Each year the Board of Directors of Sound Community Services accepts nominations for the Donna Millette-Fridge Memorial Award. For those of you who did not know Donna, she was a First Step employee for many years, her last position was as the Director of Employment Services. Donna was preparing for her promotion to Associate Director at First Step at the time of her tragic and untimely death. Let me tell you about Donna.
Donna epitomized the values of social work! She always exhibited a very strong work ethic, strong leadership, and was an advocate for all of our clients. Donna's special interest was in young people experiencing behavioral health challenges who would be transitioning from their high school years into adulthood where many would be unprepared to face the stigma associated with mental illness which so many of our clients must deal with on a daily basis. She had dedicated her life to helping those young people become productive members of the community.
Donna was admired and respected by her clients and her colleagues. Shortly after her tragic death the Connecticut Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers posthumously awarded to Donna a Lifetime Achievement Award. Upon the presentation of that award it was noted that, " Her social work colleagues saw in Donna woman who lived the values of social work. She had a vision that one day individuals with psychiatric disabilities would be fully integrated into society and have available to them the same opportunities and benefits we all enjoy. Her belief in, energy and enthusiasm for individuals with psychiatric disabilities to become productive members of society were contagious and inspired coworkers throughout her agency. agency." Donna was the "founding" member of the Sound Community Services "aristocracy." And after her death our Board of Directors established an award in her name- the Donna Millette-Fridge Memorial Award.
The Donna Millette-Fridge Memorial Award is the most important that Sound Community Services gives as it acknowledges the work of an employee who demonstrates the values that Donna brought to her work. This year there were several nominees all of whom were noted to bring a high level of care for persons served and professionalism to their work.
In nominating December Heffernan, Mat Waldo wrote, "I have only been here at Sound Community Services for five months and during that time I've worked with a number of dedicated and effective colleagues. One person who continually strikes me as an employee who goes the extra mile for clients and who embodies excellence in social work practice is December Heffernan, LCSW. Her job of engaging mentally ill clients in the shelter system and in the streets of New London and providing them with services to improve their circumstances is difficult at best but, time and time again, December appears to be able to provide an empathetic support for clients which provides them with some dignified value. A number of homeless men and women on my caseload have spoken about how they look forward to meeting with her in the shelter serving the community: they know they will be respectfully listened to and that their needs and concerns will be met by someone who will do her best to remedy the problems. Working in collaboration with December as a fellow colleague is enjoyable-she exhibits dedication to the Sound Community Services mission, a strong working professional ethic, and brings excellence to the interchange which positively impacts the outcome. I know that when she is involved my clients are in good hands. I feel that December is a good candidate for the Donna Millette-Fridge Memorial Award and know that many formerly homeless clients would agree with this nomination. This year's winner of the Donna Millette-Fridege Award is December Heffernan. Please take a moment to thank December for all her hard work on behalf of those we serve and congratulate her on being named the 2010 winner of the Donna Millette-Fridge Memorial Award.
Be well!
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