Yesterday, Thursday, October 25, 2018, we held our second annual Case Manager of the Year Award Luncheon, at the Wilshire Baptist Church, with about 200 people in attendance. While some luncheons feature a keynote speaker, our luncheon is a little different. Attendees got to hear two-three minute video testimonials of clients of our nominees. It was extremely moving to see what a fabulous difference case managers make in the lives of real people. Warning: You may want to grab a tissue before clicking on the video!
We honored 11 finalists, and 2 honorable mentions:
Finalists:
- Lauren Arant, Family Place
- Patricia Arzola, Hope’s Door New Beginning Center
- Andrinika Austin, Legacy Counseling Center
- Stephanie Clinton, Austin Street Center
- Matthew Keath, CitySquare
- Sharel Key, Metrocare Services
- Tiffany Knighten, Salvation Army
- Luis Moreno, Prism Health North Texas
- Sabrina Nash, Family Gateway
- Lisa Stephenson, Housing Crisis Center
- Keisha Tryon, The Bridge
Honorable Mentions:
- Darius Ahmadi, AIDS Services of Dallas
- Laura Westerlage, The Stewpot
The following awards were granted:
- Excellence in HMIS – Agency – Family Gateway
- Excellence in HMIS – User – Priscila Ollervides & Tameka Shelby
- Excellence in Coordinated Access and Assessment – Lisa Stephenson
- Excellence in Case Management – Agency – Housing Crisis Center
- 2nd Runner Up to the Case Manager of the Year – Luis Moreno
- 1st Runner Up to the Case Manager of the Year – Matthew Keath
- Case Manager of the Year – Stephanie Clinton
Congratulations to all of our nominees and awardees. We are so proud of all of you!
There are so many people to thank for making this an incredible event –
- Our sponsors:
- Dr. Fred and Shannon Cerise;
- Godfrey’s Associates;
- Prism Health North Texas;
- United Way of Metropolitan Dallas;
- Our host: Wilshire Baptist Church, and specifically, Holly Irvin, Elizabeth Ferguson and Shelby Patterson for the use of their Community Hall, for a scrumptious meal, and for giving each of our finalists a gift;
- Our clients, for their moving testimonials;
- Our staff:
- Diana Romagnoli, who helped with every aspect of this event;
- Alex Espinosa, Freda Coleman and Alex Hartfield, who, along with Diana, checked everyone in, and worked on the HMIS awards;
- Shavon Moore, Natalie Martinez, James McClinton, Cynthia Scaife, and Wayne Waslien, who set up the beautiful table centerpieces;
- Shavon Moore, who worked on the CAS and Case Management – Agency awards;
- Wayne Waslien, who helped out with all of the financial aspects of the event;
- Rebecca Cox, who conducted the interviews of our clients, for the video.
- Our board members:
- Karen Hughes, Chair, who gave a marvelous introduction, and had her photo taken with each(!) nominee and awardee;
- Karen Hughes, Ashley Brundage and Traswell Livingston, executive committee members, who painstakingly scored each of the finalist nominations;
- Our film maker CJ Capes, who filmed our clients, and produced such a moving testimonial video, as well as the Dallas Public Library, for allowing us to film in their executive board room;
- Everyone who took time out of their day, and came out to support the most important people in our homeless response system – case managers;
- All case managers in our homeless response system, for the sacred work they perform, day in and day out.
We can’t wait to celebrate with you all again, at the Case Manager of the Year Award Luncheon 2019!
