Th e WORKS S P R IN G 2 0 1 4 From the Executive Director: We live in interesting times. This past quarter has been among the busiest in memory as ESR prepared to expand to St. Croix County in Wisconsin, completed the CARF Survey process, fought the weather to provide services to consumers, and readied for our 50th Anniversary celebration. The Wisconsin service will be operating by the time you read this issue of The Works. ESR is assuming responsibility for meeting the employment and support needs of about 110 consumers in western Wisconsin. Our program site in New Richmond will provide the base of operations there as we strive to meet the employment needs and desires of participating consumers. ESR will grow by almost 30% overnight on March 31, bringing many opportunities and challenges our way. The focus of our effort will be first to facilitate a comfortable transition for the consumers, business partners and community residents of St. Croix County. Change is inevitable, but our task is to listen, learn and improve our supports so that more and more consumers gain access and opportunity to work. The CARF Survey process was interesting as we hosted two surveyors from California and Texas. The week of the survey was a very snowy and cold time (shocker) and our service was forced to close on one of the days. The surveyors seemed to rather enjoy the adventure of it all and the Survey went very well for us. Thank you for continuing to support ESR and our consumers. Ed Boeve, Executive Director Cottage Grove Consumers Knit Hats for Charity The Cottage Grove program is making hats for Charity! We are working with a group called “Team Yarn—Head Huggers” to make warm hats for cancer patients who have lost their hair. Using donated yarn and knitting looms, our consumers have made several beautiful hats. This spring we will donate the hats to a hospital or hospice center. Our consumers are really enjoying the opportunity to help others in need. We are on the lookout for extra yarn. Please let us know if you have any to spare. You can call (651) 459-2038 and we will arrange to pick it up or if you can drop it off at any ESR location. Empty bird feeder? Order your bag of Birders’ Select today! Mixed and packaged by ESR consumers. For mixes and pricing call (651) 351-0190 x10 or visit us on the web at www.esrworks.org. ESR Photography Show Coming Soon The ESR Shutterbugs photography club has been building up their collection of great shots in anticipation of our spring photo show. Consumers have done a wonderful job of capturing their surroundings and expressing themselves through photography. Check out their work on the Capture Minnesota website (www.captureminnesota.com/ users/shutterbugs) and stay tuned to our website and Facebook page for details about the upcoming show. ESR’s Board of Directors: Wendy Waldner, Chair Benjamin Blackberg Ron Jungbauer Chris Kolb Stan Miller Marla Olson Richard Paukert Nancy Peterson Get the latest ESR news and information : ESR Expands into Wisconsin ESR is pleased to announce that we have expanded our services into St. Croix County, WI. We were selected to take over employment and day services from St. Croix Industries, which has been working in the county since 1974. ESR began our contract with ContinuUs, which provides managed care services for the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, on March 31, 2014. Drawing on our 50 years of experience, this expansion will benefit St. Croix County consumers and their families and bring greater efficiency to administrative functions of the Agency. ESR Executive Director Ed Boeve expressed gratitude to ContinuUs staff, members of the selection committee, and to ESR staff and Board members who participated enthusiastically in the selection process. He stated that, “ESR looks forward to a long and productive relationship with consumers and their families in St. Croix County and also with the business community there.” ESR will continue to operate from St. Croix Industries’ New Richmond location where consumers process over 2,000,000 pieces of mail each year, shrink wrap and heat seal items, and work on projects including light bench assembly, grommeting, drilling, sawing, sorting and inspecting. ESR will focus on expanding relationships with the business community in St. Croix County and increasing the number of consumers placed in independent community jobs. ESR Celebrates 50 Years of Service to Washington County On May 1, ESR will celebrate our 50th anniversary by holding an open house just prior to our annual Consumer Recognition and Awards Banquet. We welcome our business partners, friends, supporters and others to join us for wine and hors d’oeuvres and to learn more about ESR. Open House attendees are also welcome to stay for the Consumer Awards and Recognition event. The open house will be held from 4:00pm to 6:00pm at the Prom Center, 484 Inwood Avenue N., Oakdale, MN 55128. Contact Vicki Nelson at (651) 351-0190x11 or [email protected] for more information or to RSVP. We’ve Renewed our CARF Accreditation Since 1999, ESR has been accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) International and in February we successfully completed our most recent review. CARF is a nonprofit accreditor of health and human services providers whose goal is to ensure that services remain strongly personcentered. This accreditation demonstrates that ESR is committed to reducing risk, addressing health and safety concerns, respecting cultural and individual preferences, and providing the best quality of care for our consumers.