October Is Disability Awareness Month
October Is Disability Awareness Month
www.mdrs.state.ms.us
The Insider
Volume II, Issue IX
September 2008
October Is Disability Awareness Month
Fundraising for Diabetes
The Diabetes Foundation of Mississippi plays a vital role in improving the lives of Mississipians with disabilities. MDRS was proud to partner with the Diabetes Foundation in participating in their major fundraising event, “Getting to the Heart of Diabetes”, Walk for Diabetes.
As a precursor to the walk, held October 5th, MDRS staff joined forces to raise money for the event. Shelia Browning, MDRS Deputy Director, spearheaded the fundraising event by organizing groups of volunteers from VR/VRB, DDS, OSDP, and Support. Each division had team captains as follow; DDS - Jamie Tucker, OSDP - Ashley Turnipseed, Support - April Sanderson, VR/VRB - Denee Smith. Each division worked to raise more money than the other in a series of fundraising events. Among those events were “Change for Change” where team captains collected spare change from staff every Friday, a Silent Auction, where many great items went to the highest bidder, and the ever popular Senior Management Carwash.
Overall, MDRS raised $5885.16 for the Diabetes Foundation of Mississippi which exceeded our goal of $5000.00! DDS raised the most money, a total of $2,661.37. Support came in second, OSDP thrid, and VR followed closely in fourth place.
Donating to the Blood Drive
On Friday, September 26th, the United Blood Services of the Natchez Trace Region held a blood drive at the Madison , Beasley, and Pearl MDRS offices. Over twenty eight MDRS employees volunteered to donate!
Walk, Stroll, or Roll-a-thon
MDRS will also be supporting the Living Independence for Everyone (LIFE) of Mississippi ’s fundraiser, Bridging the Gap on November 1st. If interested, please go to www.lifeofms.com for more information.
APSE Award
The Mississippi Association for Providing Supports to Employment (APSE) held their first conference on September 18th – 19th at the Eagle Ridge Convention Center in Raymond , Mississippi . During this convention, APSE presented H.S. “Butch” McMillan, Executive Director of the Mississippi Department of Rehabilitation Services, with the MS-APSE Leadership Award.
“The New Wave in Employment Networking: See What’s Up In Mississippi” conference featured several MDRS participants with Patty Horton, Supported Employment/Transition Program Coordinator, serving as this year’s APSE Vice President, and Executive Director Butch McMillan appearing as both an award recipient and as a featured speaker.
APSE is an organization formed to improve and expand integrated employment services and outcomes for people with disabilities.
Spotlight on Success: A Consumer Story
On July 05, 2003, at the age of 16, Heather Stewart of Carthage was injured in a car accident, receiving a broken neck, traumatic brain injury, and multiple lower extremity injuries. Her road to recovery included months of medical treatment and physical therapy at the Methodist Rehabilitation Center and Quest in Jackson . Of necessity, Heather’s education was altered, resulting in Heather pursuing special education courses and graduating one year behind her class with a certificate of completion. This impacted Heather emotionally in a traumatic way because, up until the time of her accident, she was an honor student and an excellent athlete.
Marbeth Carter, VR Counselor, was first called in to work with Heather at the Individual Education Planning (IEP) meeting her teacher held with Heather and family members. After reviewing her options, Heather determined that her best course of action would be to pursue special education. Her ultimate vocational goal, however, was to become a nail technician.
After graduation, it was determined that Heather would benefit the most from services offered at a Community Rehabilitation Center . Marbeth sought assistance for Heather through AbilityWorks of Kosciusko, where Heather received job readiness training. She was also given a work evaluation to identify work-related problems and determine if any work accommodations would be necessary. Heather completed driver’s training at MMRC and was then assisted by VR in obtaining a great achievement---her driver’s license.
Heather’s next goal was to get her GED, so she transferred to AbilityWorks in Philadelphia and attended GED classes at East Central Community College . Since Heather had been an honor student and completed the 10th grade, her teacher was hopeful that, with repetitious training, she could pass her GED. Unfortunately, Heather was only able to pass the reading component of the tests. This failure, however, did not discourage Heather, but served instead to make her even more determined to reach her goal.
After learning that she could receive a high school diploma with distance learning through Continental Academy , she pursued that option. Heather took her final exam without assistance at AbilityWorks and passed, receiving her diploma at last. Heather then obtained Nail Technician training through the Magnolia College of Cosmetology. Special accommodations were made and assistance given to Heather in preparation for the State Board testing; and, as a result, she passed with flying colors.
With the help of MDRS, Heather is now employed at M2M Nail Salon in Jackson . Her salary is dependent on her customer base, which Heather is slowly building. Need your nails done? We have the perfect nail technician for you! The VR staff is very proud of Heather for her success due to her enduring spirit and “never give up” attitude.
MDRS Represented at SETA
At the Southeastern Employment & Training Association (SETA) 2008 Fall Conference held at the Beau Rivage Resort in Biloxi , we were proud to have Shirley Brown, MDRS Director of Client Services, present a workshop on “Tapping into Ability to Meet Your Workforce Needs”.
To address the shortage in the workforce, Ms. Brown stressed that the VR Program in each state must encourage tapping into the labor pool that includes people with abilities (that also happen to have a disability). Workforce development professionals were asked to meet with Ms. Brown to discuss the overall VR Program---what we are doing to transition youth to work, how a Disability Advisory Council can be used as a public relations tool to educate the community about workforce-related services, and other items of interest.
2008 RAM Conference
The 2008 Rehabilitation Association of Mississippi (RAM) Conference, held at the Pearl River Resort-Silver Star Convention Center in Philadelphia , MS on September 15 – 17, 2008, celebrated 50 years of greatness. According to MDRS employee Lee Alderman, Past President of RAM, there was more participation than ever, with over 175 people in attendance. The vendors were steady and registration was up. Lee reports, “This year’s conference was another tremendous success, with outstanding speakers and guests and the celebration of Mr. McMillan’s election as the National Rehabilitation Association (NRA) new President-Elect. We look forward to many more successful years in RAM.”
“RAM 2008 was our 50th Anniversary and exemplified how team work can bring about hard work resulting in success, fun and many memories,” states MDRS employee Toni Borst, RAM board member and Vendor Chairman. “We had more RAM members join this year which shows excitement and an increased morale among our MDRS employees. I look forward to many years of helping RAM continue to grow and educate and improve services for Mississippians with disabilities.”
Transition Conference
MDRS is pleased to announce that our agency will partner with the MS Department of Education/Office of Special Education to sponsor the upcoming Building Partnerships for Youth Transition Conference on October 27 – 29, 2008 at The Hilton Hotel in Jackson . This conference’s focus is to “Plant the Seeds for Our Youth’s Future”, in which we will share information and resources to assist students with disabilities as they transition from high school to either work or college. The conference begins at 1:00 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 27th, and ends at noon on Wednesday, Oct. 29th.
Over 600 participants attended the last Transition Conference, and we are looking forward to a great turnout this year. For registration information, Lou Ellen Caden is the MDRS contact, and Dean Morganti is in charge of exhibits/sponsorships. Patty Horton serves as Chairperson. We extend thanks to all who have helped with this event.
Welcome to MDRS!
Jackson-- LaQuinta Smith
Wanda Walker
Lucedale-- Jodi Cochren
Madison-- Latecia McGruder
Martha Ulmer
Employee Spotlight
MDRS Network and Technical Support Team
Madison , MS
MDRS is proud to shine our spotlight this month on a special MIS team, composed of Kent Young, Janice Smith, Joe Perry, Kim Smith, and Scott Hatten. This team provides computer hardware and software technical support to agency employees throughout the State. They also manage the agency’s network, providing users access to applications such as AACE, PT, Navision, e-mail, and the Internet.
Joe Perry, the primary support person for MDRS branch offices, is always ready to travel wherever he’s needed to fix a computer problem. Janice Smith and Kim Smith, our primary help desk contacts, answer most of the technical support calls from agency end users. Always professional and friendly, they do a great job in helping our supported users. They also set up computers and create user accounts for new employees. Scott Hatten, who administers the agency network, handles more complex user support issues. Well-known throughout the agency, Scott always goes the extra mile to help agency employees. Finally, Kent Young manages the team, handles e-mail related tasks, and skillfully performs complicated network administration.
These team members, involved with all computer-related projects within the agency, constantly strive to give agency end users the highest-quality network and computer services possible, and they are highly successful. We rely heavily on this team and are thankful for their expertise and excellent attitude!!
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If there is someone in your office you would like to suggest for our Employee Spotlight, send your suggestion with a brief paragraph explaining how he/she makes your office a better place for you and your co-workers.
Submit by email to Dean Morganti at dmorganti@mdrs.state.ms.us
If you have a story or event to share for next month’s issue, please contact:
Rebecca Moffett
Communications and Consumer Relations
Phone: 601.853.5175
Rebecca.Moffett@mdrs.state.ms.us
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