It's so important that we live by our values.

Well, we don't just live by them, we acknowledge those who go above and beyond in their daily work through our annual Board of Directors Staff Excellence Awards.

Winners and nomineese were acknowledged during our Staff Development Day this year and we'd like to share them with you today to both recognise their outstanding work and showcase the heart and soul of our organisation and what makes us special.

As our Board Chair Vicki Pearce told the staff: "These awards acknowledge and celebrate individual or team excellence in service that leads to positive outcomes for BCHS, the community and the consumers we serve".

Apologies, this post is very long for social media but we don't want to leave anyone out and we really want to give you an insight into why these winners are special.

Thanks for your interest.

BCHS values from our Strategic Plan 2019-2024:

Excellence in Integrity

Sheenah Van Eck

Team manager, Alcohol and Other Drugs residential services

Sheenah’s integrity of purpose and character makes her a leader within community health. She has been providing an invaluable service to a hard to engage section of our community for over 25 years. Sheenah has been able to achieve things that very few professionals would be able to do because her care and compassion comes with zero judgement and is delivered with genuine sincerity - she believes every person deserves quality individualistic care. Anyone who has spent time with Sheenah will know she has a killer sense of humour which she uses as a well-honed engagement tool.

Excellence in Respect

Kate Howells

Facilitator - North Central Family Services Alliance

(Based at BCHS Kangaroo Flat)

Kate has the unique position as the facilitator of the North Central Family Services Alliance. Part of Kate’s role is to liaise with partner agencies across the catchment. It is the respectful way that she engages with others and demonstrates empathy and understanding that means that she is trusted and assists in the Alliance collaborating together. She also balances the line of representing BCHS as well as the Alliance. Kate took a lead in rolling out of the Safe and Together program, an international child-centred model that aims to support professionals to partner with the non-offending parent, ensure visibility and accountability of the perpetrator's behavior and focus on positive outcomes for child and family function. Co-ordinating training, and connecting with agencies to gather feedback and data on the approach, Kate works to ensure that this model is implemented in a successful way, but also reviewed and adjusted to meet local considerations as needed.

Excellence in Inclusion

Dr Harris Noor

Dr Noor has become a central contact for medical care for the local LGBTI community in Bendigo and surrounds. His professionalism and sensitivity in caring for his patients is recognised by consumers and peers alike. He goes beyond day to day care and has deep interest and maturity in his professionalism to care and advocate for the LGBTI community. He has shown a commitment to keep up to date on care of the special needs for the LGBTI community. Feedback is always positive and openly acknowledges the professionalism and understanding Dr Noor shows.

Kayla Yates

Family Support Worker

Kayla is passionate and committed family services professional who is passionate about the safety of women and children at all times. She works closely with families facing many vulnerabilities and complexities and supports them to address and barriers to their parenting. It can include families where there is family violence, drug use, mental health as well as children with disabilities. Given her extensive knowledge and experience in family violence as well as her understanding and commitment to the implementation of the Safe and Together model, she has been asked to be a BCHS champion in this space. Kayla has formed strong engagement with the victim/survivors, and their families and supported safety planning, advocacy with other agencies.

Excellence in Innovation

Kaye Graves

Cultural Diversity and Relationships team manager

Kaye is a fierce champion of the needs of our local community. For the last 10 years she has been pivotal to the successful settlement of humanitarian refugees to the Bendigo area. She is a tireless advocate for refugee rights and needs, championing the uniqueness of our local community. Through her proactive community development, this exploration into community needs has resulted in innovative projects that have benefited both the refugee community and service sectors. These include Community Harmony Project, Jamshod, refugee health project, youth resilience project, and resource development.

Excellence in Togetherness

AOD Non-Residential Team

The team has made a concerted effort to ensure that this collection of multi-disciplinary professionals works cohesively for the best outcomes for the community requiring broad range supports for drug and alcohol issues. The year has proven to be a busy one with staff changes and operational program development leading to seven new staff members coming on board. The new staff have quickly melded into the existing team to join our family. The team members go out of their way on a daily basis to make sure that they are doing their best for their consumers and families. They have also offered the community a range of new and ongoing education supports. The team “laugh together, cry together and can be a bit whacky at times, but they are the epitome of togetherness as a team”.

Our Staff Development Day also recognises a very valuable support for BCHS in the form of our volunteers.

The Volunteer of the Year Award recognise the dedication and commitment of our volunteers who contribute so much to BCHS.

 

Volunteer of the Year Award

Margaret Dutton

Marg has been a volunteer with the Social Support Group at Elmore for the past 20 years. Marg is an unsung hero who diligently and tirelessly goes about supporting others with no fuss or desire for personal reward other than knowing she is helping others. Marg has rarely missed a Friday since she started with the group. She goes beyond the day to day and will actively take on board new ideas and changes to benefit the group or help BCHS with accreditation requirements. Her smiling face and her warmth makes people’s days. Marg’s most memorable moment was “A day outing to St Kilda beach and it poured rain and blew a gale all day”.

Congratulations to all the winners and nominees.

RELATED: Bendigo Community Health Services recognises service milestones during Staff Development Day click here

Learn more about our values and Strategic Plan 2019-2024 at www.bchs.com.au

Last updated: February 2020