Lisa joined the NER finance team part time in 1996. She had three young children at the time. Her daughter, Kate, was 5 years old and her twin sons, Kyle and Kevin, were 9. A few months later, she accepted a full-time position and today she is NER’s Director of Finance. One might say it was natural that Kevin, Kyle, and Kate would gravitate toward NER. “We lived in White Bear Lake and my kids grew up with NER and would go to all the events with me,” Lisa says.

Kevin with Paula, one of the people he supports.

NER opened an extended day/after-school program across the street from the kids’ school. Kevin and Kyle started working there after school when they were 15. “School let out at 2 p.m. and we’d walk across the street and hang out with the young adults and children for a few hours,” Kevin says. “It didn’t seem like work, it was fun. It was something Kyle and I did until we were 18 and then we also picked up one weekend shift a month up in Hugo.” When they went to college, they came home one weekend a month to work at NER. Kate also began working part time at NER when she was 15 years old.

After college, Kevin, Kyle, and Kate each decided they wanted to stay connected to NER. Kevin accepted a job as a program supervisor at the Cedarwood home. “I did program coordinator duties, taking care of the books, making appointments, attending to medical management, and staffing. It was a lot of responsibility for a first job out of college.” He later became one of NER’s first full-time weekend relief float employees. Today, he supports 19 of NER’s homes.

Kyle with Tom, one of the people he supports.

Kyle became a special education teacher and works in the Roseville School District. He covers one weekend shift a month, alternating between two of NER’s homes in Hugo and then works there full-time in the summers.

After college, Kate went to Uganda for a year. When she returned, she accepted a full-time job at NER as a float supervisor supervising staff at multiple sites. In 2019, Kate began working at 3M full-time, while continuing on the float team picking up occasional weekend shifts. About a year ago, she accepted a full-time sleepover position with NER while still working her full-time position at 3M. “I’ve always wanted to keep my foot in at NER, for fulfillment,” she says.

Kate with Sandra, one of the people she supports.

Lisa says she believes being involved at NER at such a young age shaped who her children became. “All three have worked here for more than half of their lives,” she says. “The compassion, the patience—for Kyle to be a special ed teacher, that probably wouldn’t have happened without NER—and for Kevin and Kate not wanting to let go. None of them ever wanted to let go.”

Kate agrees. “It carried over into other areas of my life. It’s affected the way I look at life,” she says. “Growing up around people with disabilities, we didn’t see them other than just people who needed a little more help.”

Thank you, Lisa, Kate, Kyle, and Kevin, for all you do for the people we serve!

The post For the Heroffs, Northeast Residence is the Family Business appeared first on Hammer.

Teri Lutzke joined our east metro Human Resources team as a Recruiter a few months ago. She brings with her a special passion for her work as her brother, Brad, was a special needs child who passed away at the age of 7. “I’ve always felt that I wanted to honor him and help others,” Teri says. “My mom worked at a group home in Coon Rapids. After high school, I started working part time for the same company. I got to see sparks of Brad in others I took care of. It made me feel like he was around.”

Over the years, Teri held a variety of jobs both in and out of the direct care field. Unfortunately, a back injury meant she could no longer do direct care. “I decided that human resources is a role that’s needed no matter where you go in the country,” Teri says. She went to college and earned a degree in human resources (HR). “I did human resources work for a machine shop, but the passion wasn’t there. I wasn’t satisfied.” Then she saw an ad on Indeed for Northeast Residence (now Hammer & NER) which provides housing and supportive services to people with intellectual and other disabilities in the east metro. “I knew about the company and applied. The interview went great, and I was offered the job!” Teri began her new role in July 2022.

“I’m really happy to be doing what I set out to do: working with a company that helps people with disabilities live their best lives,” Teri says. “I wanted to be in HR and walked into it with open arms.”

What is her approach to recruiting during a staffing shortage that affects so many businesses? “When I go to a job fair, I don’t go with hopes of bringing in tons of people,” Teri says. “Those days are gone. People are looking at websites, but if they don’t know we exist, they’re not going to go to our website. I try to get our name out there, especially in areas where we’re not well known. And there are people who aren’t looking for a job right now, but if I can get them to take a mug or my business card or something else with our name on it, then our name will be in front of them when they’re ready. I also place ads on Indeed,” she says. “That’s one of the go-to places when you’re looking for a job.”

Teri had a great time interacting with the people we serve at our summer luau.

Teri says applicants want to know how big our group homes are (how many people live at the home). “Four is a magical number,” she says. “If you’re understaffed, which happens quite a bit, 4:1 is a good ratio.” What does she say to applicants who have never done direct care work and may be nervous about it? “For people who are new, I tell them, ‘You may have kids, or helped others, you’re literally doing the same thing (providing personal care), but now it’s just for someone else.’” Teri pauses for a moment. “It’s humbling to have someone new do personal cares for you. The first time both of you may feel awkward, but then you realize it’s something they need; they need to be helped to live. If you think about it, we are all an accident or injury away from needing help.”

Teri thinks about her brother, Brad, who passed away at such a young age. “This is the kind of group home my parents would have wanted for him,” she says, had he lived to adulthood. “It’s easy for me to talk about the company to other people. We really care about the people we support as well as our staff. We want to be sure staff don’t get burned out which is always a concern, especially during a staffing shortage. There are so many positives that come with this company; you will be taken care of. It makes it easy to have a positive conversation with someone. This is really a great company in all aspects.”

Want to learn more about opportunities available in our east metro homes? Visit Hammer.org/careers/ Be sure to check back frequently!

The post Meet Teri, Our East Metro Recruiting Specialist! appeared first on Hammer.

Frank has been a part of our east metro (NER) family for most of his life.

Frank has been a member of our (east metro) NER family most of his life, going back to 1975 when he was 8 years old and moved into our ICF home. This was just two years after Northeast Residence opened its doors in what was a former convent in downtown White Bear Lake. There were eight other people in the home at the time. Frank is one of the original people we’ve cared for. He is also the first person I worked with when I came to NER 35 years ago.

Frank has Down syndrome and has always had poor eyesight and other health issues. He is also nonverbal. Frank has been self-injurious since I have known him. He would thump his temples with his knuckles—so much so that he could create deep sores on his temples and the knuckles of his fingers would become infected quite often. We would sit with him (sometimes two of us on stressful days for him) to soothe him while also putting our hand between his knuckles and temple. Gradually, magazines were placed on his arms so that he could not bend them, slowing him down from self-harming. Eventually, professional arm splints were created to prevent him from seriously harming himself. Later, we put red boxing gloves on his hands and slowly transitioned him to a glove with fingers and then to biker gloves, the fingerless ones, which allow for range of motion.

Frank has always loved holding soft sensory items. I think it fills a sensory need, so he doesn’t hurt himself. He also loves chocolate milk. When he was younger, Frank would take staff by the hand and walk to the kitchen. He would get the milk out of the refrigerator and then stand in front of the cupboard and stomp his foot, which communicated he wanted his Nesquik (had to be chocolate). He would drink the entire glass in one or two gulps. This typically would be followed by a screech of pure joy and a huge smile.

When my daughter, Brion, was little, I’d bring Frank to my house, and he’d help push her in the stroller when we went for walks. One time, when we were still in the convent, I took him for a walk, and it was around rush hour. On our way back (next to Hwy 61), Frank decided to sit down on the sidewalk, and we simply watched traffic for about an hour before he got back up and we walked the two blocks back to the convent. (By the way, Brion has worked at NER for 20 years!)

In the early ’90s, we moved all nine people out of the convent and into a large home in White Bear Lake. Then, Frank moved into a four-person waivered home with three peers from the ICF and later to the Currie home in 2016. Frank was still very mobile but slowing down. However, his eyesight gradually became much worse, which may have contributed to him not wanting to move or walk around. In fact, Frank was becoming more homebound and wasn’t walking a lot.

Several months ago, Frank ended up in the hospital and doctors found a blood clot. He was put on medication and was also deemed nonmobile by his doctor. After he was discharged, Frank would express pain when staff transferred him from his wheelchair to the sofa, toilet, bed, etc. Helping someone transfer when you’re down to one staff person in the home can be difficult when you also have three other people to care for. But this is the reality of the ongoing staffing shortages.

Frank with one of his former caregivers, Rich.

Eventually, Frank wouldn’t transfer to the toilet so would just soil his briefs and staff would then need to transfer him to his bed to change and clean him but that was also painful for Frank. One of our nurses, Brandi, and Megan, Currie’s Program Director, discussed trying physical therapy to strengthen Frank’s leg muscles, making it less painful for him to stand and do pivot transfers. Thankfully, after about six weeks of physical therapy, Frank was able to stand up from a seated position and walk to nearby rooms simply by holding the hand of a staff person. His mood was also improving. Frank’s doctor discontinued the medication as she is no longer concerned about future blood clots at this time.

By September, Frank was walking a lot more throughout the day with staff assistance. He enjoys sitting in front of the window when the sun is shining to feel the warmth on his face or going out on the deck. We are so glad Frank is a member of our NER family. Our goal is to do everything we can to keep him with us as he ages, and his needs continue to grow. After all, Frank is an original and we love him.

The post Frank’s Story appeared first on Hammer.