Below are the Special Category Winners:

Independence:

• Ted Hall – Ted moved from his parents’ house into a group home this year. It was an enormous stride for him to gain that independence, something that he has wanted to do for a long time. Ted has been working with residential staff on learning to function outside of his family’s household unit. He has started to gain meaningful relationships with his residential staff and with his roommates. He has started to learn how to make decisions that will affect his day-to-day life and is learning that decisions may have consequences and how to deal with those consequences as they arise. He is very proud to be able to have found a way to become more independent.
• Mandy Ryan – Mandy recently moved to our community, a new experience for her. She is slowly learning to be more independent in her new community and with her new service supports. She has been able to get comfortable with her staff and is beginning to connect with others.
• Carmen Jantz – Carmen is in the Kansas WORK program and has worked at Wal Mart for the last twenty years!  Carmen is buying her own home and has experienced the ups and downs of home ownership, including unexpected repairs and maintenance. Carmen has utilized her community connects to help her address getting things fixed at her house, including getting the house painted!  Carmen is very independent in the community and takes care of most of her needs without much support.
• Lee Patterson – Lee had a rough first part of 2021, with a fall that resulted in a broken femur. Lee lost some of the abilities and independence that he previous had, but he stayed resilient and positive. He never gave up, and never stopped smiling and high fiving his staff. Lee demonstrated that he values his independence and autonomy. He does everything for himself that he is able. He communicates with staff when they try to help him with something that he knows he can do himself. When he needs assistance with something, he helps staff complete the task in order to maintain his independence as much as possible.  When a new staff is working with Lee, he will teach the staff what they need to do to assist him. Staff have been impressed with Lee’s positive attitude as he has had to adjust to requiring more assistance with his care.

Self-Worth:

• Patrick Disberger – Patrick is just a joy to be around.  His positive attitude is contagious to those around him, and he finds value in everything he does.  Patrick will assist staff without being asked and will also assist other clients when he sees they need help.  Patrick is very independent and enjoys being able to do things on his own and is proud of his accomplishments!
• Phillip Saiz – Since coming back to work at the Work Center Phillip has worked hard to ensure that he is doing his job. He feels a sense of pride when he completes a job and grins from ear to ear when told how well he has done. He will assist with whatever he is asked to do and will always do it with a cheerful heart.
• Danielle Starnes – Danielle had a tough year during 2021, suffering with many medical issues. She was able to move from living alone in an apartment to living at the Star Duplex with staff support to help her with her medical issues.   Danielle has lost over 100 pounds, she has worked extremely hard, and is seeing the results in her health and her self-esteem.

Creativity:

• Inez Vieyra – Inez has had a challenging year and has used art to express herself.  She has made some beautiful piece and has felt good about the art she has created.  Inez has been known as the energizer bunny, always on the go!  This past year, she made the decision to slow down just a bit and not work so hard.  She has cut back on her working hours and has finally decided to slow down and become a little more creative with enjoying life!
• Aleen Bell – Aleen enjoys painting and having her artwork used to make Christmas cards. She is very creative and participates in about kind of art of craft project that is available. She loves being able to create new artwork truly glows when she she’s the joy her artwork brings to others.
• Glen Danler – Glen has been working hard this year!  He has been learning how to use his crochet machine and been making hats, headbands and scarves. Glen has learned patience to make sure all of his pieces or perfect.  Glen has a nice array of creative colors for the pieces he makes and sells.

Connection:

• Marion Combs – Marion has made huge strides since moving to Baldwin House. Marion had not been involved in the community or in many activities before moving to Baldwin House.   He is now attending the ALS on a regular basis and enjoys socializing. He loves to connect with his friends and staff and tell them they’re ornery. He enjoys people-watching and generally has a great time getting to connect with others.
• Elizabeth “Nettie” Cole – Nettie was absent from the work center for a long period of time.  When she returned, she was ready to work, and work hard!  She missed her friends, her paycheck and the staff!  Nettie was ready to reconnect after having been away for such a long time.
• Paul Hudson – Paul has recently moved into group living from living independently. He had made such a positive change by moving here. He has learned to welcome the staffs help with things while we being as independent as possible. He has connected with each of his roommates.  He enjoys the house parties and says he has never seen so many decorations. Paul is becoming very connected with everything and everyone at Elm!

Maurice F. Cummings Lifetime Achievement Award:

• Donald Wilson – TECH, Inc, has been serving Donald since 1989. Donald is great representation of what TECH embodies and the people we serve.Self-worth– Donald has worked in the community since 1995 and has held his current job at Carlos O’Kelly’s since September of 1999. Community employment has brought Donald a great deal of self-worth and personal accomplishment.  Donald is always on a personal mission to lose to weight and improve his health.  He participated in the health and fitness program for over four years called, Walk Kansas, where the objective was to walk enough miles that you would have walked across Kansas. Donald has participated in many HRC activities over the years including bowling, tennis, and track and has numerous trophies.  Donald was certificated as a scuba diver for many years, as this had been an ongoing life goal for him.

  Connection– Donald has a strong connection with the community through work as well as his many volunteer projects.  Donald has been one of the top fund raisers for March of Dimes several years in a row and even won airline tickets anywhere he chose in 2001 but gave them back. He volunteered for the Make- A- Wish foundation at the Women’s PGA tour in 2002. He has also raised money for Big Brothers Big Sister and Aktion Club, and sold tickets for pancakes feeds, and other fundraisers. He has also raised money for kids in other countries that needed vaccinations or sleeping nets.  Donald also frequents the Bingo halls and has many friends throughout the community.

  Independence- Donald has always been very independent. He has lived in his own apartment in the community for most of his life, and only in the last two years had to move to into a group home due to a decline in his physical health. Despite this decline he continues to work part time, go to the ALS, utilize the R-CAT to access the community and participate in all his social activities.  Donald also participated in the Kansas WORK program from 2010-2020. This is a program designed to benefit people with disabilities that work in the community.

  Creativity-Donald loves arts and crafts of all kinds, especially if they involve holidays.  Donald participates in the ALS art studio and has enjoyed honing his painting skills. He has entered artwork in the State Fair, even earning himself a ribbon.  Donald has also won the March of Dimes t-shirt contest.

Congratulations to all of our honorees!