Awards of Excellence

Cindy Allen, Trinity Village

The Compassion Award is given to a team member who genuinely cares about the residents/participants they serve as well as their fellow teammates.  They demonstrate love, empathy, kindness and the ability to share in the joys and sorrows of others.

2020 was a year for the books.  It was the year that a whirlwind named Cindy Allen started at Trinity Village as the Lifestyle Enrichment Manager.  It was also the year that a little thing called “Covid” shifted everything that we knew about how to do our work.  Cindy was a constant for both residents and staff during the past year.  

She’s an “out of the box” thinker, which became an incredible gift as needs (and our ability to meet them) shifted.  She found ways to keep residents engaged, even when they were quarantined in their apartments.  She draws from a huge well of creativity AND compassion in her interactions with all of us.  Her nominators (and others) will tell you of how attentive and caring she is to the residents, and how she has taken some of the most vulnerable ones under her wings.  They will tell you how willing she is to be interrupted, or thrown off schedule, if a residents needs a last-minute ride to an appointment or a listening ear.  They will tell you how she helped families “Face-time” when they couldn’t gather face-to-face in the long months of quarantine.

What they will also tell you is how much of a team support person she is; whether it’s answering phones…or offering to stay late to make sure a colleague has a ride home when their car wouldn’t start…or delivering “care packages” to members of her staff, Cindy goes far beyond the ordinary parameters of collegiality.

Pam Boyle, The Landing

Pam has been an Administrative Assistant at The Landing for 15 years. She is the first person people see when they enter our building and is the epitome of professionalism. Pam treats each of our residents with the utmost respect. She recently took it upon herself to call an insurance company on behalf of a resident (with their permission). The problem was causing our resident to become so distracted that she was losing sleep. Rather than saying the problem was outside of her scope of responsibility, Pam took action and resolved the issue. But, as is Pam’s way, she did not say a word about how she went the extra mile and it was only when the resident sang her praises that it came to light.    

Throughout COVID, Pam’s responsibility became one of “policing.” Pam assisted all visitors and residents with signing into the kiosk and she also made sure that all were wearing masks. She took what could be a frustrating situation for others and smoothed the waters, letting them know that she was only doing her job in keeping our staff and residents safe. 

Outside of work, Pam serves as a foster mom for dogs in need of healing before being placed in their forever homes. She loves them and makes sure they get the care they need to be ready for adoption. 

Pam also honors those less fortunate by delivering Meals on Wheels each month. 

Pam is a true asset to The Landing and it is an honor to have her as a part of our team!

Ruth Dropinski, Immanuel Pathways Omaha

Ruth Dropinski has been a PCA with Immanuel Pathways since 2018. During her employment at Immanuel, Ruth started as a PCA in the day center.  She has transitioned to helping participants in their home combined with center duties.  She is currently our go to PCA in one of our memory support rooms. She works well as a part of a team but can easily function as a leader when required. She has always exhibited great communication skills and gets along very well with staff and supervisors. She is highly respected by colleagues, participants and family members.

Participants’ faces light up when they see Ruth because they know that they are genuinely cared for. Ruth’s compassion for her participants comes out of a genuine concern for their care. Regularly, Ruth listens to participants’ concerns and needs. She works to address each them. Holding a hand to offer consolation or giving a hug as requested are part of Ruth’s talents. Her impact is felt in the positive atmosphere of the activity center and seen in the good health and quality of life of her participants.

She truly is an advocate for the well-being of all of our participants. Ruth has a huge heart and a genuine ability to relate so well to memory support participants. She provides cares and sees to it that the participant is safe, nourished and well cared for. No task is too menial. Ruth does all of these things with a smile on her face. The Award of Excellence for Relationships represents our appreciation and will serve as an ongoing reminder or her achievements.

Marla Gernstein

Emily Arnold, The Lighthouse

Emily exemplifies the Christ Promise of Serve since 2011.  She is a valued team member at the Lighthouse. Emily has a life-long commitment to helping others to a better life. She embraces an attitude of serving by giving of herself to contribute to the well-being of others. Her kindness and compassion shine thru every day.

The residents each know Emily by name and enjoy her presence at breakfast and lunch daily. She exemplifies a servant’s heart and gives of herself without complaint and provides service with a genuine smile.

Candice Brooks, Lakeside

Since Candice has started with Immanuel she has always been a team player, but throughout this last year she has really knocked it out of the park.  Right before Covid hit Candice was helping out with Lifestyles & transportation, this included driving residents to and from appointments and driving the bus to outings as needed, which she did a handful of times & this included evening events.  She was doing all of this while keeping up with her wellness duties.  

The best example of this is how much she stepped up to help out during COVID within her department, and in the health care department. Candice right away got the temp nurse aide certification and started working the floor to help care staff and residents. Candice was a huge help in assisted living and picked up many shifts to help out the team in a time of need. In addition, she volunteered to do all of the N-95 mask decontamination for us at Pacific Springs.

In addition to all of these things that are an expected part of her job, Candice is involved with nearly every part of our life together on campus.  She chaired the safety council for two years, an important but thankless job.  She always showed up to help serve our monthly “Breakfast Bash” and often stayed late to help with happy hours on Fridays.  

The list can go on and on for Candice and to be real, if there was an event or help that was needed in any dept., you more than likely will see Candice there helping as she can with a smile on her face!  It brings me great pleaser to be able to not only nominate her, but the fact other staff and residents saw what I saw and felt the same way!