Welcome to Impact Insider! If you're new here, Impact Insider is a monthly all-staff email with important news and announcements across our Lasting Change family of organizations. If you'd like to submit content to be included in future emails, send it to the Marketing team at [email protected].

November is the month that kicks off the “Holiday Season”! It is a hectic time of the year. We all start the mad rush to finish the year strong. We also stress over fixing the perfect Thanksgiving dinner, hosting the best meal ever, and getting ready for Christmas. It can be a very stressful and emotional time if you give in to those thoughts.

I want to encourage you to take a different approach this year. I am encouraging you to approach Thanksgiving with a different attitude this year. Don’t look at it as the prelude to Christmas. Approach this Thanksgiving with intentionality, with a grateful heart, and with an attitude of gratitude. We live in a world that constantly reminds us via advertising and social media that our lives are lacking. I want to challenge that narrative and encourage all of us to be very intentional this year about identifying all the blessings we have and all the reasons we have to be truly thankful. Instead of lamenting the things that are not going well or the possessions you do not have, focus on all the things that are right in your life and the things you do possess that are meaningful to you. Finding joy and gratitude in your life requires you to make the choice to BE thankful and BE content with what you do have. Be intentional about focusing on all the reasons you have to be thankful instead of all the reasons you have to be unhappy.

Here are some things I recommend for this process:

1. Keep a gratitude journal – every day this month, write down the moments/things that brought joy to you that day.
2. Write “Thank you” notes to those people who have made a difference in your life and give them the notes.
3. Stop using the word “problems” and start calling your problems “opportunities to do better.”

Sometimes, merely reframing your speech can give a totally different perspective.

As we approach this Thanksgiving holiday, my prayer for all of you is that you find all the reasons you have to be Thankful and focus on them intentionally and joyfully. Choose to be Thankful for the people and blessings you have in your life.

We can all choose to be joyful – when we decide to focus on the positives in our lives. I will leave you with this thought: Vultures spend their days looking for dead things – guess what they find – dead things! Hummingbirds spend their days looking for sweet nectar – guess what they find – sweet nectar! We find what we focus on – I choose to be Thankful for all my blessings, and I hope you do, too!!

God Bless!

- Gordon Haines, VP of Culture and Administration

Please welcome our new team members! 

Lifeline Youth & Family Services

• Luimar Balza, HBS Family Consultant - Region 2
• Loren Sparks, Homemaker - Region 7
• Dominique Cole, HBS Family Consultant - Region 10
• Sarah Johnson, HBS Family Consultant - Region 10
• Tiffany Martinez, HBS Family Consultant - Region 14
• Aryanna McClendon, HBS Family Consultant - Region 16

Pierceton Woods Academy

• Jessica Singleton,  Youth Treatment Specialist

Wheatfield Academy

• Dawn Odor, Youth Coach
• Ronnie Odor, Youth Coach

Mark your calendars for the live Open Enrollment Kick-Off Meeting, which will be taking place on November 14. After this meeting, an email will be sent to everyone to begin the open enrollment process. So watch your email box for more details.

You can begin to review your current benefits on the Employee Navigator enrollment website at:

https://www.employeenavigator.com/identity/Account/Login

(The new information for 2024 is not listed on the website yet, and you will not be permitted to make enrollment changes until open enrollment begins.)

We would like to encourage you to help us recruit employees to our organizations. We have positions available across each of our organizations and need your help to fill them! So, we're offering the following incentives for each new employee you recruit to one of our organizations: 

Shop for branded apparel at the NEW Lasting Change web store! From t-shirts to jackets to hats and bags, you can purchase Lifeline, Crosswinds, PWASH or Wheatfield items that suit your style and comfort level. Click the link below to browse your options or visit the new store at lastingchange.spiritsale.com.

Save the Date

Thursday, January 18th

Location

Crowne Plaza - Downtown Indianapolis

(123 W Louisiana St, Indianapolis, IN 46225)

Mental health impacts all of us, so it's important to talk about it. Conversations with Crosswinds Counseling is a podcast dedicated to producing great conversations around current topics, mental and emotional health, hardships in life, and the different types of counseling. Tune in each week to learn more about how counseling can empower and equip you to overcome adversities, reach your goals, help you thrive in your relationships, and become the person you want to be.

Client Testimonials

If you have client stories or client testimonials, please share them with the Marketing & Communications team at [email protected]. We can use confidential stories and testimonials in marketing pieces and share them with our family of organizations so we can continually be celebrating, encouraging, and praying with one another.

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This is an internal email meant for employees of Lifeline Youth & Family Services, inc.; Lasting Change, Inc.; Crosswinds, Inc; PWA & Spencer Home, LLC; or Wheatfield Residential, LLC. If you are not employed by one of these entities, please notify the sender and delete this email.