Medicaid employees Betty "BJ" Jones, Pam Greeson and Janis Peirce with donations, and helping load the SUV with Andrew Bryk.
Dec. 3, 2018 – The Medicaid Employee/Engagement Committee (MEC) sponsored a drive for employees to donate a variety of items to Robeson County, one of the areas hardest-hit by Hurricane Florence. Collected items filled an entire SUV and included: canned food, toiletries, underwear, socks, diapers and wipes, pillows, blankets, hand sanitizer, bottled water, work gloves and a variety of tools and other items. On Nov. 9, MEC member Andrew Bryk drove these donations directly to the disaster recovery center in Lumberton for distribution to those in need.
The work of Mindy Coleman, a creative expressive arts therapist at Black Mountain Neuro-Medical Center, was recently showcased on UNC-TV. The segment highlights her work to empower residents with intellectual and developmental disabilities, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease at Black Mountain through dance, music and art therapy.
The J. Iverson Riddle Developmental Center hosted their 44th Annual Holiday Parade on Nov. 29. The 2018 parade theme of "Snow Globes on Parade" was chosen by a center resident. The parade had 122 entries, including six bands, local fire and police departments and many community floats. Over 5,000 community members in attendance. Check out photos or watch video highlights of the parade from The News Herald.
Residents and staff of O’Berry Neuro-Medical Treatment Center, along with community members, enjoyed a day of food, a parade, a choir and gifts on Dec. 1. The celebration and festivities were a gift shared by chapters of the North Carolina Gold Wing Road Riders Association, who came together on two- and three-wheeled motorcycles to provide an event filled day for residents and staff at the Goldsboro facility. Residents enjoyed rides in side-cars and second seats. Golf carts decorated for the holiday season joined the parade, which made two tours around the O’Berry campus.
The Division of Vocational Rehabilitation office in Elizabeth City hosted a Disability Mentoring Day on Nov. 1 as a cap to October’s National Disability Employment Awareness Month. The event was attended by high school students with disabilities from Pasquotank, Perquimans, Currituck, Dare and other counties. These students received educational resources, heard from guest speakers, and got advice from potential employers. Read more.
Ruby Brown-Herring, a Human Services Program Consultant on the Justice Systems Team at the Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Abuse Services, will join the National Trainer Corps for Mental Health First Aid USA. Mental Health First Aid is a course that teaches participants how to help someone who may be experiencing a mental health or substance use challenge. As a national trainer, Brown-Herring will train and certify instructors across the country to teach the Mental Health First Aid core program, youth program and related modules. In her role at DMH, Brown-Herring oversees the state’s MHFA initiative and provides training and technical assistance to the over 525 MHFA instructors across North Carolina.
We’re looking for DHHS people and partners to give “shoutouts” to. Know of someone who deserves a shoutout? Reach out to your Division’s Communications Manager or email news@dhhs.nc.gov.