Somerset Home for Temporarily Displaced Children
Jeffrey Fetzko, ACSW, LSW, CFRE
Vol. 6, No. 15, July 24, 2008
The Executive Director's News is published every two weeks, and is specifically written for the employees, board of trustees and friends of the Somerset Home. This issue and past issues are available on our web site at http://www.somersethome.org/main/pages/employee_newsletter.htm.
Case Managers on the Move
Jeanmarie Albert will be assuming the responsibilities of the Passages Case Manager when Danielle Sutton steps down in mid-August. Jeanmarie has endured the flood while a youth counselor at Brahma House and has been working as an Independent Living Skills Educator in the Pathways program for the past several months. We wish Jeanmarie the very best in her new adventure.
Megan Kayser has been promoted to Whitney House Case Manager replacing Erica Maccia who will also be leaving us in mid-August. Megan has worked in our street outreach program and is very knowledgeable of community resources. She has spent many hours representing Somerset Home in the community. We also wish Megan the very best with her new challenges.
Danielle Sutton, case manager at Passages will stay on to assist Jeanmarie Albert in the transition. The Passages case manager job is a tough one with 10 young people and a lot of regulations! Danielle has done a fantastic job both in her current position and in her former position as case manager at Whitney House. We thank her for her extraordinary contributions to Somerset Home and her willingness to stick around to help Jean Marie learn the ropes.
Erica Maccia, Case Manager took the reigns at Whitney House and never looked back. Erica has been on top of every detail of her job from day one and will be sorely missed. She also has worked extensively with other staff coordinating case management activities and insuring continuity of case management practice. Erica will work with Megan Kayser to help her get settled. Thank you Erica, for your dedication to quality and tremendous contribution to Somerset Home!
I wish both Danielle Sutton and Erica Maccia best of luck in graduate school and many thanks for their important contributions to Somerset Home.
Whitney House Emergency Stairs Finished
The newly installed cellar emergency exit is now operational and we are happy to have an added measure of safety and security for our young people ad staff working at the Whitney House group home. I truly hope we never need to use them. The emergency exit will also come in handy for replacement of equipment such as laundry machines.
Transitional Housing Committee Has First Meeting
The transitional housing committee of the board of trustees has held its first meeting on July 15th to discuss program models, funding opportunities and community partnership possibilities. Our first meeting was a joint meeting with members of the Somerset Home Board of Trustees, Members of the North Branch Reformed Church and a guest speaker from MIPH in Middlesex County. The committee discussed the MIPH Irayna Court Highland Park program in depth.
Somerset Home is exploring a number of possibilities to expand transitional housing programs for older youth.
As always, thank you all for your continued hard work on behalf of our youth.
