Each year, the CSB Spirit of Excellence Awards recognize staff whose performance and actions promote, reinforce, or exemplify the CSB’s vision, mission and values.
To be considered for a CSB Spirit of Excellence Award, an individual or team must make a deliberate, obvious and valuable contribution through actions in the areas of customer service, Good Samaritan, innovation, leadership, stewardship, partnership (for non-CSB employees), and – new this year – Random Act of Kindness.
Staff joined together on April 4 at the Fairfax County Government Center to celebrate the more than 100 individuals who received Honors Awards and Spirit of Excellence Awards.
Here are our award recipients...
Customer Service
Honors Awards
- Angela Amas (Jail-Based Mental Health Team / Jail Diversion)
- Michael Johnson (Cornerstones / Residential Treatment Services)
- Laurel Larison (Addiction Medicine Clinic)
- Yalanda Lester (Jail Diversion)
- Nora Rowny (Emergency Services)
- BeWell Team: Max Boyea, Erina Chander, Karen Clarke-Fuhs, Jackie Fisher, Brittani Getch, Maria Ugincius, Megan Von Kolnitz and Pouneh Zeraat
- Community Readiness and Support Services Team: Sarah Davis, Shari Delahunt, Valanda Engram, Jennifer Simmons, Janette Tococari and Daryl Vasquez
- Crisis Intervention Training Team: Mike Ricker and Nettie Zappala
- Merrifield Supportive Community Residential Services Team: Lauren Baker, Paul Coble, Heather McPherson and Jackie Tyler
- Outpatient Client Access Services Team: Jennifer Ahearn, Gayathri Amruthur, Margie Boteler, Cheryl Brown, Charlie Carter, Adrean Chapman, Leslie Clark, Pat Daugett, Edith Davis, Ena Eckert, Kathy Elliott, Leticia Fernandez, Victor Fernandez, Scarleth Garcia Ayala, Erika Gilliam, Sarath Goonewardane, Luis Guardia Gallegos, Esperanza Guerrero, Linda Hall, Tammy Hawkins, Sharon Holifield, Nickia Johnson, Whitney Johnson, Rama Kapoor, Jonathan Lamptey, Laurel Larison, Valerie Lessner, Courtney Milles, Kenny Miller, Sue Moon, Brandon Morgan, Pearl Overby, Jackie Payne, John Pelzer, Oly Pena, Kendall Perez-Arevalo, Antionette Peterson, Sara Portillo, Gwendolyn Rand, Mayra Rivera-Melgar, Dylan Rodgers, Petrona Sanchez, Rocio Sanchez Ferrufino, Amar Singh, Michelle Smith, Ray Taylor, Elizabeth Toussaint, Nuria Trigueros-Zepeda, Brandon Umstead, Yerika Vigier-Taylor and Delante Walston
- Residential Intensive Care Team (RIC South): Martha Esther Agyemang, Gelila Balcha, Gabby DeMarco, Eric Freeman, Shadi Jackson, Emily Jones, Oscar Jones and Danson Kamau
- Youth & Family Services Team: Ruth Attebury, Rebecca Bogdanovich, Stephanie Buchanan, Conrad Dennis, Ashley Gault, Chanel Hicks, Amel Logan, Kia Mills and Daniel Rodriguez
Spirit of Excellence Award
Emergency Services Certified Peer Recovery Team: Mary Beth Ault, Anteneh Gultneh, Jalna Harris, Monique McPherson, Robyn Olivo and Brian Stewart. The MCRC Certified Peer Recovery Specialists support the CSB's mission and values by using their lived experience to help guide individuals through crisis intervention and show examples of hope and change to a disenfranchised population that may not have any natural supports. They routinely volunteer to work late and even overnight, regardless of their scheduled hours, to support the individuals we serve.
Good Samaritan
Honors Awards
- Loretta Davidson (Addiction Medication Clinic)
- Mayra Rivera Melgar (Addiction Medication Clinic)
Spirit of Excellence Award
Kelli Heinz Jones (Support Coordination) Kelli demonstrates a positive and enthusiastic attitude that embodies teamwork. After shifting from adult monitoring to youth monitoring, she learned the nuances of a different area of support coordination with a smile and positive attitude. Her outlook enhanced morale on the team and allowed her to serve as a mentor, teacher and coach to her co-workers. She consistently delivers quality services and shares resources with families with whom she works and she works hard to ensure everyone in the community has the support needed to live a healthy and fulfilling life.
Innovation
Spirit of Excellence Award
Lucy Caldwell (Central Services Unit) Lucy has implemented creative and innovative ideas to promote CSB services and initiatives. She started a CSB blog, introduced Facebook and Twitter to keep in touch with stakeholders and increased the use of video in the department’s communication efforts. She highlights the hard work and successes of the agency and serves as an invaluable resource, and she does it all with a big smile!
Leadership
Honors Awards
- Shanise Allen (Assisted Community Residential Services)
- Lauri Huitema (Youth and Family Resource Team)
- Kristen Sexton (Youth and Family Services)
- Marla Zometsky (Wellness, Health Promotion & Prevention)
- CSB/FCPS Transdisciplinary Team (Employment Services) Lori Bell and Sarah Blake<
- Dialectical Behavioral Therapy Resource Team and Academy Members (Youth and Adult Outpatient Services, Adult Residential Services, Crisis Care, and Intensive Case Management Services) Devin Arnold, Nicole Brandon, Jemeg Dees, Susan Gatsos, Heather Harper, Brian Jacobs, Ashley Jennings, Christina Keenan, Lori Kenepp, Bernadette Landry, Annie Le, Rebecca Maguire, Clara Marshall, Heather McPherson, Judith Montville-White, Ji-Hae Park, Orit Paytan, Kristen Sexton and Mari-Elaine Triolo
- Youth & Family Services Outpatient Team (Youth & Family Services) Brian Jacobs and Kimberly Van Lanen
Spirit of Excellence Award
Abbey May (Emergency and Acute Services) While serving as full time Director of Emergency & Acute Services, Abbey also assumed responsibility to serve as the Acting Director of the Office of Individual and Family Affairs. She has given a young team the support desperately needed to gain a foothold in new positions in the growing field of peer support services. Abbey helps make sense of staff roles in the CSB and supports their creativity, instincts and visions.
Stewardship
Spirit of Excellence Award
Kathleen Kelly (Residential Treatment and Detoxification Services) Kathleen consistently goes out of her way to share information that ensures good stewardship of county resources, especially staff time in compliance activities. This past year, Kathleen redeveloped spreadsheets for each residential program to help them better track and monitor the many requirements in the client health record. This endeavor took many hours and she accomplished this on top of her regular tasks. It has resulted in increased compliance which is part of the agency strategic plan.
Partnership
Honors Award
- Leander Perryman (Community Systems Inc.)
Spirit of Excellence Award
Welcoming Inclusion Network Leadership Team (Employment Services) Laura Allen (citizen), Lauren Goldschmidt (ServiceSource), Elisa Lueck (Neighborhood and Community Services) and Lori Stillman (citizen). In February 2018, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors directed the CSB to develop a citizen/stakeholder group to provide input and recommendations that advance employment and day services for individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities. Laura, Lauren, Elisa and Lori rose to the challenge and led the Welcoming Inclusion Network to achieve their goals and present recommendations to the Board last December.
Random Act of Kindness
Honors Award
- LaVurne Williams (Youth and Family Outpatient Services)
Spirit of Excellence Award
Emily Wilson (Support Coordination Services) As Emily was talking with a service recipient’s mother, who lives in Pennsylvania, she recognized that the mother’s speech patterns were off and that the mother was possibly having a stroke. Emily offered to call 911, but the mother had Emily call her son and daughter who lived nearby. The daughter called 911. Later that day, the service recipient’s sister called Emily and let her know that her mother had not been not doing well and Emily’s call to the family probably saved her mother’s life. The mother did have a stroke, but is living because of Emily’s quick response.