September 22, 2006
Last weekend Devereux’s Board of Trustees met in one of their four annual meetings – this time near Denver, Colorado. Each of our Board meetings is held close to one of Devereux’s centers, so that Board members and senior Devereux staff can visit a program and interact with clients and staff. It is always a great reminder of why we are proud to be involved with Devereux.
On Friday, senior Colorado staff gave the Board an overview of a new vocational program developed over the last two years for the adolescents with mental health challenges who are served in our Colorado Center. The program, which this year was honored with the “Quality Star” award as the outstanding quality improvement initiative across Devereux, creates a wide range of vocational options on the campus - from landscaping, to office supply management, to food service. Clients prepare resumes and are interviewed for each job, developing critical life skills. Each job is performed under the direction of a staff member who serves as a job skills trainer and a mentor in understanding the expectations of an employer.
The most sought after campus jobs are in the newly created “Duke’s Diner”, a restaurant opened to staff, visitors, and clients for lunch on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Student jobs include food preparation, host/hostess, and waiter/waitress. The restaurant honors John Wayne ( “Duke”) , an active supporter of our Colorado programs. John Wayne’s college fraternity, Sigma Chi, at his request, built the current gymnasium on the campus as a national service project in the 1970’s. The restaurant features many pictures of Mr. Wayne and plays his movies continuously. After the conclusion of the Board meeting on Saturday, many of us toured the campus, winding up at Duke’s Diner for lunch. I highly recommend the “True Grit Buffalo Burger”.
My Presidents’ report in the Board meeting noted some of the recent significant accomplishments of the organization, but focused on long-term challenges – issues which keep me up at night. How can we continue to recruit a high quality workforce over the coming decade? How can we maintain organizational memory in the age of the paperless office? How can we make good decisions about long-term assets like real estate in such a fast changing industry? And, how can we more effectively communicate with all of our stakeholders? The text of my remarks to the Board is here.
As always, it was very inspiring to meet with our Board, eighteen leaders from across the country who understand the importance of the work Devereux does and volunteer their time to support our long-term success.
