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Hammer Support: It Takes a Village

by Ashley Emerson, Program Manager at Hammer’s Emery Home At Hammer, each individual has the support of an entire village. It starts with the staff team, supporting the individual on a day-to-day basis and making the house a home. Some of the support includes positive behavior modification,...

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Phone-Banking to Save Medicaid

Written by: Frances Matejcek, Hammer Advocacy intern, Macalester College student Francis joined other volunteers from the “This Is Medicaid” campaign to call voters in key states to preserve Medicaid and oppose the proposed Medicaid cuts in the healthcare bill. The bill has since...

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An Evening with Gaelynn Lea

By: Samantha Cantrall, Communications Specialist Are you aware of the violinist, Gaelynn Lea? If not, you should be. This woman is a professional musician, expert conversationalist, and motivational speaker all wrapped into one. She hails from Duluth, Minnesota, and she happens to live with a...

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The Person Centered Planning Process – What is Our Role?

Betsy Gadbois – Director of Person Centered Practices Owakihi Betsy will be presenting at the Hammer Family Education Forum on Thursday, May 5th. Sign up to attend the Family Education Forum here. Person Centered Planning is a term used to describe a variety of approaches used to help a...

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A Nurse, His Cellphone and the Work He Loves

By Brandon Eddy, RN My day starts early in the morning when I hear that peaceful, calming sound of the alarm clock going off at 6:45AM. As soon as I roll over, grab my alarm, and quickly turn it off, I check my phone (not for Facebook or ESPN updates). In fact, I check my text messages and emails...

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Who’s the Volunteer Here?

By Shane Raymond, Hammer Volunteer A few years back I found myself wanting to give back to my community in a personally meaninful way. My intent was to mesh that hope with my desire to spend more time with Indy, our Border Collie mix. Indy was going through a midlife crisis, of sorts, and needed...

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Our Words Matter: A Challenge to Us All

by Lisbeth Vest Armstrong, Chief Program Officer Have you ever caught yourself using the words “client,” “resident,” or “consumer” to refer to a person we serve? I know I have. But, I’ve also come to realize that using such language can inadvertently set us apart from those for whom we so...

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A Community of Support: Leslie’s Story

By Mary Gaasch, Program Manager I took a deep breath.  This was risky, I knew.  Just mentioning a difficult situation to Leslie could potentially ignite a crisis. A few years ago, it would have sent her into a sobbing, raging state that would have lasted a week. “Leslie, I heard you did a good job...

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