Rio Rancho Day Hab Partners with Storehouse West

Since October 2011, LifeROOTS has been involved in helping Storehouse West as they work to provide food, clothing and assistance to residents of Sandoval County.  Through this partnership, our Day Hab clients have the opportunity to work at the Storehouse West on Veranda Drive in Rio Rancho – gaining some important life skills as they work to help others in the community by helping to pack bags for the seniors receiving groceries at this Storehouse West location.

Under the direction of Rio Rancho Day Hab Program Supervisor Susan Roman, and with the direct supervision of LifeROOTS staff member Garrett Bennett, a group of between three and five LifeROOTS Day Hab clients enthusiastically travels every Monday to the Storehouse West location.  Once there, they follow a “checklist” of non-perishable items to be selected from the shelves and packed up for seniors.  Through this job, LifeROOTS clients are not only able to gain experience in some practical work skills, but they have the opportunity to talk and socialize with the seniors picking up much-welcomed supplies at Storehouse West.   
Day Hab clients look forward to these weekly experiences at Storehouse West – each week, between three and five individuals participate in the program, working from a pool of eight individuals.  Our clients participating in this program – Tara, Leah, Brian, Denise, Jess, Brittany, Cyanne and Jason – have truly grown from their experiences working at Storehouse West.  We are so happy to be working with Georgiana Kugle, Executive Director of the Storehouse and Shirley Underwood, Storehouse Administrative Director, on this program which helps so many people throughout our community, as well as helps those with disabilities gain important work and life skills.

We’re grateful for this opportunity to work with Storehouse West and enable our clients to experience “giving back” through this valuable community service.  In addition, we are proud to be involved with such an important cause in the community, and look forward to continuing to help Storehouse West in their mission to help those in need throughout our community.

Our Day Hab programs in both Albuquerque and Rio Rancho  offer important hands-on training and supported employment opportunities for the disabled.  For more information, or to see how your business can become involved, call us at 505-255-5501.

LifeROOTS Once Again Takes Top Honors In Annual DDSD Cookie Contest!

For the Third Year, LifeROOTS Comes Up with Winning Cookie Recipe and Honored with Award from the Developmental Disabilities Support Division. 

The LifeSKILLS class at LifeROOTS was recently honored with the distinction of First Place in the 5th annual DDSD Cookie Contest.  Each year, dozens of agencies from the Metro Albuquerque area submit entries for this fun cookie contest, sponsored by the Developmental Disabilities Support Division. 

LifeSKILLS students Josh Garcia, Katherine Gilbert, Jessica Moon, Vanessa Morgan and Jesse Cruz, along with staff members Andrea Baca and Amy Avila, were behind this year’s “winning cookie.”  Amy came up with the idea for the cookie – a “Christmas Kringle cookie – and the group then worked together to look up the recipe on the Internet.  The class then continued to work closely together and were involved in all phases of the preparation of the cookies – shopping for supplies and baking the cookies together as a group.  On December 12th, the group delivered the cookies to enter them in the contest.  The official “Cookie Contest” and judging took place on December 13th – and the entire class was there to accept their First Place award!  The class worked under the direction of Lily Duran, Day Habilitation Supervisor at the Menaul Center for Independence. 

As First Place Winners, the class was awarded a Pizza Party at Itz – the party, which took place after the holidays, gave the class the opportunity to enjoy a great lunch with DDSD, as well as enjoy winning prizes in the arcade!  Both the Cookie Contest and Winners Pizza Party were great experiences for the class – and made for some very special times for all involved.

This year marks the third year that LifeROOTS has had the winning entry in the DDSD Cookie Contest.  The wining “Christmas Kringle” cookies have already become favorites here at LifeROOTS – and have been featured at a number of our events, including our April Open House.   

A great -- and delicious -- job and congratulations to everyone involved.  We can’t wait to see what recipes LifeROOTS is working on for next year’s entry!

Children’s Therapy and Services: Doing Good In The Community Does Good For All!

Our Children’s Therapy and Services team is dedicated to helping to enhance the lives of children with developmental delays – and is also committed to helping others throughout the community, as well.  In order to help the most vulnerable in our community, we participate in a number of  team-building activities throughout the year to assist those in need … as well as to help build our strength as a team.

This past August, the team came together to volunteer at the Road Runner Food bank for a few hours to wrap pizza to deliver to help feed the hungry.  In addition, members of the Children’s Therapy and Services team also participated in the City of Albuquerque’s Homeless Outreach event in October.  We gathered clothes, blankets and various other donations and handed them out to the homeless at this event.

Volunteering in the community is important to all of us here at LifeROOTS.  With this in mind, and in order to “give back” to help those in need, the Children’s Therapy and Services team makes it a point to try to incorporate some sort of community outreach activity into our calendars several times a year. It provides us with an opportunity to come together as a team and do something good for the community.  In addition, it also gives us an opportunity to do something fun as a team outside of work – again, helping others as we help create an even stronger team here at LifeROOTS.

Board Member Profile: Amy Clithero

We are pleased to announce that Amy Clithero has joined the Board of LifeROOTS.

Ms. Clithero, who joined the Board in March, brings a great deal of healthcare and health policy experience to the Board.  She received a Masters Certification in Medical Education from the NM School of Medicine in 2012 and received an MBA in Health Care Systems from the Anderson School of Management, University of New Mexico (UNM) in 1993.

She has worked in a variety of healthcare positions at UNM since 1985 and is currently a Lecturer and Senior Program Manager. Presently, Ms. Clithero is the course director for health policy and health systems course for 3rd year medical students, is a co-instructor of the Health Services Research course for the Masters in Science in Clinical and Translational Research program; instructor of record for the combined BA/MD program for both public health and medicine and a community service learning practicum; ; co-director and co-instructor for Medicine in New Mexico for 4th year medical students; and, tutorial leader for 1st year medical students in the Health Equity: Principles of Public Health for 1st year medical students. Ms. Clithero has presented at over 20 national and international conferences on a variety of healthcare educational topics. In addition, Ms. Clithero has co-written and administered numerous medical education grants.
As a new member of the LifeROOTS Board, Ms. Clithero looks forward to working to help LifeROOTS continue our mission and to helping to guide the organization as we continue to grow.

“By getting involved with such an amazing community organization, I’m modeling the behavior I ask of my students, and truly illustrating how important it is to play an active role in volunteering and helping not-for-profit organizations,” notes Clithero.  “Through my career in the healthcare arena, I have an incredible network of people who want to get involved but don’t know how.  This will be a great collaboration, and I’m looking forward to working with LifeROOTS in this important role.”

Ms. Clithero is an important leader in the healthcare community, and we are so pleased to have her join us as a member of our Board.  For more information about the LifeROOTS board and ways you can get involved, call Kathleen Cates at 505-255-5501.

Two Organizations, One Common Goal: Partnering To Help People With Disabilities Thrive In The Workplace

For so many people living with a disability, working in a meaningful job within the community can make a tremendous difference.  When people with disabilities work, everyone benefits:  employers gain skilled, motivated and enthusiastic workers who are committed to a job well done; and workers with disabilities gain a true sense of independence, pride and accomplishment in being part of the local workforce.  Not only that, but studies have consistently shown that employing people with disabilities has a distinct, positive effect on overall staff morale – and businesses seen as “disability-friendly”  are viewed positively by potential customers, clients and the community as a whole.

LifeROOTS has long been committed to partnering with numerous organizations and employers throughout the region to secure business contracts to ensure that people with disabilities can work in jobs that they love throughout the community.  We’re proud of the partnerships that we have built with these businesses – and we’re equally proud of a very special partnership that we have created with another organization serving the needs of those with disabilities – Adelante Development Center (www.GoAdelante.org).

Through our long-time partnership with Adelante, our organizations work together to ensure that individuals with disabilities in our community are given opportunities to thrive in the workplace – and beyond.  In particular, we work directly with Adelante’s Facilities Support Services (FSS) on three important business contracts to help both of our organization’s clients – working closely on our contracts with Kirtland Air Force Base, the City of Albuquerque and DTRA (Defense Threat Reduction Agency).  Currently, LifeROOTS has 42 employees who are employed through these three contracts; Adelante has 29 employees employed through these contracts – bringing the total number of individuals employed by our two organizations to 71.