The recent national tragedy we experienced will bring an enormous amount of change, much of which we can’t even conceive of now.  Our initial feelings of fear, anger, patriotism, sympathy, and over whelming sense of loss–lost human life, lost freedoms (the way we used to do common things like flying) and the lost sense of security have all been and are continuing to be played out in all of our lives.  This process may last for some time.  One thing I really hope doesn’t wear off is our sense of wanting to improve our spiritual lives.

Our organization like any other will eventually be affected by the slow down in the economy and very likely some of our funding may be affected.  There is a real possibility that funding priorities may shift funds for human services to help fund the war on terrorism.  At this moment I don’t know of any funding cuts or changes in funding priorities that will affect us.  Our subcontracts in our production department are still very healthy.  Our retail stores are doing well and remaining stable or even up a little from last year.  I am very pleased with everyone’s hard work.  I am encouraged by all of you.

Over the last several months we have been making several plans for growth.  We have opened an additional 8,000 sf. facility in Paragould.  Part of that will be used to replace the current space of the WAC/AD program and by November they should be able to move in and have the additional space they need.  The remaining part will be used to start some new initiatives and to have additional space for work adjustment training for rehabilitation clients.

In the production department we have been working toward moving the refurbishing department to another site in order to open up more space for subcontract work.  We plan to utilize half of the Apple Hills wood shop for this effort.  We are currently only doing periodic wood projects and we feel we can better utilize that facility by co-locating refurbishing with them, but we still will have room to do wood working as needed.

For the next few months I want to hold off starting any other big projects that have not been committed to, until we get a sense of how the economy is going to do.  For instance, I had recently intended to refill a marketing position and now I plan to try to use interns from ASU to help us with some marketing and public relations efforts.  We have to keep everything in good repair, but we may not be buying new equipment for awhile.

I really want to reassure every employee that we will do everything we can to make good solid decisions about the use of our resources.  I want to encourage you to reassure your consumers that everything is going to be all right.  I am encouraging every department head to: watch all spending closely; be efficient in the use and price of consumable supplies; don’t overstaff and when there is attrition evaluate the necessity of rehiring that position; and for a while we may all carry a little bigger load until we see what tomorrow brings.  I am firmly convinced that when we have a common goal, share in its importance and look to solve our problems  with a team approach we can handle just about anything.  Our mission is our stabilizing rudder for our organization. You are great team members and thanks for all of the work you do with and for our consumers.

 
  OCTOBER
BIRTHDAYS
 

Patricia Ashley   2nd
Phillip Beasley   6th
Ada Chestnut    8th
Alan Roedel    10th
Chris Paslay    14th
Philip Cornish   15th
Mary Mooney    20th
Jean Williams    27th
Bryan Simons    31st

UNITED WAY CAMPAIGN
During the month of October we are having our United Way Campaign where we encourage every single person who works for our organization to make a payroll deduction to be given to the United Way.  The United Way funding we get provides match money for some of our service contracts.  Many of these require as much as 10% to 25% money from the community in order to get the money to provide the services.  These services include: Adult Development, Work Activity Center, Rehabilitation’s Extended Services, some Waiver services, transportation, and Supervised Living.  These services allow us to employ and help a lot of people.  Your contribution plays an important part of this.  So, it is very important that we all do our part and help raise money to fund our program and  many other worthwhile programs in our community.  Cards will be distributed soon or you can stop by DeeDee’s office to get one.

SEPTEMBER SERVICE AWARDS
For the month of September, Tonya Smith and Jeanne Bailey celebrated their one year anniversary with us and received a certificate and pin.  Thank you for all you do!
 
 

Please get with Sherry concerning CPR/1st Aid training. Classes are now available!!!
 

Welcome To The AU Team!!
Scott Barber    Flex Employee
Phyllis Bullard    ACS Implementor
Alberta Cannady   ACS Implementor
Melanie Chase    ACS Implementor
Ty Crutchfield    ACS Implementor
Gloria Delaney    ACS Implementor
Gary Gale    Flex Employee
Rebecca Garab    Flex Employee
Latoya Gates    ACS Implementor
Michael Hallmark   ACS Implementor
Diane Henderson   Flex Employee
Keith House    Flex Employee
Angela Kifer    ACS Implementor
Jeanne Lenderman   ACS Implementor
Melanie McGhee   ACS Implementor
Tammy Morris    Flex Employee
Almanita Nelson   Flex Employee
Shanta Nelson    Flex Employee
Kristin Rhodes    ACS Implementor
Stephanie Risner   ACS Implementor
Erica Swiercz    ACS Implementor
Barbara Warren   ACS Implementor
Joanie Wilhite    ACS Implementor
 

3rd Quarter Safety Incentive Awards

Congratulations goes out to the employees of AU’s Production Department, Paragould WAC/AD and Paragould Retail Store as winners of our 3rd  Quarter Safety Incentive Awards.  Each winning department remained accident-free for the quarter; actively participated in safety discussions and meetings and successfully passed periodic workplace inspections.  Each winning department will receive a safety certificate and each employee will receive a gift certificate for our retail store.  In addition, Judy Banks was the consumer picked by random draw to receive a gift certificate from our retail store.  Congratulations and keep up the great work!

“Time is the coin of your life.  It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent.  Be careful letting other people spend it for you.”       -    Carl Sandburg