Montgomery County, PA

NORRISTOWN — The Montgomery County Commissioners will present awards to 10 residents and agencies from throughout Montgomery County at the 18^th Annual Mental Retardation Awards Luncheon on Tuesday, March 8^th.
The luncheon will be held at Presidential Caterers, 2910 DeKalb Pike (at the intersection with Germantown Pike), Norristown, Pennsylvania.
The theme of the event is Making a Difference: Celebrating Everyday Achievements and the guest speaker will be NBC 10 News Anchor Vince DeMentri.
The following is a listing of the award recipients and a brief description of why there were selected. For further information, contact Marguerite Peaschock at (610) 278-3642.

The Direct care award goes to Janell M. Lawrence, Production Coordinator for DEC, North Penn Training Center. She was nominated by both the parents of DEC clients and the professionals with whom she works. She is very willing to work for all the clients’ needs on a daily basis, including vocational and social skills, and planning and developing new programs with the Director of NPTC. She also opens her heart and home to individuals as they need respite on weekends and holidays. The clients can depend on her for guidance, friendship and stability.

For the past quarter century, she has been an inspiration to her staff and a great friend to the individuals whom she serves. In the words of one of her many nominators, "Day in and day out, Yvonne Dahms has dedicated her life to educating our staff, parents and politicians so that our individuals have the dignity to make everyday choices and make self-determination a reality." As quality enhancement coordinator, she is "the glue that holds Developmental Enterprises Corporation together". Von always finds a way to make common sense decisions and to implement programs to respond to the identified needs. Her programs provide support, motivation and love.

With the significant changes in the mental retardation system the past few years, Step by Step has continued to respond to the changes by diligently working with all stakeholders to plan and implement new and improved systems. They have worked in partnership with Montgomery County Supports Coordination Office to implement the new web-based Individual Service Plans. When the web-based incident management system became operational, Step by Step developed their own parallel system to enhance their abilities to assure the health, safety and well-being of all the individuals who they serve. Their recent CARF accreditation (Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities) is a tribute to the attention to detail that permeates every aspect of their supports systems. Accepting for Step by Step are Barbara Roughan, Service Director (King of Prussia), Joe Hartnett, Regional Director (Upper Darby), Jim Bobeck (Exec. Director, Corporate Office) and Bob Hintze, Associate Director.

Julie Wolfe has been a part of the Supports Coordination Team in Montgomery County since June 1994. She began her career as an Early Intervention Service Coordinator at the Eastern Office in Fort Washington. She was an integral part of the team supporting children 0-3 years old. When Julie and her family moved to the western part of the county, Julie transferred to the Western Supports Office in Pottstown as a Residential Supports Coordinator. Julie is never afraid to challenge and question when it is in the best interest of the folks on her caseload.
Her focus is very person centered and she always makes health and safety issues a priority. Julie has excellent relationships with all her consumers! In the words of a provider, "Julie is dedicated, compassionate, and very, very effective!"
In addition, Julie embraced all the changes within the State of Pennsylvania Supports Coordination with high energy and high expectations. She was the first Residential Coordinator to jump into the world of completing service plans using the new state database, HCSIS! Julie is a very valued member of the Supports Coordination Team and is being recognized for all her hard work and dedication.

Bruce Sham serves as President for the Association of Adults with Developmental Disabilities, is a vice president for the American Dance Wheels Foundation, and he is credited for the inception of the endowment fund for the Sunshine Foundation. These organizations are non-profit and provide valuable services to handicapped and disabled individuals in Philadelphia and the surrounding counties.
Bruce is also co-founder of the Resource Center for Children with Special Needs at Temple Beth Am in Abington. In addition, Bruce also devotes his time to teaching and tutoring children in the Center so that they can achieve the same accomplishments that children of all abilities enjoy. For these reasons, we recognize Bruce as Advocate of the Year.

Elaine has worked with DEC for about seven years. When she began at DEC, she had low rates of attendance and was always frustrated. She lived in a boarding home and her team felt that she was not receiving all the supports she needed. Elaine did not trust people enough to entertain the thought of a move. However, this year, Elaine made the decision that this would be the best for her. She has learned to cook and clean for herself. She has improved greatly to perfect attendance and has shown tremendous personal and emotional growth. She is an inspiration and a success story to those who know her.

For fifteen years, the Simco Corporation has partnered with Indian Creek Industries to provide the resources necessary for Indian Creek to fulfill their mission to provide vocational training. Plant Manager Robert McGuire and Sales Manager Les Mininger continually review their production line looking for skills and jobs that can be adapted for outsourcing to fit training requirements for Indian Creek. Indian Creek is able to offer training on a variety of hand assembly jobs as well as on jobs requiring tools powered by compressed air to the people who work and train at their facility. Simco’s product line has changed several times over the years and each time Les finds new products to help develop the skills of the work force. Along with the work performed, Simco also provides all the tools and materials used to set up the operation. Because of their continued support of vocation training for people with developmental disabilities, Montgomery County is proud to honor the Simco Corporation with the Employer of the Year award.

Everyone who knows Lisa – coworkers, other professionals, family members and friends say, "Lisa is an awesome problem-solver".
Her unique combination of compassion, good judgment, and analytical skills, mark her as a true leader. She creates exemplary programs and environments so that children, by her love and devotion, succeed. Congratulations Lisa for all your hard work on behalf of Montgomery County children and families.

A Special Recognition Award is presented to the Carson Valley Nursery School for their outstanding contributions in helping children with developmental disabilities.

In the words of a parent, "With Carson Valley, my child has received the best education in the least restrictive environment".
They have great teachers, an amazing campus, and a great curriculum.
It gives us great pleasure to present this Special Recognition Award to the Carson Valley Nursery School. Accepting for Carson Valley are Melissa Horrow, Director, Nichole Jones and Jackie Szeliga, Teachers.