Direct Support Shine in Millinocket | People

Millinocket Team Makes Things Shine in Maine

by Charlie Vail

WAY UP NORTH in Maine, seventy

miles above the Bangor office, is

the town of Millinocket. Living

Innovations has served many

children in this area over the years.

The staff from this town have been

numerous and, with a few, rare

exceptions, have been wonderful

employees. They are hard-working,

caring, and, most importantly for

me as a supervisor, dependable. I

chose to write an article about one

particular group of people who are

serving one consumer, but want to

send my thanks to all of my staff in

the Millinocket/Lincoln area.

About 11⁄2 years ago Living

Innovations was asked to serve

Tena. She is a sweet young

lady who lives with her mother in

an apartment in Millinocket. Tena’s

needs are many and her mother’s

arthritis had made it impossible

for her to care for Tena by herself.

Tena does not speak, is wheel chair

bound, and requires extensive care.

Initially, Living Innovations was

asked to provide some Community

Support services to Tena, which we

did with great success. However,

after a short period of time Tena

was approved for personal support

services to care for her all day,

every day, from morning to bedtime.

As many supervisors know,

these types of staffing programs

can cause a lot of stress. When

staffing this many hours per week,

it’s inevitable that a shift won’t be

covered. Well, not with this awesome

group of staff. They have

served Tena flawlessly for over a

year now. Not once has a shift been

missed. My staff work together to

cover for each other. They work

things out on their own and keep

me updated with swaps and

changes, anything that comes up

with Tena and most importantly,

her successes.

Tena, her mother and I,

couldn’t be happier with our

support staff. They go above and

beyond every day. Tena is healthy,

happy and thriving with her support.

Often times, Tena’s caseworker

praises me for Tena’s

success. I always remind her that

I don’t do anything; it is this wonderful

group of staff who do all

the work.

Living Innovations says thank

you very much to Trina Newbury,

Jennifer Farrar, and Jessica Marquis,

pictured above, as well as Donna

Duffy and Melissa Malone. You

ladies are awesome and we appreciate

what you do to make Tena

and Living Innovations shine.