starving Children on a regular basis to assist in packing food for poor nations. This has apparently opened Angela’s eyes to the concept of donating and volunteering in the community. One day, during a break, Angela was at the Holiday station next door to Wingspan’s Plato office, and she began talking to an employee there. She said that Wingspan was having a carnival/picnic soon in our parking lot for all our clients. She asked if they’d like to donate, and the manager said, “Yes!” 100 cold bottles of water were soon delivered to us to keep people cool during the carnival. Nice work, Angie! And thanks Holiday station! You both rock! ~Maureen Merrill~
Glee Club is Back In Session Glee Club rehearsals resumed on September 9th and we have our biggest group ever. We are delighted to have Sean Turner back as our Music Director, and Micheal Brannan has committed to being our volunteer. It was great to reunite after summer break. We’re prepping for our Sunday, November 24th concert at Roseville Lutheran Church with guest artist T. Mychael Rambo—Regional Emmy Award winning actor, vocalist, arts educator and community organizer. We’ve chosen a variety a water-themed songs for our concert. Stay tuned for more information and be sure to save the date! ~Darolyn Gray~
Team Spirit
On an overcast day, September 9, Angie. Sherrie and Sue, who are in Wingspan’s Supported Employment Program, and staff Jodee Enfield, Eleaisha Jackson, Carol Hanson and myself got together to put on a garage sale at our Sherburne office to raise money for craft supplies for the program. continued
They wanted to learn how to have a successful garage sale. They all contributed and asked friends, family and staff to contribute. They worked in excellent harmony to set up, prepare for a sale, sale used items and clean up after. Spirits were high and when the sale ended, the group felt great teamwork had been built. ~Karen Nelson~
So Grateful For our Amazing Staff Although the week of September 8-14 was National Direct Service Professional Appreciation Week, we are thankful for our DSPs, and ALL of our staff, 24 hours a day, every day of the year. We are declaring the week of October 21st as Staff Appreciation Week at Wingspan and we have many fun things planned. It’s an opportunity for our Executive and Management Teams to express gratitude in a celebratory manner. In addition to daily Angie drawings, we have a breakfast planned for one day, lunch and an awards ceremony another, and a late afternoon pizza party yet another day. In addition, there will be gift card drawings each day that week as well as door prizes. At the awards ceremony, not only do we have special years-of-service awards, but we honor award winners in several categories including our distinguished Beryl Wolney Award, Employee of the Year, Leadership, Unity, Growth, Creative Service and Rookie of the Year. Thank you to all of our staff and our teams for the important work that you do, and for the compassion, care, and dedication that makes us who we are. ~Therese Davis~
NON PROFIT ORG US POSTAGE PAID PERMIT 991 TWIN CITIES MN
Wingspan Life Resources 30 East Plato Blvd. St. Paul, MN 55107
Taking Flight
is published monthly by Wingspan Life Resources Executive Director Therese Davis Editor Pam Carlson The Wingspan Life Resources mission is inspiring community and empowering people impacted by disabilities to live their best life. Please email us your changes to mailing address or email address: Contact dgray@wingspanlife.org
Labor Day Party-2019 at Wentworth House The Ladies at Wentworth always take initiatives and do lots of planning. They usually assign task and responsibilities and hold each other accountable for timeline and delivery. In the same token, so it was when Labor showed-up. The four Ladies (Patti, Sharon, Jessi and Katelyn) agreed and planned to throw a Labor Day Party for dinner. They informed staff that they wanted to take some initiative by allowing staff to sit and they would prepare dinner and be serve. Staff was very happy with the decision and gave them the green light. At the 11th hour, Jessi had to leave with her parents, but the show still went on. They lit the grill and took turns on the grill. After the grilling was done, dinner which was a buffet was served. The meal was deliciously made and they all were excited with the outcome. After dinner and all were seated socializing, staff wanted to know how they felt doing what they did; considering the process, energy and challenge. They told staff the process was a learning experience that requires lots of skills, it made them feel independent and responsible, it made them appreciate what staff go through daily trying to prepare meals. They all seemed to be grateful and happy for taking the initiative. Great Job ladies!! ~Tammy Caldron & Staff~ Empowering Abilities. Nurturing Spirits. Caring For Life.