Contributed by Monica Alves, Communications Intern

Left to right: Justine Chubb, Kalena Kavanaugh, Bryan Davis (Raven Team), Liane Lowden, and Amanda Kim.

This month we held a special ceremony to recognize team members who go above and beyond to support posAbilities’ mission and strategic objectives. The Believe, Engage & Inspire Awards were created to acknowledge the people of posAbilities who demonstrate a deep sense of commitment to our mission, fellow team members, and persons served.  We’d like to give a special shout out to the winners for the passion and dedication they bring in to work every day. An organization made up of diverse, supportive and focused employees is what we strive for. Thank you for helping us make this a reality.

 “Incredible discipline, organization and passion”

“Commitment beyond a job description”

“Exemplary service and quality of care”

These are just a few of the ways our five nominees were described by their fellow team members. Let’s find out just how they demonstrated outstanding person-centeredness, inclusion, learning, and excellence.

And the awards go to…

Justine Chubb, Senior Communications Specialist | Believe Award

Going beyond the demands of her job duties,  Justine demonstrates a high level of commitment with her role in organizing the INCLUSION Art Shows, planning activities on our social committee, and delivering weekly, bi-monthly and quarterly communiques and publications. In one of her most recent achievements, Justine co-led a team of interns to develop our People of posAbilities recruitment and retention campaign. Thank you Justine, for your excellence in customer service and mentoring impact on student interns. Your strong work ethic is inspiring to many.

Kalena Kavanaugh, Employment Services Manager| Inspire Award

Guiding our persons served into rewarding employment opportunities by day, teaching team members how to unwind by night. Kalena proves her work has a true impact on a daily basis. As a certified yoga instructor, she generously offers after hours yoga classes at head office, welcoming team members, their families and friends to join. “Be yourself when you are on the mat. No judgment.” She even extends her inclusion to families in need at Christmas, by donating all proceeds from her yoga pass sales to posAbilities ‘adopted’ family Christmas hamper. Way to go Kalena!

Raven Team | Inspire Award

This residential care home could not run as smoothly as it does without a group of passionate individuals that make up the Raven team.  They illustrate exceptional person-centeredness and minimize frequency of incidents through consistently practicing best work safe procedures, open discussions and safety talks. Each team member is able to develop effective and valuable relationships with the Raven House residents based on their specific personality and style. Thank you Linus, Bryan, Wayne, Hareg, Matthew, Patricia, Mirthy, Cheryl, and Brad. Your abilities to work together as a cohesive team makes you our honorary dream team.

Liane Lowden, Employment Specialist| Engage Award

Liane continues to facilitate creative learning opportunities for persons served in posAbilities Employment Services. She has organized a variety of personal growth experiences for her persons served in the community through film, arts and culture, Meals-On-Wheels, and pet therapy with seniors. In addition to this, Liane recently co-created a heartwarming employment success story for a young man named Justin Farano. She consistently works together with Justin’s family and his employer, Vancity, to support his growth and introduce new skills or concepts to maximum effectiveness. With Liane’s encouragement and guidance, Justin has found a meaningful employment opportunity.

Amanda Kim, Team Leader | Engage Award

Amanda has successfully coordinated some of posAbilities’ most anticipated community inclusion events of the year, including the Clothing Market, Aegis West Carnival, and INCLUSION Art Show & Sale. She does not hesitate to take the initiative and time to find goals with persons served that enable them to develop in various areas.  Amanda demonstrates a person-centered approach to teaching, encouraging and supporting persons served and team members in every small step of the process.  Thank you Amanda for your ability to follow through on your innovative and creative ideas for persons served, and empowering your team members to do the same.