May 2021 | 3rd Quarter Issue |
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Company Announcements: New Introductions |
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We are excited to welcome Samantha Li as our Health Services Coordinator in Colorado Springs! Samantha is a Registered Nurse and has her Masters in Physiology. She is enjoying transitioning into her Health Services Coordinator role. "I think my role is important because people in services need a liaison and advocate between themselves and their health care providers to help gain a clearer understanding of what their medical needs are." Samantha is a people person and loves being a part of helping pin down and troubleshoot solutions to everyday issues that arise.
Samantha is originally from California. In her free time she enjoys watching movies with her husband and their puppy Bailey, working out, reading thriller novels, traveling cooking, and visiting family and friends. Welcome to the team, Samantha!
(719) 360- 4858
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We are excited to welcome Michael Davidson as our Day Services Lead in Cheyenne, WY! Michael has worked in the human services field for the last year and is excited to learn even more as he transitions into his new role. His favorite part about working for Overture is being able to work one on one with people we serve, "I love coming to work and advocating for those who don’t have a voice. I have always been good at calming others down when they are upset by just being my funny self." Mike is originally from New York, but he and his family have been living in Cheyenne, WY for many years now. He describes himself as ambitious, outgoing, a family man, and always looking to make people smile or laugh. In his spare time you can find him hanging out with his two adorable kids.
307-222-0704
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Overture Colorado is excited to be expanding our Employment Services to the Denver Metro area! In April Sean Webb joined Overture’s team as an Employment Consultant. He has worked with people with disabilities for nine years, the last six of which have been providing employment supports. He is also a Certified Employment Support Professional! He brings with him a breadth of knowledge that we are excited to put to work for the people we serve in the Denver Metro area to help them realize their employment goals! Welcome to the team, Sean!
If you have questions about Overture’s Employment Services program, or know someone you think might benefit from learning more about the working in the community, please reach out to your local Employment Consultant. We’re all looking forward to helping even more people find jobs that match their skills and interests and that empower them to create the lives they choose!
Colorado: Sean Webb
720-666-3671
Wyoming: Amber Koskelowski
307-316-6870
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Please welcome Delisa Henderson as our Program Coordinator in Colorado Springs! As a Program Coordinator, Delisa oversees a caseload of individuals in our South program. Delisa has a passion for ensuring that all people have a safe and comfortable living environment to thrive in. Delisa was drawn to Overture's vision and mission and loves that all of her team members also embody it so thoroughly. Her favorite part of her role is that she gets to interact with so many people on a daily basis.
Delisa is from the Virgin Islands and describes herself as an "Enthusiastic, sympathetic, compassionate person who is easygoing and loves to laugh." When Delisa isn't working she enjoys spending time with her daughter and napping. Welcome to the team, Delisa!
dhenderson@overturesvs.com
720-666-3671
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Congratulations to Shaye Johnson! |
Weare beyond proud to announce that Shaye Johnson has accepted the new role of Associate Director of Program Services! Many may know Shaye as being an Intake Coordinator, as well as the “go to” for all things related to the Las Vegas office. She has been instrumental in establishing this office from a new agency to the thriving residential program we know today. Shaye had been an HHP/SLP for 14 years prior to joining the Overture team in 2019. One of the individuals that she previously served as a provider is still an active member of her family and she visits with him at least annually. She understands all aspects of the residential department from being a provider to the administrative side of things, and was a natural choice to lead our Southern Nevada Team into 2021. With her wealth of knowledge, compassion, experience, passion to make a difference and community relationships, we cannot wait to see what the future holds!
Please take a moment to congratulate her and all she has accomplished!
702-749-4439
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Keep up-to-date with COVID-19 Resources: |
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Overture Nevada COVID Vaccine Clinic |
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On March 2, 2021, the Las Vegas Overture office, together with Albertsons, held a COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic at their offices and it was a fantastic turn out!
The majority of individuals in services and providers in that area were vaccinated on our campus.
Thank you to the pharmacy staff at Albertsons for coming to our offices to ensure our providers and those we serve had access to the vaccine.
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Don’t be fooled by those Imagine! T-shirts, those are your very own Overturites volunteering at Imagine’s COVID Vaccination Clinic in Boulder County, Colorado. We were honored to be a part of such a large vaccination event that successfully helped 500 individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities to receive their vaccination.
If you would like a vaccination also, please reach out to your local Program Coordinator who can share resources with you!
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Theresa Vosberg, Allison Grant, Jennifer Biggs |
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Overture Wyoming Campaign: |
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Beginning in August 2020, the Wyoming Medicaid Waiver was subjected to the first round of hurtful budget cuts as the Wyoming government tried to resolve the budget deficit they were facing. The Medicaid Waiver is a joint federal and state program that provides people with disabilities with the funding and tools necessary to be independent, successful members of their community. For Overture, these cuts would mean that many of the people we serve would be unable to access the independent and successful future they rightly deserve.
On February 17, 2021, Overture launched a Wyoming Faces campaign in hopes of preventing the bill from passing. Both Overture’s individuals and staff wrote letters detailing the devastating effects of the budget cuts. On February 24, these letters were mailed out to all 90 of Wyoming’s legislators. With the help of Facebook posts and newspaper articles, Overture informed members of Wyoming’s disability community of the cuts. The goal of the campaign was to ensure that the legislators were aware of the needs of fully funding the Wyoming Medicaid Waiver and to personalize the struggle.
Thanks to all of the hard work put in on the Wyoming Faces campaign as well as from other advocates across the state, we learned in March that the proposed cuts had been overturned! Thanks to everyone who shared their stories and participated in the effort! See examples of our Wyoming Faces campaign below.
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Overture WY mailing party for WY Faces Campaign |
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Overture WY at State Capitol speaking to Legislators |
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Arc of Pikes Peak Award Winners! |
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Each year the Arc of Pikes Peak celebrates the accomplishments of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, the family members and staff who provide daily support, and community members who encourage and promote independence and success for all people. They recognize outstanding work being done in their communities with an annual dinner and awards celebration.
We are thrilled to announce our winners of this year's Arc Awards!
Thomas Barnes won the Achiever of the Year Award!
Overture's South Residential Program won the Outstanding Program Award of the year!
Megan Molnar won the Residential Service Provider Award!
Tess Bogaporo won a Host Home Provider Award!
Sheila Williams won a Family Caregiver Award!
Major congratulations to all of our winners!
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Alliance DSP of the Year Nomination: |
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Congratulations to Bonnie Dimas on her nomination for the Alliance Direct Support Professional of the Year Award! Alliance is a nonprofit, statewide association of Community Centered Boards (CCBs) and Program Approved Service Agencies (PASAs) that is dedicated to strengthening services and supports for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). This award recognizes the incredible work DSPs do every day to improve the lives of Colorado citizens with I/DD.
Bonnie has been an amazing part of the Overture Day Program team since day one, but she really began to shine during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Bonnie’s reliability and work ethics are unparalleled. Since reopening of Day Program, Bonnie, being better equipped than ever, has been single-handedly supporting a group of up to seven individuals at our base site day-in and day-out. It delights our team to know that our Day Program participants are having their best day every day and puts us at ease to know that we have Bonnie, whom we can rely on so fully to embody Overture’s mission and values.
The Overture team was thrilled to nominate Bonnie for Direct Support Professional of the Year! We cannot think of a more deserving person and are so grateful that she is a part of our team.
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Overture provides support to many incredible artists. For this month's newsletter we are featuring the amazing artwork from Day Program Participants in both our Longmont and Colorado Springs Day Programs.
Each month in our Colorado Springs program participants make their own placemats using cardboard. They paint them with their own designs and do the same to any remaining scraps of the cardboard as well, turning trash to treasures! Andy from our Longmont Day Program is also a fan of mixing found items with various art mediums to make one of a kind pieces. In the photo below, he used a vintage, decorative plate to make a dream catcher.
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Art by: Colorado Springs Day Program |
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Art by: Colorado Springs Day Program |
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Art by: Colorado Springs Day Program |
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Overture's Director of Residential Services, Shannon Kluth recently began hosting weekly, virtual fitness groups for teams! Every third Wednesday of the month she brings together people from all states to learn new Reb3l Fitness dance routines. You may ask, what is Reb3l Fitness session? It is when exciting recognizable music is mixed with easy-to-follow choreography. She also hosts a high intensity Reb3l Fitness class the first Wednesday of each month at 12:30pm, which is a full thirty-minute fitness class. Try and keep up! |
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Overture's Wellness Program has encouraged team members and the people we serve to create walking groups and have awarded them with a free lunch to participate! The benefits of walking include building relationships, higher success in commitment and reaching personal goals, not to mention it's more fun to walk in a group! Several of our teams participated including our Reno, Nevada walking group and Colorado Springs team. |
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Save the date!
Please join us for the upcoming Wyoming Developmental Disabilities Conference on June 24th & 25th in Cheyenne! We will have a booth with great prizes, and would love to see you there!
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Calling for all photo submissions!
As we continue to work remotely to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we are accepting any and all photos of the people that we serve. Please submit photos to Overture Newsletter or send them directly to Hayley Hufendick. |
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Happy Anniversary to our employees listed below! They all celebrated a milestone with Overture during
January - March.
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1 Year:
Maria Could-Jacques, WY
Whitney Harper, NV
Shelby Peacock, CO
Lindsie Potts, CO
Ryan Reeves, CO
Karina Rosas, CO
James Williams-Carter, NV
2 Years:
Diana Waters, WY
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5 Years:
Perry Porter, CO
Brenda Stallard, CO
7 Years:
Amy Grafinger, CO
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Dear Overture Families and Guardians,
We want your feedback! Overture is always looking for ways to improve the services we provide and best support you and your loved ones. We have developed this short survey below and would love to hear from you! It only takes a couple of minutes to complete and provides us with valuable insight.
Thank you so much for your help!
The Overture Team
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