July Employee Of The Month

Human Support Service named Lynn Lance Employee Of The Month for July. Lynn, from Red Bud has been with Human Support Services for seven years. Lynn is a Production Trainer, helping clients develop their employment skills. She was recognized for donating T-shirts for cliens to wear in a local parade. Lynn recieved a gift certificate, time off with pay, and a lunch certificate donated by Frederico's Restaurant of Waterloo.

June Employee Of The Month

Human Support Services named Opal Lane Employee Of The Month for June. Opal, from Waterloo has been with Human Support Services six years. Opal is a Secretary/Receptionist. She was recognized for helping to organize, and facilitate a successful rummage sale for a community group sponsored by the Agency. Opal received a gift certificate, time off with pay, and a lunch certificate donated by Frederico's Restaurant of Waterloo.

May Employee Of The Month

Human Support Services named Mary Gully Employee Of The Month for May. Mary, from Belleville, has been with Human Support Services three years. Mary is a Substance Abuse Counselor. She was recognized for organizing and facilitating a successful fund raising meeting of a Narcotics Anonymous group in Monroe County. Mary received a gift certificate, time off with pay and a lunch certificate donated by Frederico's Restaurant of Waterloo.

April Employee of the Month

Human Support Services named Cindy Rehmer Employee Of The Month for April. Cindy, from Waterloo has been with Human Support Services fourteen years. Cindy is a Secretary/Receptionist. She was recognized for handling a client emergency telephone call, insuring that the client received appropriate assistance. Cindy received a gift certificate, time off with pay, and a lunch certificate donated by Fredericos’s Restaurant of Waterloo.

March Employee Of The Month

Human Support Services named Ben Archer Employee Of The Month for March. Ben, from Columbia has been with Human Support Services two years. Ben is a Developmental Trainer. He was recognized for volunteering when the workshop needed assistance, and came up with ideas that helped implement a new production tracking system. Ben received a gift certificate, time off with pay, and a lunch certificate from Quizno’s of Waterloo.

Proposed State Budget

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn released his initial FY2011 budget proposal on March 10. This is of great importance to Human Support Services (HSS) since we receive about 75% of our funding from the state. According to the Governor, “Illinois faces a budget shortfall of more than $11 billion. This represents nearly one-third of our tax-funded spending, or the General Revenue Fund (GRF)… Without substantial changes in spending or revenues—or both—the fiscal mess will only get worse”.

He then presented a budget for FY2011 that shows the extent to which cuts would be needed to address the deficit. For a variety of reasons, he chose to target human services funding and particularly mental health funding for major cuts. Should the proposed budget pass as presented, it would cost HSS $540,000 in lost funding, almost 20% our entire revenue. Particulary hard-hit would be our residential programs, where funding for supportive housing could be cut by more than 60% for adults with mental illness and up to 15% for adults with developmental disabilities. Also, our entire $94,000 grant to pay for mental health services for persons without insurance would be eliminated.

Absorbing a 20% loss of revenue would obviously be hard to do. The cuts that target our residential program would be particularly difficult, as staffing is needed to provide adequate supervision of disabled residents. At this point we need to recognize this is a just the Governor’s budget proposal and the legislature has to ultimately pass a budget for him to sign. Consumers, families and friends of individuals with disabilities need to take action to let our elected officials know your concerns. Where would the people we serve in our housing programs and our day services program go if HSS could not continue to provide its community services? We ask that the public stay involved with the state’s budget process and let elected officials know that services are needed and funding is necessary.

The elected officials for Monroe County are:

Senator David Luechtefeld,
Illinois Senate, District 58
103B Capital Building
Springfield, IL 62706
217-782-8137 (Springfield)
sendavel@midwest.net

Representative Dan Reitz
200-9S Stratton Office Building
Springfield, IL 62706
217-782-1018 (Springfield)
repreitz@egyptian.net

February Employee of the Month

Human Support Services named Margie Baum Employee Of The Month for February. Margie, from Lenzburg, has been with Human Support Services nine years. Margie is a Developmental Trainer. She was recognized for volunteering her time to assist site workers helping clients get ready for a special event. Margie received a gift certificate, time off with pay, and a lunch certificate from Quizno’s of Waterloo.

January Employee Of The Month

Human Support Services named Jackie Wilson Employee Of The Month for January. Jackie, from O’Fallon, has been with Human Support Services three years. Jackie is a Therapist, and the Assistant Clinical Director. She was nominated by an Agency client who recognized and thanked Jackie for the assistance she had provided. Jackie received a gift certificate, time off with pay, and a lunch certificate from Quizno’s of Waterloo.

Memories of Elvis Fundraiser

Saturday night, February 13th, was a rocking-good time as a crowd of over 300 went to The Falls Reception and Conference Center in Columbia for a dinner and show featuring Elvis, Buddy Holly and other entertainers. Memories of Elvis included a deluxe meal, open bar and over four hours of high-energy entertainment headlined by Steve Davis in his role as Elvis. The Mid-South Revival band served as the musical backup for Elvis and two other singers, Darrein Saffron and Thomas Hickey in his impression of Buddy Holly. All the performers were polished and highly entertaining and were warmly received by the large audience.

The Human Support Services Image Committee teamed with The Falls to plan and host the event. The date was specifically picked to be on the Valentine’s Day weekend. The Image Committee and The Falls pushed ticket sales, which exceeded predictions. All costs were covered and the event earned over $4,000 to help Human Support Services and its programs. Thanks to all of our friends and supporters that attended and thanks to the staff at The Falls. Also, a big thank you goes to Steve Davis and all the other performers who played so well.

HSS December Employee Of The Month

Human Support Services named Errick Taylor Employee Of The Month for December. Errick, from Belleville has been with Human Support Services two years. Errick is a Production Trainer, who assists the Agency’s clients in the workshop. He was recognized for good attendance, volunteering to assist with client activities, and maintaining workshop customer satisfaction. Errick received a gift certificate, time off with pay, and a lunch certificate from Quizno’s of Waterloo.

HSS November Employee Of The Month

Human Support Services named Opal Lang Employee Of The Month for November. Opal, from Waterloo has been with Human Support Services five years. Opal is a Secretary/Receptionist. She was recognized for performing various volunteer projects in support of the Agency. Opal received a gift certificate, a time off with pay, and a lunch certificate from Quizno’s of Waterloo.

Charitable Giving to Those in Need

As a human services agency, our counselors often see people in desperate need of the basic necessities of life. They frequently encounter families without furniture or bedding, families that cannot afford the deposits needed to secure rental housing and certainly families that cannot afford holiday meals and gifts for their children.

It is immensely gratifying that we are often approached by groups in the community that want to help with meeting these needs, groups that want to give to others. These groups, whether they are clubs, businesses, churches or fraternal groups, raise funds and gather donations through hosting fundraising events or staff solicitations. They then search for outlets to get their gifts to people in need. Many times the counselors at Human Support Services are approached to help make the connection between the families in need and the gifts from community groups. It is a joy to help with this charitable effort.

In view of the effort put forth by these groups, we want to acknowledge at least some of the community groups that have approached Human Support Services and made a difference for families in need in our community. For many of these groups this is not a one-time effort; rather, they do this year after year.

The Southern Illinois Jeep Association has given Christmas Baskets of food and household goods and provided gift cards for needy families five years in a row.

The St. Paul United Church of Christ, Waterloo has given Thanksgiving baskets with food and household supplies for several years.

The Monroe Council for the Handicapped has for over twenty years provided gifts to adults with disabilities, has hosted parties for clients of Human Support Services and has provided ongoing support of Special Olympics.

New Hope Church has been a great resource for Human Support Services clients who need emergency food assistance.

The Waterloo Rotary Club for many years has provided gift cards that can help needy clients obtain food and household supplies.

The Concord Presbyterian Church has provided many gifts or other assistance as part of their community outreach.

The VFW, the Lions Club, the Oddfellows, the Optimists and the Waterloo Senior Group have all provided many gifts to HSS that have been used to meet the needs of the clients of the agency.

On behalf of the individuals and families that we serve, we are pleased to offer our sincere appreciation to these groups and others for their charitable gifts.