PAA MONTHLY NEWSLETTER

June 2014

Programs/Staff News

 

By now you should have received your computer trainings certificates. Everyone who attended the trainings received either a certificate of completion or a certificate of participation, depending on attendance and post-assessment score.

The Summer Cooling program starts on July 7. The interested clients should call the main reception to make an appointment.

The registration for our ESL classes and Citizenship classes will start on August 1. The classes will run from September to June on the Northwest and Southwest side of Chicago. For registration and information about the Citizenship program please call Janina. For registration and information on the ESL program please call Kasia Koptilin, Mira Krolikowska, Magda Krzeminska or Agnieszka Sobczyk (Northwest side) and Malgosia Bodyziak (Southwest side).

We will continue a partnership with the PrimeCare Community Health Clinic to enroll County Care and Medicaid eligible clients into the quality health care under the Affordable Care Act. Each Tuesday and Thursday in July and August the clinic staff will work from our main office from 9 am-5 pm. The interested clients should call the main reception to make an appointment.

New American Initiative Program invites all eligible Permanent Residents to a free CITIZENSHIP WORKSHOP on Saturday, July 26. It will take place at the St. Ferdinand’s Church located at 5900 W. Barry Avenue in Chicago. Registration will be held as usual from 9-10.30 am. For complete information please go to www.polish.org or call Grazyna, Teresa or Basia.

We will be offering job placement assistance services at our South Side location on Thursday July 17 and Thursday August 21. The staff person will be present in the office from 10 am to 2 pm to provide program information and to register clients. For more information please call Bianka at ext. 418. To reach the employment program staff please call 773 767-7773 ext. 209.

In July and August WIA program will be closed on Saturdays. Individuals interested in registering for the WIA program should visit our office at 3819 N. Cicero, Monday – Thursday 9 am-5 pm and Friday 9 am-3 pm. Program orientations are held on Mondays 10 am-11am in Polish, 11am-12 noon in English.

In FY’15 we will offer again FREE basic computer literacy classes. The registration will start on Monday, August 4. Classes will start in September and will be held at our North and South side locations. Class schedule will be available soon at www.polish.org. Registration for paid Intermediate MS Word & Basic Excel and Intro to QuickBooks classes will also start in August.
For information about computer classes please call Bianka at ext. 418.

Our private pay home care program is ALWAYS looking for new clients. We are asking for your help with spreading the word and we will reward you for referring a client to PAA. The reward schedule is set up as follows: if the referred client stays with us for a month the reward is $25, it doubles to $50 if the client is being served for 3 months and finally it becomes $100 after 6 months of service provided. If you know of anybody in need of home care service, please ask them to call Bogusia.

Reminder: PAA Immigration Services Department no longer provides FREE in person immigration information services. Instead we are providing FEE BASED immigration consultations and processes by appointment ONLY. The department continues to organize monthly FREE of charge Citizenship N-400 workshops provided by New American Initiative Program. For more information please contact Grazyna.

 

Staff Birthdates and Anniversaries

Happy Birthday and Sto lat to all who are having their birthday in July and August:

Teresa Bobrowski, Ewa Bogacz, Malgorzata Chandler, Boguslawa Gadula, Krystyna Gierczyk, Grazyna Hatala, Gary Kenzer, Pawel Kolodziej, Helena Kurek, Eula Lewis, Renata Waliszewska-Pakula, Mariola Pik, Rodolfo Ranola, Krystyna Sip, Halina Smolenski, Barbara Sobecka, Agatha Stochmalski, Ludwina Waksmundzka, Urszula Waksmundzki, Stanislawa Wojton

 

CONGRATULATIONS to the PAA employees who are celebrating their anniversaries in June, July and August:

Barbara Lukaszek-20 years of service

Teresa Bobrowski-10 years of service

Halina Chmielowiec-10 years of service

Stanislawa Les-10 years of service

Jadwiga Panfil-10 years of service

Teresa Smrokowska-10 years of service

We thank you for your ongoing commitment to the PAA mission and compassion toward our clients! Happy Anniversary!

 

PAA Retirement Corner by Pat Madigan

The Beneficiary Designation of Plan Participant form needs to be completed once a year by all employees in the 401(k) plan. The reason is that life makes changes every year, and you might want to keep up to date who is the beneficiary of your 401(k) plan should something happen to you.  When you complete this form, please return it to Patrick.

 

From Gary’s Desk 

Wow hard to imagine just a few months ago we were so cold and polar vortex crazy and now the heat is on. I assume we all vote for this heat and not the polar vortex.
During this summer, many of the things we have worked on will continue. Such as the 2 G show where Grazyna and I are a part of. You can always watch the shows by finding the link on our home page that looks like:

 

 

Four shows are posted on our web site and two more have been filmed and will be posted soon with more to be produced this summer. Stay tuned.
Of course now that the spring legislative season has been completed, you can catch up on the impact on our human services communities by visiting the Illinois Partners for Human Services web site at: http://www.illinoispartners.org/

Have an amazing summer and be well.

 

HR update

PROMOTING WELLNESS AND BETTER HEALTH AT PAA

PAA is very interested in the health of its employees and their family members. In the next few months, I will take steps to develop a Wellness Program at our workplace. My hope is to engage everyone’s support and desire to improve their health, both at home and work. But, before we begin any new initiatives towards better health and well-being, I would like to remind everyone about some of the wonderful Wellness Programs and opportunities offered to you through our health insurance, BlueCross/BlueShield (BCBS):
Well onTarget^sm, a Fitness Program for members of BCBS offers the following:

• Flexible membership for a one-time fee of $25.00 & $25.00 per member per month.  Affords you access to nationwide network of more than 8,000 participating fitness centers.
• Life Points Program motivates you to maintain a healthy lifestyle. You earn points by taking part in wellness activities. Points can be redeemed for popular health & wellness merchandise and services.
• Wellness Coaching from a certified health coach (via telephone).
• Smoking Cessation Programs.
• Weight Management Programs.
• Health Assessment (HA) asks adaptable questions about your health history, risks and habits. After answering the questions, you get a confidential personal wellness report—a great tool for developing an individual fitness program to help you reach your health goals.

You can sign up for the Fitness Program by calling 888-762-BLUE (2538) or learn more about it on-line at bbcbsil.com. There will be more information forthcoming about our Wellness Program, but for now let’s all resolve to make at a least ONE change towards healthier living: walking more; eating more fruits and veggies; or avoiding that piece of chocolate. You choose!

 

Reminders & Other

 

Days off: Friday, July 4 (Independence Day)

Congratulations to Patrick and Keenan Madigan (sons of Patrick Madigan) on their recent graduations. Patrick graduated from University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign with a double major in Psychology and Integrative Biology and Keenan graduated from Aptakisic Jr. High School.

Keenan Madigan

 

Patrick Madigan

 

Please mark your calendars for two annual staff events:

Staff Meeting/Picnic on September 12 (Friday)

Christmas Party on December 12 (Friday)

 

Please make sure all your clients’ information for FY’14 is in our database by July 15 as we want our data to be accurate for the full fiscal year report which will be run in early August.

Your June travel vouchers need to be returned to Bob no later than July 10. Please remember to attach a copy of your driver’s license and a current auto insurance card to your request.

 

Be prompt in signing your timesheets! They need to be turned in NO LATER than by the 5th of the following month.

 

Be inspired

Wake up every morning with the thought that something wonderful is about to happen.