First, Lenore published a short story in Mutha Magazine in 2018. Then, Lenore found herself writing a 186-page book about her experience.
And, circa last month, the book has been published! It’s called “Release: A NICU Fairytale.” Here’s the description: “Once upon a time, expecting parents planned the birth of their daughter just like every other family. However, circumstances unforeseen around the child’s health led to a birth unimagined. The reality felt unbelievable. The only way to understand what happened is through fairytale. A spell casted on the baby girl kept the child locked away in the hospital’s NICU with a troupe of kaleidoscopic characters. All the first time parents can do is hope they make the right decisions to break the spell and bring their baby girl home. Release is a tale of strife, endurance, and ultimately love.” At the upcoming event, Lenore will be talking about the book, and the process of dealing with NICU trauma at our event. Register here.  Hey, guess what! One of the moms in our Family Support Department, Lenore Eklund, recently published a book! Way to go, Lenore!
We hope you'll join us in celebrating Lenore and her book, during a virtual event on October 7th. Lenore will give us a virtual tour of her book, "Release: A NICU Fairytale." She'll also be discussing how to process NICU trauma through art. This is a free event (held online via Zoom), but you must RSVP to participate. PS: All participants will have the chance to win a free copy of the book!  Did you know that this week is “Direct Support Professionals” Recognition Week?
Direct Support Professionals (DSP’s) work directly with our customers, and are the heart and soul of everything we do. Currently, UCP employs around 120 DSP’s in a variety of roles. DSP’s work one-on-one with customers at home, on the job, and out in the community, ensuring that each customer has an independent and fulfilling life. Thank you, DSP’s, for all that you do!  As you may know, UCP Oregon has been offering brokerage services since 2010, under the name “UCP Connections.”
Effective September 1st, we added a second brokerage (“UCP Mentors”), in order to serve brokerage customers that had been previously served by The Mentor Network. This is a big change; we’re now supporting 600 additional brokerage customers! At the heart of this transition are the employees. We were able to bring over an amazing team from The Mentor Network. We also promoted several folks internally, and hired several talented, passionate new team members from outside UCP. We also made changes at the management level. We created a new “Director of Brokerage Services” position, which will be held by UCP’s former Brokerage Director, Sarah Noack. Tara Coen was promoted to serve as Brokerage Director for UCP Connections; Sasha Vidales (a former employee of The Mentor Network and founder of Creative Goal Solutions) was hired to serve as Brokerage Director for UCP Mentors!  We have big news!
At the beginning of June, we learned that one of our peer agencies (The Mentor Network) was closing their services in Oregon, including their brokerage services. UCP Oregon—in partnership with Oregon’s Department of Human Services Office of IDD Services—made the decision to support 600 of Mentor Oregon’s former brokerage customers. We’re keeping our existing brokerage ("UCP Connections"), and adding a second brokerage ("UCP Mentors") to serve the new customers. We’re hiring additional brokerage staff, and also adding a “solid gold” team of former Mentor employees, who bring a wealth of experience, heart, and commitment to their customers. These new customers and staff joined us, effective September 1st. UCP’s two brokerages will function as two united yet distinct entities. We understand this change came as a surprise, and that everyone will have different feelings and thoughts. We are offering information sessions for customers affected by this change, ensuring they have the chance to ask questions and share their voices. As time goes on, we’ll be sharing more information about this big change. But, in the meantime, we hope you’ll join us in welcoming our new customers and employees. |
