News & Events

May 2012 Guild Matters: Spring is Here

Spring is here.  We can’t smell flowers or hear bees from our work spaces, but, still, there’s a buzz in the air.

Addition of a conference room, reconfiguration of existing work space, and assembly of a new team signal the arrival of new services and new efficiencies. The new services are called Care Coordination.  The opportunity to provide them stems from legislation passed last year in which people with disabilities, like mental illness, who receive health care from the Medical Assistance program, were asked to enroll in a Special Needs Basic Care (SNBC) health plan for their care.  SNBC is a managed care program, meaning it’s available through different health plans, like UCare. 

 

UCare’s SNBC plan is called UCare Connect.  And, they asked us to provide care coordination services for their UCare Connect members.  Our staff will help members coordinate care for their medical and mental health conditions while helping them reach wellness goals.  Promoting access to primary and preventive care and assuring members get the right care, at the right time, and in the right amount is the ultimate goal. 

 

Providing Care Coordination services for UCare is yet another step toward our strategic goals of increasing access to care and expanding services that minimize use of high-cost healthcare resources.  Perhaps that’s why the services make so much sense to Beth Allen, Director of Nursing Services.  As a Registered Nurse leading the new team Beth says, “I believe our care coordination services are a natural extension of our strengths as an agency.”  Her team will get the chance to demonstrate those strengths when UCare makes its first referrals in June.

The strengths of our residential staff are evident in new efficiencies in our Intensive Residential Treatment and Crisis Services.  Recognizing that our nurses needed more space to set up medications for residents, staff devised a plan – reconfiguring existing space to create a Medication Room and Nurse’s office.  The new rooms provide space for medication education, consolidated storage of medical supplies, and a readily available place for residents to engage in spontaneous, confidential conversation about medications and psychiatric and medical needs.  Though creating the new spaces required reassigning several staff to different offices, Director of Residential and Community Support Services, Mandie Kender, says the effort is paying off.  “This is really helping us care for people in the moment,” she says.  “The quicker you address something, the more likely it will be resolved.  We are trying to create an environment that nurtures and allows immediate care to occur.”

 

May 14, 2012: Join launch event to end homelessness in Dakota County

 

 Launching the County-wide Plan to End Homelessness:

 Monday, May 14, 2012

 6:30 – 8:30PM

 Hosted by:

Mary,  Mother of  the Church, Parish Center

 3333 Cliff Road, Burnsville (Park in lower lot)

All are welcome for an evening of inspiration, unity, and action!

Learn: Hear community leaders present successful and promising solutions

Connect: Ending homelessness is about making connections and sharing information

Act: Join this community-based effort to act on these solutions

Organized by: MICAH – Metropolitan Interfaith Council on Affordable Housing and CATCH – Coalition for Affordable Transitional Community Housing

Contacts: Jean (952-894-2033) jeanmacfarland@comcast.net

or Robin (651-216-3611) Rlkieffer@charter.net

You can view the full plan to end homelessness in Dakota County here!

April 2012 Guild Matters: Celebrating Volunteers

Celebrating our volunteers and their impact on our mission!

National Volunteer Week (April 15 – 21, 2012) is a signature event of the Points of Light Institute, celebrating ordinary people doing extraordinary things to improve communities across the nation.

 Our volunteers are an integral part of our work here.  Today, more than 220 volunteers partner with us to achieve our mission.  This month, we celebrate the contributions our volunteers bring to Guild Incorporated— enhance the quality of life for our clients,  those who help lighten the load for staff,  and assist the organization in other ways.  Together, their efforts foster hope  and encourage recovery for the individuals we serve! 

 Volunteers add value in many ways…

Our friendship mentor volunteers help individuals beat isolation.  Front office volunteers compile mailings, or greet visitors.  Students help out with painting projects.  Member hours assistants help set up game day and facilitate activities at the CSP. 

 Volunteers help establish a sense of community spirit and caring for others.  By working together, either in one-to-one relationships with clients, or in group settings, our volunteers engage and interact with others fostering growth, encouragement and recovery.  A simple outing to have a cup of coffee can lift the spirit of someone who is struggling with isolation and loneliness.

 

 At each Get to Know Guild presentation, we ask our panel, “How do you see volunteers fitting into the work of Guild Incorporated?”  The answers are many.  Volunteers set an example that each person is a valuable, contributing member of society.  Having a friend who is not a service provider can make all the difference in the world to the individuals we serve.  

 It is my honor to thank each Guild Incorporated volunteer for his or her time, energy and dedication to our mission. 

 Get Involved!

Share your time and talent with us and get the satisfaction of knowing you are helping people with mental illness lead quality lives.  Call us today to learn about our volunteer opportunities  

March 2012 Guild Matters: Making our Voices Heard

 How Guild Influences Public Policy

By Eileen Chanen, Guild Incorporated Board of Directors and

Chair, Public Policy Committee

Events like this year’s Mental Health Day on the Hill really stir me up.

I wish I could feel this kind of energy every day:  standing shoulder-to-shoulder with 18 Guild clients and staffers, all proudly sporting Guild T-shirts, clutching our banners and generally making our presence known in the state Capitol rotunda.

 On Feb. 14, state legislators learned our names, saw our faces – and most certainly heard our voices – as we and hundreds of other Minnesotans rallied for improved quality and availability of mental health services. We’re honored that our own Grace Tangjerd Schmitt was an invited rally speaker. She represented us well, reinforcing Guild’s significant role in the mental health services community.

 As fun as it was, the important part came after the rally. We spent the afternoon meeting face-to-face with our representatives and senators, delivering valentines made by our clients. Then we got serious – sharing personal stories and asking legislators to consider the needs of ALL people who live with mental illness as they make decisions during this legislative session.

 How Guild Influences Public Policy (continued from enews) 

Every action we take at Guild supports our Vision Statement:  that individuals and families living and coping with mental illness have easy access to cost-effective mental and physical health care that provides responsive, customized and practical services, so they can achieve optimal health.

With so many competing funding priorities, we took this opportunity to remind legislators about our clients’ very real needs.  Guild’s Public Policy Committee exists to remind them of these needs.

We’re a committee made up of board members, staff and people from the community – advocating on behalf of the people Guild serves, whether that’s at the local, county or state level.

The state’s legislative session is a busy time for us. We follow the policy issues that affect Guild, and we do our best to get in front of the state’s leaders to tell our story. How do we do this?

• Through events like Mental Health Day on the Hill.
• Through our active membership in the Mental Health Legislative Network of Minnesota.
• Through hosting special “Get to Know Guild” meetings – just for elected officials.
• Through personal meetings with county commissioners, state senators and representatives.

We also work to ensure the people Guild serves – our neighbors, children, siblings, friends – understand their own role in making change:

• By making it easy to be active in the legislative process, encouraging their participation in rallies, driving them to meetings with their representatives.
• By hosting voter workshops and teaching our clients about their RIGHT to be involved (especially important during this election year).

 There is much to do – but isn’t it great to know we can have an impact through advocacy?  Want to join us? Contact me any time.

February 2012 Everyday Angel

Everyday.  For most people, this word likely conjures up things like ordinary, commonplace, or routine. For those of us at Guild Incorporated, we know everyday acts of kindness are extraordinary.  Many of us see strangers reach out to our clients with acts of friendship, housing assistance, employment, etc. These people are Everyday Angels living in our community. Their actions, no matter how ordinary or routine, have a profound effect on those we serve.  Each month we honor one of these Everyday Angels for their contribution to our mission.  

Meet our February 2012 Everyday Angel:  

 Peter Koeleman

Photojournalist. Teacher. Volunteer.

Photo Credit: Chris Polydoroff

 

 Read his full story here.