Gloria Chandler
The Fullest Cup
While it is a beautiful gift, our life journeys are certainly not always easy to navigate. After all, we are all faced with things during our lifetimes that challenge our resolve. This is the truth for all of us, as human beings. Often, our own life’s challenges intersect with those of the people we are providing care and support to and we may struggle to find balance and ultimately, our balance may come from redirecting our focus to someone else who is also struggling. Our balance comes from helping someone else.
In September 2021, a longtime resident in one of UCP Seguin’s intermittent CILA homes was admitted to the intensive care unit at the hospital due to wounds on his legs that had become terribly infected. His medical team quickly learned that not only were the wounds infected but he was septic. He was gravely ill. To compound the problem, this person also battles serious anxiety and is largely non-compliant with medical treatment of any kind. Even after being discharged from the hospital after nearly dying, he still continued to refuse follow- up medical visits and would not participate in self-care to keep himself healthy.
Gloria Chandler had a relationship with the participant and has played an important role in this person’s life for several years. He trusts her. After his discharge from the hospital, she played a pivotal role in helping him to understand the importance of taking care of himself and that meant facing his fears related to his medical treatment. Because of her intervention, this person now goes to the wound care clinic and complies with home health care. He has made a nearly complete turnaround with Gloria’s help, finally accepting responsibility and assistance to keep himself healthier than he has been in years. Gloria did all of this while she was facing probably one of the most serious challenges that she will experience in her own life. The phrase “fill your cup first, fill others with the overflow” is exactly what she did during this period of time; she took care of herself and made sure that she was ready to take care of others.
A persistent and compassionate professional, Gloria has made significant impact in the lives of many of the people we support at UCP Seguin. She is not only a kind, strong, and determined warrior, she is also the recipient of “The Fullest Cup Award”.
Congratulations, Gloria! You are absolutely a Shooting Star!
Marlene Fason
Guardian Angel
We all experience loss in our lives. Loss can mean so many different things, both big and small: The loss of a job, a favorite piece of jewelry, someone we love. And grief shows up in so many different ways, with each one of us having our own ways of grieving a loss. No matter how we grieve, knowing that we have a support system there to hold us up when we need it most is important to our healing journey. And grief doesn’t just shut off when we walk into work – we carry it with us everywhere.
Two years or so ago, Healthcare Specialist Marlene Fason took on the informal role of knowing which members of our workforce, especially in adult day services, had experienced a loss – simply put, if someone had a death in their family, they told Marlene. Then Marlene would carry that information forward to make people aware that someone was hurting and why, and that UCP Seguin should acknowledge these events. She was encouraged to start up a committee that would act on behalf of the agency to acknowledge and offer support when an employee experiences the loss of a family member or someone close to them. She ran with it.
Marlene put out feelers and now there is a group of eleven UCP Seguin staff who make up UCP Seguin’s Care Team with Marlene leading the efforts. The impact this team has had on employees and their families has been nothing short of remarkable. Her passion and commitment to ensuring that those who she works with feel supported and comforted during times of grief has been an inspiration to watch. Staff member Wendy Thompson, who was a recipient of the Care Team’s support, was so moved by Marlene’s kind actions and words when she experienced a loss that it compelled her to join the Care Team so that she, too, could provide the level of care she witnessed in the team and in Marlene. Wendy said that following her own loss, she had a knock on the door at her home and Marlene was standing there with a card and a plant from the Care Team. She became overwhelmed with emotion and shared that, “I didn’t even know anyone knew me at UCP Seguin and here was someone standing on my doorstep offering me a warm embrace.” Marlene also faced her own tragic loss this year and the Care Team was there to support her, their compassionate leader, as she learned to move forward through and with her own grief.
Because of Marlene’s insistence that we all need to show up for each other, UCP Seguin doesn’t just feel like somewhere we all work; Marlene and her Care Team have helped it to feel more like a caring, supportive family.
Congratulations, Marlene. You are the recipient of the “Guardian Angel Award”. You are compassionate, kind, determined, and you are definitely a Shooting Star!
Joseph Wambare
Wildlife Warrior
On the night of Thursday, June 29th of this year, the participants and staff working at the CILA home in River Forest were scared. Earlier in the evening of that same day, when one of the staff members went outside to take the garbage out, loud shrieks were coming from the garbage can. They had no idea what was in there, but whatever it was, it was loud and it was screaming, and it was scary. So, they called the police for help. River Forest sent an officer right over and as he approached the large, commercial-sized garbage bin, a loud bang followed by an ear-piercing shriek erupted from the can. Just as the staff did, the officer sprinted away from the bin. It’s self-preservation! The officer recommended that the staff contact animal patrol, which they did. An animal patrol officer arrived on the scene and after approaching the bin just close enough, was able to confirm that the shrieks were coming from multiple raccoons. They also confirmed that they couldn’t help.
What were they supposed to do?
Just by chance, CILA Monitor Joseph Wambare pulled into the driveway at 22 Park to do an unannounced visit at the CILA. Thank goodness he did! Joseph explained:
“I’m from Kenya. The only two animals I would walk away from are the elephant and the leopard. Lions do not scare me. If I walk up to lions and they are all asleep except for two, I am not scared because they just ate. If I walk up to lions and there are only two asleep, then I walk backwards because if you turn your head or body away from the lion, they are coming for you. But if I don’t turn away, I am not scared.”
While Joseph claims to have faced everything from gorillas to cheetahs to snakes – he says that if a python wraps itself around you, just pinch its throat underneath its mouth and it will uncoil itself – he admittedly had never confronted a racoon. So, on June 29th, on the driveway at 22 Park Ave., Joseph had his first experience with raccoon wrangling!
He asked staff to get him a towel which they did, and Joseph bravely opened the shrieking trash bin. He threw the towel over the raccoon’s eyes and grabbed it by the back of its neck. He lifted it, set it gently down on the driveway, and the racoon took off running! There was a second raccoon in the trash bin and Joseph was able to easily rescue it from the garbage bag it had gotten itself tangled into.
Staff at 22 Park recorded the whole thing on their phones! They were shocked, in awe, ecstatic, and grateful all at once! Unlike the expert authorities who left 22 Park staff and participants to their own devices, Joseph – who had never before dealt with a raccoon - showed no hesitation at rescuing the distressed animals while at the same time eliminating the fears of everyone at the home.
Congratulations to you, Joseph, on being the recipient of UCP Seguin’s “Wildlife Warrior” award! You are truly a Shooting Star!
