Hilltop’s Appreciation Luncheon is the perfect way to celebrate those special coworkers, volunteers, supervisors, peers, or community partners who have made a difference in our lives. Please take a moment to read about those that were honored in this quarter’s luncheon.
If you’d like to nominate an awesome Hilltopper for our next luncheon, click here!
Danny Fleig – nominated by Helen Castro
Danny is a great listener and provides lots of encouragement. She always takes the time to address any concerns I have about the unit and I always feel comfortable approaching her. She also frequently asks staff about any suggestions on how to make the unit better. She spends many hours keeping in touch with residents’ families. Most importantly, Danny makes me feel like I’m an important asset to Hope Harbor.
Janet Penkaty – nominated by Ashley Obie
Janet had been an amazing help to the SLO business office. Since Dwight has been out she has helped tremendously getting things completed and helping organize, sort and also scan anything needed. Janet truly puts others first!
Sandra Acevedo – nominated by Sarah Connor & Jocelyn Howard
Sandra has been very welcoming and supportive. She has shown growth by running the ADRC department by herself the last few months as well as being able to transition into a new position as ADRC Coordinator. She also has been training two new options counselors and soon to be new case manager all by herself. She has not only helped us to learn how to be the best options counselors we can be but by encouraging us to learn and grow on our own. She has been able to form new relationships with all of us and we are very thankful for everything she has done.
Rebecca West – nominated by Shayna Livingston
Rebecca West will be celebrating 5 years with the Commons of Hilltop this December. We are so very lucky to have Rebecca as a part of our team in the dining room at the Commons. Rebecca goes above and beyond for our residents and the team every single day. She provides excellent customer service to our residents, who ask for her personally by name. Some of the residents at the Commons have pulled me aside many times to acknowledge Rebecca West for her outstanding performance and Hilltop heart. She shows all of Hilltops values anytime she steps on to the floor. We all appreciate everything you do for everyone everyday! Thank you for being open to growth, thank you for being brave and having great integrity. Thank you for being a Rockstar Rebecca!
Lorna Devereux – nominated by Andrew Escamilla
Lorna started in the Spring of this year. In the short time she’s been here, she has brought a lot of heart and compassion to our team. She’s shown so much patience and understanding with the people that we serve, always ready to lend a listening ear to those whose story may never be heard otherwise. She’s an incredible worker, always making sure she is doing the absolute best job she can in taking care of our participants. If there’s a problem she doesn’t have the solution to, she will call 20 different organizations in town, coordinate with them, tell them that person’s story, and get them the help they otherwise would not have got if it wasn’t for Lorna. We are so proud to have her as part of our team, and I’d like to show her my appreciation for all that she’s done so far, and what Hilltop is all about when it comes to recognition and celebration.
Jaunnette Lorimer – nominated by Catherine Lenhart
Jaunnette was first hired as the first Hilltop COVID tester. She was told the position would last approximately 6 months because after that, the pandemic would be over. She had never worked in an administrative or care position before.
Almost two years later, Jaunnette supervises a COVID team of 5 employees, although for a large chunk of that time, she had 11 direct reports. She navigates through the fast pace of CDC and CDPHE infection mitigation changes, new software, new labs, new processes, etc. Her team processes over 6,000 COVID tests a month and are closing in on the 100,000 tests milestone.
She has risen as a titan of organization, flexibility and outstanding service for our employees and residents and a valued member of my inner work circle. I couldn’t do it without her.
Andrew Escamilla – nominated by Lorna Devereux & Sally Valdez
“1. When I first began working for 211, Andrew was my trainer. We did practically all the training virtually and I couldn’t believe how patient he was throughout the process.
2. I especially admire the way Andrew helps the caller whom he speaks with when they call 211. The lengths he will go to in order to help them receive the help they are looking for is amazing! The learning experience I’ve achieved by just listening to Andrew help them has been invaluable!
3. His patience with Lorna and I as we’re both much older than him. But the way he tolerates us and helps us on a constant basis is very much appreciated by us.
4. He does his job well! He’s intelligent, experienced and a visionary!”
“I appreciate Andrew as a supervisor so much. He is committed to supporting my success by asking me what I need to do my job and finding appropriate trainings or ways to practice that me grow as a 2-1-1 Navigator. He is committed to our callers and to finding solutions to the problems they are facing. I have seen him find solutions for problems that seemed to have no solution by thinking outside of the box and thinking creatively. That modeling has empowered and inspired me to try to find unique ways to help the people who call us.”
Thom Smith – nominated by Angela Carbajal
I am nominating Thom because, as my supervisor, he saw my desire to grow in the company and supported me to do so. When a position opened up in the LAP program that he thought I would “excel” at (spreadsheet joke), he encouraged me to apply. I was skeptical at first because I did not meet all of the initial qualifications, but he INSISTED I go for it. He eventually convinced me to apply, and even helped me fine tune my resume. Now I am typing this sitting at my new desk in my new position absolutely rocking it! Thank you, Thom the Bomb! You are, in fact, the bomb!
Alex Rodriquez & Stefanie Pirard – nominated by Chip Meneley
Alex and Stefani started in High Fidelity Wraparound about a year ago. They have embraced not only the rigorous training to achieve certification but have positively impacted the families they work with and the Montrose FRC. When I think of strength-based case management, I think of Alex and Stefanie. They personify the concepts of “meeting families where they are at” and being “human-centered.” They have an innate ability to focus on strengths and tell the hard truths. They are empathetic, caring, fierce, and fun.
Eva Kendall – nominated by Molly Lewis
With my time in dietary with Eva, I saw how much she goes above and beyond to help the residents. She knows what the residents really enjoy and help make sure they get what they want or close to. I’ve seen her even go back into the kitchen to make certain residents certain things while the cooks are too busy to for special requests. She’s taught me a lot and has been a wonderful team lead.
Sarah Connor – nominated by Sandra Acevedo
I want to nominate Sarah because of how hard she has worked the last few months. The Options Counselor position requires balancing a number of tasks and for the past months they have had to take on even more. Even thought she still learning her position, Sarah has been so wonderful taking on more and more tasks as needed. Despite the number of tasks she takes on she always takes he time to listen to our clients and put them first. I just want to recognize all the hard work she has put in the last few months.
Jocelyn Howard – nominated by Sandra Acevedo
I want to nominate Jocelyn because of all the work she has put in her new position. The Options Counselor position requires balancing a number of tasks and when she started we were incredibly short staff so she jump in with both feet in and just started learning as much as she could so we could continue to serve our client. She is incredibly compassionate in every phone call she takes and always puts people first. I just want to recognize all the hard work she has put in.
Jackie Carter – nominated by Star Randal
She helps make sure everything stays flowing always with a smile, she leads our team with kindness. And her residents love her as much as she does them.
Nicole Hunt – nominated by Abby Leinbach
Nicole jumps into every challenge with a positive attitude. On one of (if not her first!) day with us, we had a major incident which involved some biohazards and need for immediate cleaning. She jumped right in and helped us outside of her normal hours to make sure that was taken care of. Since then, she has continued to excel and has taken tasks off of our case managers load to help us, such as disposing of client items after the allotted time and sorting through donations. She has worked through some very difficult situations with a smile and has always been a joy to work with.
TJ VanRoosendaal – nominated by Jon Tadvick
TJ took the reins at The Fountains during my sabbatical and made some programmatic changes that has allowed for timely and consistent training and conversations for the employees at all levels. TJ took on the task of rolling out new Care and Rent fees which included some difficult conversations with some residents or family members. TJ did a fantastic job and I look forward to working with him and keeping this momentum going forward.
Cathy Story – nominated by Jon Tadvick
Cathy provided support and oversight to The Fountains, Cottages, and Senior Daybreak during my sabbatical which required her to wear several different hats at any given moment. Cathy assisted in the roll out of new fees and was a critical support to the leadership teams in The Commons, The Fountains, and The Cottages during this time. Cathy is consistent in keeping her focus on critical processes to ensure a high quality of care is being provided to the individuals we serve.
Jeny Knight – nominated by Lix Troxel
Jeny has brought her years of experience and skills with Hilltop as a leader to the Outpatient program. She has been instrumental in creating dashboards and billing processes.
Jeny has a kind and welcoming demeanor with her clients and fellow staff members. She is welcoming and insightful.
Jeny always steps up when necessary to support leaders and staff as we grow this fairly new program. We are very fortunate to have her. We can go to her with IT questions and computer stuff, she always leads us in the right direction. Jeny lives the Hilltop values, relationship, integrity, courage, inclusivity, growth and fun. It is hard to pick one that she embodies more than the other.
We are so glad that she has chosen to be on this team!
Dillon Caster – nominated by Diana Gutierrez
Dillon is one of the easiest people to work with with. I have had my share of difficult people to deal with in a work setting. Dillon is knowledgeable about his job and what needs to be done. He embraces any new ideas I put forth to him and will discuss the pros and cons of the ideas. He is great to work with and bounce ideas off of.
Jordan Gruppuso – nominated by MK Hooley-Underwood
Jordan has a fairly unique position at Hilltop wherein she reports to an outside board, but Hilltop acts as HR and Fiscal for her program. Because of this, Jordan has a lot of bosses – her Hilltop Supervisor (that’s me, MK Hooley-Underwood), and the 10 person board. On top of that, a new Chair was recently elected to her board for CMP, and that person has really pushed Jordan. Through this change, she has been able to stretch herself, and has learned how to communicate and collaborate with this person (who has a very different “style” than Jordan) and move the Collaborative Management Program in an exciting new direction. AND, despite reporting to an outside board, Jordan is all in with Hilltop. She has picked up our local Fun Club, and put on some amazing events. She really is on of our local Hilltop culture champions. I have seen so much growth from Jordan, and can’t wait to see what she does next!
MK Hooley-Underwood – nominated by Meghan Ingle
MK embodies all of the Hilltop values: Relationship, Integrity, Courage, Inclusivity, Growth and Fun in so many ways. During my first interview with Hilltop, MK spent a lot of time going through the values with me, then went on to ask me which I felt was most important. I answered, “relationship” and she replied that was hers as well. From that moment forward, MK lead by example, and began building a relationship with me that has been kind, welcoming and genuine. On a daily basis she exemplifies these traits with all of our co workers and community partners. MK is an excellent example and model of what a Hilltop leader should always strive to be.
Casey King – nominated by Emilie Stickley
Property services has been helping out at corporate a TON lately, and while all of them have been so pleasant and awesome to work with, Casey has particularly been helpful. He is always so kind, cheerful, and happy to help. When we had to move everything out of the marketing closet for the remodel, he stepped right in and helped us move some heavy carts and items. Casey does these tasks with a smile and with an easy going vibe. He even gleefully took out the trash pile we had accumulated, even after I said numerous times he didn’t have to. I appreciate how kind and levelheaded Casey and the property services team has been while assisting in this crazy stretch of time. They’re truly a great bunch!
Joelene McQuillen – nominated by Ana Morris
Miss Joelene has been my mentor since I joined Hilltop, I count on her for everything and honestly could not do what I do without her. she is calm and strong, and sweet but also has a way to let me know to stand my ground I appreciate.
Thank you Joelene!! I appreciate you!!!
Ali Weatherby – nominated by Monica Garcia
Ali is an amazing co-worker and such an important part of the PeopleOps Team. She is a true leader in every sense of the word and I could not do my job without her! She is always willing to take on the extra responsibility of covering for me when I am out of the office and I know I will come back things being taken care of instead of coming back to unresolved issues. Ali covered for me last week and there were several issues that she addressed and she even spent time training my new employee! I appreciate her willingness to step up and take things on-even when I know she is busy with her own responsibilities!
Jaime McCullah – nominated by Jo Hartig
I would like to nominate Jaime for being a “Rock Star” – she is always the first to jump in and say she will help. She is currently the EVS Supervisor at The Fountains, but as if she doesn’t have enough to do, she picks up Care Shifts whenever possible at The Fountains and The Commons. She loves to inform our staff the correct way to do things, such as making a 911 call, what to do in the case of an Active Shooter, how to wear the proper PPE and so many other topics. Her “why” is the help our residents and her “how” is simply being present in our lives. One of her favorite sayings is “I touch every surface when it comes to a deep clean” – she truly touches every surface in our residents lives and her co-workers lives. So glad that Jaime is on Team Fountains!!
Linda Lopez – nominated by Elisabeth Zavala
Where do I start with Linda!?? She constantly demonstrates every Hilltop Values everyday she is here. She will always help the team out when we have overnight shifts to cover even if she worked that same day shift! Residents adore her and will seek her out to complete tasks for them. She really cares about the people she provides care for and for those who she works with.
Abbie Brewer – nominated by John Schmitz
I was hired in February as the Fatherhood Navigator. Both Abbie and I had to roll up our sleeves to learn and promote this pilot program. Since then we have graduated ten dads, and already have a class filling for the fall. None of this would not have been possible without Abbie who has done everything above and beyond her power to get me what I needed for this program. Despite wearing the leadership hat of multiple programs within Hilltop.
Her daily actions have resulted in positive relations rekindled in the community. Her courage to ask the hard questions both of me and those involved in the Fatherhood community has established clear lines of scope of work for me.
As I reflect back over the last seven months, I would of never been here today if it wasn’t for the excellent leadership of Abbie through personal and uncomfortable growth. And despite my best efforts to complicate matters Abbie continued to keep the fun in my focus.
Today, I say thank you Abbie Brewer aka Boss for your patience, guidance and leadership
