Wrapping up a party-filled 2015, in Fresno County celebrated Telecare’s 50th anniversary (and the programs fifth!) with a big party for their staff. Thank you to the party planners and all the staff that made this event special!
2015 was a wonderful, interesting, and exciting year for our San Joaquin Telecare family. First, I would like to express my deep and sincere appreciation to our family for the amazing team work, dedication, passion, and commitment to the day-to-day work that they do. I am grateful for the beautiful uniqueness in each of our members and the diversity that we all continue to learn and embrace. It’s the hard and heart work that is given to the program and the residents from each member of the team that makes us great in our ability to serve with passion, compassion, and quality. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for being the awesome team you are!
To our sister program, , I’m looking forward to the incredible journey ahead. Our TEIR team is tiny, but very mighty. Thank you for your eagerness to learn and your dynamic energy. We are rockin’ and rollin’! Go Team!
Special thanks to the wonderful and awesome communications team. Thank you for all your help and the goodies throughout the year. Thanks for keeping us informed and in the loop. Another special thanks to the IT team. You never failed us!
To the entire Telecare family, we would like to wish you and yours a very happy, safe, and stress-free holidays!
With warm regards,
Jeremy House and TEIR
This year, in honor of our 50th anniversary, we invited all of our programs to share their stories of recovery, values, and inspiration. We would like to say a huge thank you to all of the programs who put their time, effort, and love into this contest. Take a look at the videos below to see who will be bringing home The Morty, an award created in honor of Anne Bakar's father and one ofؼ founders, Morton Bakar!
Telecare staff and members of our inpatient program in Hayward, California, share what recovery means to them and what they are most proud of in their life and work.
Our community-based program in East Oakland showed their heart, spirit, and all the unique ways they are incorporating the Telecare values and Evidence Based Practices to improve the lives of the members they serve.
Telecare members and staff in our court-ordered program in Orange County share their stories of making it through hardship and give words of hope and encouragement to those on their own recovery journey.
In honor of the victims from the tragedy that occurred in San Bernardino December 2, San Bernardino ACT, MAPS, TIE-CC staff and members expressed their sympathy and condolences by visiting the memorial site leaving words of support and encouragement.
This tragedy has gathered worldwide attention and media coverage, but at the end of the day, families are still left with voids, and survivors with scars. Please keep San Bernardino in your thoughts as they begin the healing process. If you would like to support the families of those affected here is how you can help:
Throughout the year of 2015, Telecare San Bernardino // participated in a number of fundraisers in preparation of the Annual . This year the committee consisted of members, team leads, PSCs, and administrative staff. The committee arranged a bake sale, savory casserole sale, dress down day, and a rummage sale totaling $1,125 in donations.
Our three programs (ACT, MAPS, and TIE-CC) had a total of 45 members and staff registered to participate in the NAMI walk as the “Telecare Heroes”; taking the challenge of walking the trail, obtaining local resources and education of services available through the booths, and enjoyed the sense of community ending out day with lunch and socializing under the tents. NAMI for us is not just a fundraiser, it’s a way for our members and staff to connect and start stomping stigmas of mental illness.
Telecare ACT / Community Nursing Conference
November 3rd and 4th, San Diego, CA
Workshops included Role of ACT nurses, Avatar, Order Connect, Med management practices, Physical conditions in individuals with SMI, Assessing side-effects of antipsychotics, Open Mic with Dr. Harvey Segalove, CMO.
Happy Veteran’s Day to our special LVN Malcolm Edrada. Malcolm served in the U.S. Navy for 10 years as an Engineering Mate. He served on five deployments to the Western Pacific areas such as Singapore, Japan, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Australia– just to name a few.
One of his greatest accomplishments was when Malcolm was awarded an ESWS pin. This pin is a surface warfare insignia that is a military badge of the U.S. Navy and issued to personnel who are trained and qualified to perform duties aboard surface warships.
When Malcolm was in San Diego, he was “volun-told” to join the Naval Security Force, also known as the Naval Law Enforcement, and he shined. They recognized his talents and Malcom graduated with honors out of a class of about 50 students. Malcolm had an average of 97.5%.
When Malcolm left the U.S. Navy he took about a year off until he decided to become a nurse — LVN. In January, Malcolm will have worked four years with us. We are honored to have such a kind, courageous, and patient man working with us. Malcolm is the epitome of a great nurse.
Happy Veteran’s Day to Malcolm and all the men and women that serve our country, past, present and future.We are deeply grateful for your service!
Telecare’s Full Service Partnership in San Mateo, , was among a handful of programs and organizations recognized for excellence in providing stable housing for people with mental health and substance use issues. The Behavioral Health and Recovery Services of San Mateo County held its annual Housing Heroes awards ceremony Oct. 22, at which FSP’s administrator Kevin Jones accepted the award—a plaque and potted plant. The Housing Heroes awards were instituted in 2008, and this year is Telecare’s second award. Current FSP housing coordinator Lee Cates was recognized for excellence in housing in 2013.
Kevin Jones, second from right, stands among three other honorees at an Oct. 22 award ceremony recognizing excellence in housing. Also pictured is Ohevet Fotofini, a board and care operator; Georgia Peterson, a shelter operator; and Karen Francone of the Service League of San Mateo.
Kevin Jones, left, spoke briefly to accept a Housing Heroes award from San Mateo County on Oct. 22, while county health and recovery director Stephen Kaplan and Telecare housing coordinator Lee Cates (seated) and PSC II Yesenia Cortes (standing) listen. Cates was recognized as a Housing Hero in 2013.
Kevin Jones, right, anticipates his staff will enjoy reminding him of the unintentionally humorous mis-attribution to a presentation slide identifying him as “Millard.”
For some Friday fun, check out and special celebration of Telecare’s 50th anniversary, with special guest appearances from Flat Anne, Flat Gary, Flat Jessica, Flat Mary, and Shamu!
Thank you to Elise Naughtin and the entire teams at GTR and PTR for sharing the fun!
Last month, hosted a red-carpet soiree for Telecare’s 50th anniversary. Staff munched on a great buffet and delicious cake, played Telecare Trivia, and watched the 50th commemorative video, as well as one put together by staff for a special occasion. Garfield’s many longevity employees got up to say a few words, followed by a touching speech from Regional Administrator Kier Taylor who spoke on the random acts of kindness he sees from staff daily.
Thank you to Reiko Takaishi and Garfield staff for throwing a fabulous party!
Submitted by Norma Bermudez
AA/HR for San Bernardino ACT, MAPS, and TIE-CC
In late July, San Bernardino , , and programs went to San Juan Capistrano for team building with a day full of activities. Staff were able to learn about each other and their surroundings. Everyone joined in team building exercises/games, a guided tour of San Juan Capistrano Mission, and ended with a nice luncheon at a restaurant by the mission. This was fun team building! A BIG thank you to the management team for making this possible!
celebrated Telecare’s 50th Anniversary with a big party in their back yard. The entire Gladman crew set up a fantastic party that included a live band, fun party games, and face painting! A big thank you to the dietary team at Gladman and the amazing job they did whipping up burgers and hot dogs in a flash! They catered the entire party and served some delicious food for all to share. Check out a glimpse of the activities below.
program in Pierce County, WA celebrated Telecare’s 50th Anniversary at our annual summer picnic! This year the festivities included live music and slip-n-slide fun!
Thank you to the Recovery Partnership team for planning such a great party!
staff and their family members celebrated Telecare’s 50th birthday by taking it out to the ballgame!
On July 19th, staff had the pleasure of watching the Oakland A’s hit home run after home run while playing the Minnesota Twins. Final Score: a whopping 14-1 victory!!
It has been a year of many transitions at Sausal Creek as they said good-bye to the long-time leadership team of Pansy Taft-Butkowski (Administrator) and Sabrina Spellman (BOM/HR/AA). Pansy and Sabrina have moved onto other positions within the organization and Carolyn Rapier (former Administrator for Cordilleras) is now leading the Sausal Creek team into Telecare’s next half century!
By Kezzia Bullen
Clinical Director at SOAR
has some very spirited team members and we like to have spirit week (yes, like in high school) a few times a year. We have a theme each week and one of them was celebrating Telecare’s 50th year anniversary! We all love to eat and we have a themed potluck each day of the week too. We know that working in this field is very stressful and is often not immediately rewarding (and can take a lot of energy.) So, we like to make things fun whenever we can–often it’s all that gets us through on really tough days.
A special thank you to Bisa and Sheila for their spirit leadership. Bisa made all the props and decorations each day; THANK YOU! Everyone on the SOAR team participated and chipped in for a fun and food filled week. I feel incredibly lucky to work with this work family.
By Kathleen Wells
HR/AA, Telecare LA Step Down
Each year, members participate in an art contest to design our annual members picnic t-shirts. This year, Priscilla R. was the winner. All members and staff wore the t-shirts while participating in an array of activities including but not limited to; arts and crafts, dominoes, water balloon toss, basketball, Frisbee, ladder golf, arts and crafts, dominoes and other board games, also there was a karaoke and dance contest. We all enjoyed a wonderful barbecue meal of hot dogs, hamburgers (with all the trimmings), beans, potato salad and cookies for dessert.
On July 17, 2015, Santa Cruz and celebrated Telecare’s 50th anniversary by hosting a big party at the facility. The festivities included a BBQ with wonderful food and treats. Telecare employees and County related staff and visitors attended. The theme of the celebration was Community Awareness and how Telecare can make a difference in Santa Cruz County.
Thank you Mark Kik for planning and cooking, and everyone who made this celebration a success!
50 Years of Services to People With Serious Mental Illness
