Cel­e­brat­ing our 2024 Team­mates of the Year

August 05, 2024

Join us in cel­e­brat­ing our excep­tion­al team­mates who were hon­ored as our 2024 Team­mates of the Year. Each year, we name a Team­mate of the Year from each of our teams. The work these team­mates do in our com­mu­ni­ty show­case just how our staff go above and beyond each and every day.

Ken­neth Young Cen­ter staff are invit­ed to rec­og­nize staff that exem­pli­fy the KYC Core Ten­ants of an open and hum­ble hearts, being a solu­tions find­ers, and max­i­miz­ing the impact of every dol­lar. This nom­i­na­tion uplifts a team­mate that they feel goes above and beyond to make a mean­ing­ful impact. Nom­i­na­tions are then shared with a review com­mit­tee who then selectes the award recip­i­ents. We’re grate­ful for the work ALL of our teams do each day, and are espe­cial­ly hon­ored to cel­e­brate the ded­i­ca­tion, com­pas­sion, and kind­ness shared by this excep­tion­al group of team mem­bers. Team­mate of the Year award allows us to rec­og­nize those who tru­ly embody how Togeth­er We Thrive.

Behav­ioral Health Out­pa­tient Adult Ser­vices Team­mate of the Year: Alyssa!

Alyssa is our Super­vi­sor of Med­ical Case Man­age­ment and Ther­a­py. Take a look at some of what her nom­i­na­tors had to say about her excep­tion­al work! 

• Alyssa is always will­ing to answer any ques­tions or offer sup­port. She is always think­ing of oth­ers and treats her col­leagues as team­mates. Alyssa is always so kind and car­ing! She shows up for her clin­i­cians in ways that real­ly show that she cares about their men­tal health, and not just their work performance.
• Alyssa has a very col­lab­o­ra­tive way of man­ag­ing her team. She’s always open to feed­back and sug­ges­tions on how to make things run smooth­ly. She has an incred­i­ble com­mu­ni­ca­tion style that always makes you feel wel­come and lis­tened to. Alyssa devotes just as much time to her clients as she does to her supervisees. 
• Alyssa inspires her team to do their best through exam­ple. She is con­sis­tent and stead­fast in her work, and it shows in her rap­port with clients. She is the best man­ag­er I have ever had in a job set­ting. Alyssa approach­es her role with flex­i­bil­i­ty and cre­ativ­i­ty. Our ded­i­ca­tion to our clients and mak­ing sure their assess­ments are done on a bi-year­ly basis empow­ers them to con­tin­ue to get the best care that they can.

Behav­ioral Health Recov­ery Com­pre­hen­sive Tran­si­tion Ser­vices Team­mate of the Year: Gwen!

Gwen is our Tran­si­tion Spe­cial­ist. Here are just some of the exam­ples of her incred­i­ble work!

• Gwen is a great team­mate and always will­ing to step in and offer help and cov­er­age when team­mates need sup­port or are on PTO. She is will­ing to help with any­thing from prob­lem solv­ing, to mov­ing client belong­ings, to shop­ping trips, and last-minute vis­its. She has a great atti­tude and is always pos­i­tive and uplift­ing and she directs that ener­gy and encour­age­ment towards oth­ers on the team to remind them to care for them­selves (includ­ing her lead­er­ship team!). She is so con­sid­er­ate of others.
• Gwen nev­er ceas­es to amaze me with the tenac­i­ty that she engages with her work. Despite chal­lenges and frus­tra­tions that come up when doing this work and bal­anc­ing client needs, agency expec­ta­tions, and State require­ments, Gwen is pas­sion­ate and thriv­ing in her role and adds to the team cul­ture that extends to oth­ers across the department. 
• Gwen is nev­er afraid to ask ques­tions. She takes ini­tia­tive to find solu­tions and is hum­ble and insight­ful regard­ing what she does­n’t know or when she needs more infor­ma­tion. She deserves way more cred­it than she gives herself.

Behav­ioral Health Out­pa­tient Child & Ado­les­cent Ser­vices Team­mate of the Year: Abigail

Abi­gail is our LGBTQIA+ Senior Clin­i­cian. Here are just some of the exam­ples of her won­der­ful work!

• Abby has been tran­si­tion­ing to work­ing at [a sec­ond] office 1 day a week in order to cre­ate con­nec­tion with the Q Cen­ter for her LGBTQIA+ clients. She com­mu­ni­cates and prob­lem-solves issues, work­ing in a col­lab­o­ra­tive way to best meet the needs of the com­mu­ni­ty, her clients, staff, and KYC as a whole. Abby has an empath­ic and hum­ble spir­it, while advo­cat­ing for such a vul­ner­a­ble community.
• Abby has been find­ing cre­ative ways to increase LGBTQIA+ affirm­ing treat­ment here at KYC. She pro­vides LGBTQIA+ train­ings to sev­er­al teams in the C&A depart­ment and offers an office hour to help sup­port staff who need con­sul­ta­tion on their client cas­es. Abby con­sis­tent­ly looks for cre­ative solu­tions in order to fig­ure out how to best serve the LGBTQ+ com­mu­ni­ty, and how to inte­grate her­self more into a com­mu­ni­ty-based space.
• Abby is con­stant­ly look­ing at the spaces that she and the team work in through the lens of ​“how do we ensure this is a LGBTQIA+ affirm­ing space for clients and staff.” She sug­gests tweaks that are often no-cost but set up our staff and clients for suc­cess. She con­nect­ed with providers in the Chica­go area in order to be placed on their affirm­ing treat­ment provider list and increase refer­rals. Abby is con­sis­tent­ly look­ing at dif­fer­ent ways to bring more clients to the agency and to make KYC known as an LGBTQ+ inclu­sive agency. 

Behav­ioral Health Recov­ery Hous­ing Team­mate of the Year: Erica!

Eri­ca is our Super­vi­sor of Front Door Assess­ment & Qual­i­ty. See what our KYC team­mates had to cel­e­brate about her mar­velous work! 

• Eri­ca is one of the great­est client advo­cates. She con­stant­ly thinks about her clients, col­leagues, and super­visees. She explains the process of Front Door so well, leads by exam­ple, and pro­vides what­ev­er is nec­es­sary to meet her team’s needs. Eri­ca is always think­ing about client-cen­tered approach­es to how we care for our clients and our team. Eri­ca is a strong leader and col­league; she makes me bet­ter at what I do. 
• Eri­ca is adapt­able and very per­sis­tent. When she faces chal­lenges, she piv­ots and prob­lem solves. She always takes ini­tia­tive and shows tenac­i­ty. Even though I’ve only been work­ing with her for about 1.5 years, I’ve seen her grow in so many ways. She is one of the most impres­sive indi­vid­u­als I’ve ever met in this field. 
• Eri­ca makes sure every per­son has what they need, and some­how mag­i­cal­ly stretch­es every dol­lar to serve the great­est amount of peo­ple pos­si­ble. Eri­ca com­mu­ni­cates effec­tive­ly to ensure every­one on the clients’ clin­i­cal team are on the same page. She com­mu­ni­cates with her team about the funds we have and ways to uti­lize them while keep­ing the clients’ needs first. She is an extreme­ly car­ing indi­vid­ual and so deserv­ing of recognition.

Behav­ioral Health Out­pa­tient Cri­sis Ser­vices Team­mate of the Year: Janis!

Janis is our Fam­i­ly Resource Devel­op­er (FRD) and FSP (Fam­i­ly Sup­port Pro­gram) Coor­di­na­tor. Below are just some of the amaz­ing things she is accomplishing!

• Janis is always think­ing of her clients and wants to sup­port them through­out their jour­ney. She is com­pas­sion­ate and gen­uine­ly cares about the clients that she works with. 
• Through Janis’ out­reach to State Rep­re­sen­ta­tives and lob­by­ists, an amend­ment that will enable stu­dents with dis­abil­i­ties to main­tain their cur­rent edu­ca­tion­al pro­grams even if they are moved to an out-of-dis­trict loca­tion through a State-fund­ed care pro­gram was approved unan­i­mous­ly. On July 22^nd, House Bill 4581 was signed by Gov­er­nor Pritzk­er. Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Michelle Muss­man even sent Janis a hand­writ­ten thank you note for her advo­ca­cy on this legislation. 
• Janis hosts an ​“FSP cor­ner”, invit­ing peo­ple from oth­er agen­cies who are new to FSP (Fam­i­ly Sup­port Pro­gram) to help them in the role. HFS (Illi­nois Depart­ment of Health­care and Fam­i­ly Ser­vices) has rec­og­nized that no one knows how to do the job bet­ter than Janis (and her coun­ter­part from DuPage Coun­ty) so the State of Illi­nois has relied on her to help guide the new wave of folx in FSP.. because there real­ly is no one bet­ter than the best: Janis Swan­son. She is tru­ly won­der­ful and amaz­ing. We are beyond lucky to have her on our team.

Behav­ioral Health Recov­ery Wrap­around Ser­vices Team­mate of the Year: Joe!

Joe is our Employ­ment Spe­cial­ist. Here are just a few extra­or­di­nary accom­plish­ments he achieved!

• Joe encour­ages his team­mates and active­ly seeks oppor­tu­ni­ties for growth, not only for his clients but his team­mates as well. Joe pri­or­i­tizes clients, the voca­tion­al team, and KYC con­sid­er­a­tions. His hon­esty and strong work eth­ic are evi­dent in his tasks.
• Joe thinks cre­ative­ly, adapt­ing and tak­ing inno­v­a­tive approach­es to achieve pos­i­tive out­comes for the clients. Joe’s log­i­cal mind­set allows him to assess sit­u­a­tions objec­tive­ly, while his oppor­tunis­tic approach ensures he explores all pos­si­bil­i­ties. Whether brain­storm­ing or solv­ing prob­lems, Joe’s com­mit­ment to find­ing solu­tions ben­e­fits both clients and col­leagues. The voca­tion­al team at KYC is for­tu­nate to employ such a skilled and effi­cient prob­lem solver. 
• Joe’s unwa­ver­ing com­mit­ment to his role and clients has yield­ed impres­sive results. In a recent report, our super­vi­sor high­light­ed the high fideli­ty of the Indi­vid­ual Place­ment and Sup­port (IPS) mod­el, direct­ly attrib­uted to Joe’s efforts. By max­i­miz­ing the impact of every dol­lar, Joe ensures that resources are used effec­tive­ly. He also bal­ances sig­nif­i­cant results with empa­thy and flex­i­bil­i­ty. The IPS mod­el not only sup­ports clients in find­ing gain­ful employ­ment but also pri­or­i­tizes their holis­tic well-being — both men­tal­ly and finan­cial­ly. Joe’s ded­i­ca­tion enables us to achieve these goals and empow­ers clients toward independence. 

Busi­ness Oper­a­tions Team­mate of the Year: Sebastian!

Sebas­t­ian is our Facil­i­ties Super­vi­sor. Here are just a few extra­or­di­nary accom­plish­ments he achieved!

• Sebas­t­ian sup­ports staff and clients alike by always stop­ping what he is doing and mak­ing their need a top pri­or­i­ty. He explains solu­tions in a car­ing, humor­ous, and hum­ble man­ner. If the solu­tion is not accept­ed, he piv­ots to an alter­na­tive with the requestor’s input as his guid­ing light.
• Sebas­t­ian incor­po­rates help­ful solu­tions that require lit­tle to no effort on the col­lab­o­ra­tor’s part. He does not turn any­body away whether it is a chal­leng­ing or sim­ple need. He asks gen­tle ques­tions while tak­ing their dig­ni­ty and under­stand­ing of com­pli­cat­ed tech­nol­o­gy needs into con­sid­er­a­tion. He might be the most com­pli­ment­ed staff per­son I have ever worked with for his kind com­mu­ni­ca­tions style. He makes KYC a great place to thrive. 

• Sebas­t­ian is extreme­ly fru­gal with the bud­get line items for sup­plies and ven­dor require­ments. He has helped the depart­ment be under bud­get for 6 years run­ning. If a ven­dor quotes a high price to com­plete a task, Sebas­t­ian says that’s too much, and does the work him­self, sav­ing tens of thou­sands of dol­lars every year. A tru­ly incred­i­ble cowork­er with a hum­ble heart!

Com­mu­ni­ty Col­lab­o­ra­tion Team­mate of the Year: Molly!

Mol­ly is our Com­mu­ni­ty Col­lab­o­ra­tion Project Asso­ciate. Here are just a few fab­u­lous accom­plish­ments her team­mates recognized!

• Mol­ly under­stands that trans­paren­cy fos­ters stronger rela­tion­ships and paves the way for mean­ing­ful col­lab­o­ra­tion; she has been open to any sit­u­a­tion that may come up. She active­ly seeks input from oth­ers on her team, rec­og­niz­ing the val­ue of diverse per­spec­tives and col­lec­tive wis­dom. She under­stands that learn­ing is a con­tin­u­ous process and remains recep­tive to feed­back, espe­cial­ly when deal­ing with a brand-new project such as our stall calls or even when work­ing with the YAC.
• Mol­ly demon­strates a log­i­cal yet oppor­tunis­tic approach in brain­storm­ing and prob­lem-solv­ing. She care­ful­ly ana­lyzes sit­u­a­tions, weigh­ing the pros and cons of var­i­ous strate­gies to ensure a ratio­nal deci­sion-mak­ing process.
• She con­sis­tent­ly seeks prac­ti­cal solu­tions while relent­less­ly focus­ing on expand­ing our reach. With a resource­ful mind­set, Mol­ly con­tin­u­al­ly finds ways to do more with the resources, max­i­miz­ing their impact and effectiveness.

Old­er Adults Team­mate of the Year: Courtney!

Court­ney is our MCO Specialist/​Choices Care Coor­di­na­tor. Below are just some of the amaz­ing things she is accomplishing!

• Court­ney is hum­ble in her work and accepts input on how to improve both in her line of work or as a per­son. Court­ney is always jump­ing in to fig­ure things out to help her col­leagues and dis­cov­er­ing new resources to share. Court­ney has made her­self avail­able and approach­able for any­one to come to her. She has recent­ly tran­si­tioned to a new role in Old­er Adults and has done so with grace and enthu­si­asm to ensure her clients are being seen in a time­ly man­ner and get­ting the help they need. 
• Court­ney is always look­ing for ways to think out­side the box. As a lead in con­duct­ing the month­ly Mem­o­ry Café for com­mu­ni­ty mem­bers who are suf­fer­ing from vary­ing forms of mem­o­ry loss and their loved ones, Court­ney is con­stant­ly look­ing for cre­ative ways to engage the par­tic­i­pants in fun activ­i­ties. Court­ney has tak­en on many job respon­si­bil­i­ties over the past year. She looks for solu­tions on issues that arise between her roles and is always think­ing of prac­ti­cal ways to con­tin­ue doing the work that needs to be done. She is a huge asset to the OA team.
• In her new role as MCO Coor­di­na­tor, Court­ney is ded­i­cat­ed to help­ing her co-work­ers serve as many clients as pos­si­ble. She has spent the time to max­i­mize home vis­its which saves time and mon­ey, while still giv­ing the appro­pri­ate amount of time for every client to ensure their needs are being met. Court­ney is very orga­nized. Court­ney still works on com­pil­ing resources and con­nect­ing with oth­er col­leagues to ensure clients are receiv­ing all the resources avail­able to them.

Please join us in cel­e­brat­ing all our nom­i­nees and Team­mates of the Year! Our work could­n’t be done with­out them. Thank you to the many KYC staff mem­bers that help our com­mu­ni­ties thrive!

Togeth­er We Thrive

The Team­mate of the Year Awards are just one way that KYC strives to cel­e­brate our incred­i­ble team mem­bers. Learn more about how we cre­ate a pos­i­tive orga­ni­za­tion­al cul­ture for our teams here.

---

Previous Article Next Article