Connec ons: How did you get your start at Ev-ergreen? How long have you worked here? Kim Brown: I was ready for a career change, saw the pos ng and fi gured why not give it a try. I have al-ways had a passion for serving others. I have been with Evergreen since April 2014. C: Tell us a bit about your personal life (hobbies, family, etc.) KB: I am an avid reader and enjoy spending quality me with my family. C: How do you unwind and have fun? KB: I try to get a therapeu c massage every 6 months. C: What have you seen as the biggest change(s) at Evergreen while you’ve worked here? KB: There have been many new hires and promo- ons since I’ve worked here. C: What entails your

job at Evergreen? What keeps you interested/mo- vated in your posi on? KB: I have a very unique

posi on here at Evergreen. I am tasked with over-seeing the Nutri on Program and Wellness Center. What keeps me interested/mo vated in this posi-

on is my ability to oversee program dynamics and s ll provide wellness services and interact with EHS clients. C: Walk us through a ‘typical’ workday. KB: A typical workday for me is never “typical”. I may provide direct supervision to program staff , call clients up to be served for lunch and host Bingo in the a ernoon. C: What would be your dream life? KB: My dream life would involve me working when I choose and vaca oning o en. C: What is/are your pet peeves? KB: I have many. I hate when someone pulls a metal fork through their teeth, lack of mo -va on, and those who never see the good in life. C: If you could change one thing about anything in your life, what would it be? KB: If I could change one thing about anything in my life, it would be the loss of many of my loved ones to cancer. C: Where do you see yourself in fi ve years? KB: In fi ve years, I see myself rooted in my current posi on at Ever-green and comple ng a Masters Degree program.

November Birth days Erik Ponce............................November 2Lavine Corp .........................November 3Marlyn Moore .....................November 5Susan Fiedler .......................November 8Benne Evere ...................November 8Angela Palmer .....................November 10Kevin Bidtah ........................November 10Saw Min...............................November 11Jessica Lehsten ....................November 11Anthonie King ......................November 16Kathleen Oczek ...................November 16Shari DeMarco ....................November 18Tayrin Torres ........................November 18Elisa Luciano ........................November 23Kathryn Diebold ..................November 25Katherine Kawa ...................November 26Jasmine Massenburg ..........November 27Juan Isack Guerrero ............November 29EzekielGoodwin, Ezekiel .....November 30

November AnniversariesMarielena Camacho ............1 yearSamantha Gaerte ................1 yearClyde Phillips-Frey ...............1 yearKimberly Barber ..................1 yearAnthonie King ......................1 yearIleana Hernandez ................2 yearsAndre’ Stokes ......................3 yearsCortney Anderson ...............8 yearsCourtney Rhines ..................8 yearsBrian Planty .........................8 yearsBridget McClain...................12 years

Your Con nued Dedica on and Hard Work Are No ced and Appreciated - Management Team

My family makes me happy. Ashley Roberts Reading 300 page documents about Medicaid Redesign makes me happy (because it gives me Help for Today and Hope for Tomorrow). Sarah Gardner Connecting with close friends, family, colleagues, animals and nature makes me happy. Thomas Fronczak Gospel music and family make me happy. Anthonie King Clean bedding makes me happy. Jimi Konidis Nature makes me happy. Lindsay Zasada The look on my 10 month old grandson’s face when he sees me enter the room makes me happy! Ellen Kaminsky Camping outdoors and hiking trails makes me happy. Kimberly Harding My family makes me happy. Terri Shankland Nutella. John Carocci

Connec ons: How did you get your start at Ever-green? How long have you worked here? Richard Baer: Let’s simply say that the people at Evergreen (formerly AIDS Community Services) guided me through one of the most cri cal mes of my life and they saved me. Sally Burns, Kimberly Lombard, Laurie Matson, Sue Fiedler and Nikki Vanstrom had such an impact on me, that I felt I had to pay it for-ward. So I became a volunteer and con nued for many years. When the posi on of Outreach Worker was newly created, they told me I would be a per-fectly natural fi t and encouraged me to apply. All of my stars had aligned behind me.

C: Tell us a bit about your personal life (hobbies, family, etc.) RB: I love being outdoors, totally en-gulfed in nature. There’s not many places le in our concrete world, but they’re out there and my husband and I fi nd them. Our favorite li le spot on Earth is a “forever-wild-designated” nearby area called Zoar Valley, located less than an hour away in Gowanda. It’s almost 3000 acres of canyons, trails and the confl uence of raging rivers which contains some of the oldest forest growth in the United States. You can’t drive in, there’s no facili es, no signs of human interven on other than the people you might encounter hiking, and it’s totally free. It may quite possibly be my fi nal “wa ing” place.

C: How do you unwind and have fun? RB: At 5 o’clock, it’s “Yappy Hour!” I go home to my babies, Foxy, the loudest Pomeranian this side of Pluto, and Bebe, the beau ful statuesque miniature poodle we rescued a few months ago. All memories of a hec c day pale in comparison to me spent with them.

C: What have you seen as the biggest change(s) at Evergreen while you’ve worked here? RB: When I started with ACS in 2010, there was 100 - 125 em-ployees. In a mere 4 years, as we all know, the or-ganiza on has expanded its mission and taken on a much wider scope of services, adopted new affi li-ates, and now we’ve more than doubled in size. It is remarkable that, throughout all these changes, the management has striven to maintain this wonderful sense of family.

C: What entails your job at Evergreen? What keeps you interested/mo vated in your posi on? RB: HA! I had an answer to this ques on yesterday... and then I got promoted! Truly, though, what kept me mo vated in the Outreach and Engagement posi- on was when I heard someone say “you’re the fi rst

person in my life who’s called and said they wanted to actually help me.” Going forward, it will be those large and small accomplishments with my clients that will keep me smiling and mo vated.

C: Walk us through a ‘typical’ workday. RB: Uber Manisch. If I outlined a typical day you might have me commi ed to a psych unit against my wishes.

C: What would be your dream life? RB: There’s a billionaire out there somewhere in the world named Richard Baer. I want to switch places with him for just one day. Of course, a er he’d met my husband Doug, I’d probably have to fi ght HIM to switch back.

C: What is/are your pet peeves? RB: There is no “is,” there’s only “are.” Let’s see... there’s that one loose bristle on the new toothbrush, 50 MPH driv-ers in a 55 MPH zone (55 MPH drivers in a 55 MPH zone, for that ma er), the clogged an bacterial lo- on pump that spits all over my clothes, duplicitous

people, the list could go on....

C: If you could change one thing about anything in your life, what would it be? RB: The lifespan of my parents.

C: Where do you see yourself in fi ve years? RB: Now that the Jamestown Offi ce has experienced and will con nue to realize such growth, the poten- al to take on more responsibili es is possible, and

my goal is to con nue to advance my career and my life within the organiza on.

Be cast in a horror movie, I’m talking cheesy B-rated horror (think Evil Dead) g Live on a farm for a whole summer g Own a bar g Sell a piece of art that I made g Grow old with someone g Jimi Konidis g Visit my friend in Kenya g Teach my boys to be global ci zens and to love and serve people without condi on g Take my boys to visit every Smithsonian Museum g Take my boys on a train trip through the Rockies g Adopt older dog or cat g Sara Gardner g Go to pastry school in Paris g Travel to Eastern Europe to fi nd rela ves and family and stop by Prague on the way home g Share a meal with Bruce Springsteen g Learn to speak a second language fl uently g Take my family on a Mediterranean cruise! g Ellen Kaminsky g See the Northern lights g See the Redwood trees in Sequoia Na onal Park g Achieve Nirvana g Win Golden Gloves or an MMA fi ght g Make as many people’s lives signifi cantly be er because we knew each other as I can g Emily Oaks g Finish school g Visit Africa g Visit Asia (China & Japan) g Go snorkeling g Visit Australia g Anthonie King g No must-do’s here. Just con nue to live each day and moment with gra tude, apprecia on and acceptance. And ok… a trip to Australia to see a kangaroo in the wild would be pre y neat! g Thomas Fronczak

Connec ons: How did you get your start at Ev-ergreen? How long have you worked here? Sa-mantha Gaerte: About one year ago I relocated to Buff alo for my husband’s new job opportunity. Two days a er moving into our apartment, I started working at Evergreen in the Housing Department. The past year has truly fl own by. Tell us a bit about your personal life (hobbies, family, etc.) I lived the fi rst 22 years of my life in Spokane, Washington before heading east for grad school in Pi sburgh, Pennsylvania. My husband and I are history nerds and worked in the museum fi eld before moving to Buff alo. We enjoy spending me with our families, cheering for the Pi sburgh Pirates, and ge ng out-side to camp, hike and fl y fi sh. How do you unwind and have fun? As a loyal Pacifi c Northwesterner, coff ee is a central part of relaxa on for me—hope-fully paired with a book, interes ng conversa on, or si ng around a campfi re with friends. Sharing good meals with people I care about is important to me, too. What have you seen as the biggest change(s) at Evergreen while you’ve worked here? Even in just one year it’s obvious how much Evergreen is growing and expanding. My department relocated

to the Mathews Building this summer, which was a big change at fi rst. What entails your job at Ev-ergreen? What keeps you interested/mo vated in your posi on? At the core, I believe everyone deserves a safe place to call home. It’s pre y clear that stable housing is important to an individual’s overall health. Whenever I may feel frustrated, I remind myself that at the end of every day I know I get to go home to a warm apartment. The fact that this is not the reality for many individuals mo- vates me to work harder and be er each day. I

love being part of the housing team at Evergreen. Everyone is fully commi ed to their work and the well-being of the individuals we work with, which makes for a mo va ng environment. There is al-ways something new to learn. Every client I engage with has a unique story and perspec ve. There are so many innova ve ideas in the fi eld of Suppor ve Housing right now—it’s exci ng and hopefully will bring about a lot of posi ve opportuni es for many people. Walk us through a ‘typical’ workday. As the program assistant, I do a li le bit of everything for the Housing Department. I usually start the day with a plan and then revise as necessary depending

on what urgent or unexpected needs arise. At any point, I may be found in the offi ce mee ng with a client who is experiencing homelessness or facing an evic on. Or comple ng data entry for our grant reports. Or conduc ng home inspec ons out in the fi eld. Or advoca ng to landlords. Or explaining our services and providing resources to clients and ser-vice providers. Etc, etc. Each day is diff erent, which I like. What would be your dream life? I hope that I’m self aware enough to be incredibly grateful for the life I’m living now. My dream life involves mean-ingful work inves ng in people and communi es, with some printmaking and other art projects on the side. I always want to be learning and travel-ing. There are so many places I would like to ex-plore. Where do you see yourself in fi ve years? I have many thoughts around this ques on. I’m a planner and goal-se er (and obsessive list maker!), but I think back fi ve years ago to what I thought life would look like today and things are quite diff erent than I an cipated. But diff erent has been great in many ways. I plan to do my best to live each day fully and inten onally and look forward to seeing what opportuni es the next fi ve years will bring.

your answersIt would be a Spanish Buff et with all types of food and

pastries. – Magali Maldonado A A wildlife survey

company. I would go out into the wild every day and

survey diff erent species. It’s pre y much like being a

kid and saying ‘fi nd as many of this newt as you can.’

– Lindsay Zasada A A vet offi ce or a youth LGBTQ

housing mentor center – Anthonie King A Incorporate

lifestyle medicine into the provision of healthcare –

Thomas Fronczak A I would open a Bed and Breakfast

in the South of France! – Ellen Kaminsky A Theatre

bar/lounge – Jimi Konidis A A food tas ng service

under contract to local restaurants, bakeries, Ellen

Kaminsky, and... well, anywhere, really. – John Carocci

With the holiday season approaching, it’s time to send some warm thoughts and cheer to those far and near. Evergreen Health Services Art Th erapy clients have created beautiful seasonal/holiday art work which is being showcased in the 1st annual Art Th erapy Holiday Card Project. Th ese 5x7 greeting cards will be sold in a box set of 12 for $12 a box, just in time for the holiday season. Four pieces of art work have been chosen and included in this set. Th ere are a couple ways to ensure you don’t miss out. Please see 4th fl oor receptionist Sean Tulumello at 206 South Elmwood, call him at extension 3300 or email him at stulumello@evergreenhs.org to purchase your cards beginning November 1, 2014 between the hours 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Quantities are limited, don’t miss the opportunity to purchase your cards.

Inside Greeting: May this season fi ll your home with joy,your heart with love and your life with laughter.

BOX OF12 CARDS

$12

Innovative thinking (Emily Oaks) An open and forgiving heart (Sarah Gardner) Honesty (Lindsay Zasada) Integrity (Ellen Kaminsky) Decisiveness (Kimberly Harding) Optimism (Ashley Roberts) Loyalty and a wicked sense of humor (Brian Planty) Patience (Jimi Konidis) Honesty (Anthonie King) Integrity (Th omas Fronczak) Kindness, especially if it’s to me (John Carocci)

your answers

I served jury duty when I was 8 months pregnant.

Other than being uncomfortable having to sit for

extended periods it was a very unique learning

experience! I would honestly love to do it again! –

Terri Shankland I told the judge that was picking

me that I didn’t believe that the justice system worked

entirely and that I wasn’t in a position to judge another

human being. He threw me out of the court room and

screamed that I was a punk who didn’t understand

responsibility. – Lindsay Zasada I have been able

to excuse myself the several times that I’ve been

‘invited’ due to the nature of my job. (Th e court did

not want to impact client care.) – Th omas Fronczak

Have You Seen Evan Greene? Evan spent time with: Ian Schunk - Johanna Aponte - Samantha Gaerte

Where will Evan Greene show up next? Maybe on YOUR desk!

cSTAFF POLL

The environment at Evergreensupports a balance between

work and personal life.Do you agree or disagree?

Agree – 27 / Disagree – 2

connections N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 4

PUBLISHER/LAYOUT John CarocciEDITOR Kimberly Harding

CONTRIBUTORSTasheri Artis, Richard Baer, Kimberly Brown

Samantha Gaerte, Kimberly Harding

Pride Center staff at the recent Trans* Wellness Conference

Emily Kaminsky1. I bake to relieve stress.2. I have an obsession/unrequited love aff air with

Bruce Springsteen.3. I ran a half marathon in Cognac, France to

celebrate my 50th birthday.4. I ran a family owned chocolate manufacturing

business in my past life/career. 5. I’ve been a Dining Out for Life ambassador every

year since it began!

Ma hew Crehan Higgins1. Can juggle and eat an apple at the same me.2. Appeared for three months in a produc on of

Naked Boys Singing!3. Wrote or co-wrote six stage plays.4. Biked from Boston to New York City on the

Braking AIDS ride in 2013 and 2014.5. In my spare me I enjoy Stevie Nicks albums on

vinyl.

Bri ani McKay1. I am a twin.2. I am a photographer.3. I went to UB.4. I love shoes and scarves (probably an obsession).5. I have an obsession with cute socks.

Kable Kendrick1. I was in the Navy.2. I have lived in more than 30 states.3. I have driven through the US and Canada, from

the Atlan c to Pacifi c and Mexico to Alaska.4. I adopted my daughter and have an au s c son.5. I do community work with au s c children.

Sally Russell1. I ride a motorcycle.2. I love to shop.3. I like blues music.4. Into spinning classes.5. I have four wonderful, fun grandchildren.

Sco Ruppert1. I play so ball and volleyball. I played so ball in

the 2014 Gay Games.2. I own over 400 books.3. I am currently working on comple ng my PsyD.4. My fi rst job was working at Build A Bear.5. I also work for GLYS and the Ins tute for Au sm

Research.

Erik Ponce1. I am from El Paso, Texas originally.2. Cooking is a newfound passion.3. I am a runner and if I’m not running I’m out

there walking my dogs.4. I was named a er CHiPs actor Erik Estrada.5. The kid in me s ll enjoys playing video games.