Events!

Evergreen, CAS and the Pride Center produce a full slate of events all year round. There are annual festivals like Pride or Juneteenth, the Harm Reduction and Trans Wellness conferences, Dining Out For Life, the Huddle, receptions for donors and volunteers and many more. Sometimes attendance is measured in the dozens; other times it's in the tens of thousands. Evergreen paused live events during the pandemic, but now they're back and our already long list of events is getting even longer. With careful planning and some luck, our events run so smoothly that nobody thinks about all the work that went into making them happen.

Christi Allen is Evergreen's new Event & Volunteer Specialist, working with and supporting the Marketing/Communications and Foundation teams. Christi's job is to oversee the planning and production of all organization events, from logistics to volunteer recruitment to making sure the balloon arch is just right (not as easy as you think).

This is a new role for Christi, but she's been involved with Evergreen through her restaurant (more on that in a bit) for several years, participating in Dining Out For Life and hosting social events for the Pride Center. She has been hard at work on the 2023 slate of events since her first day. "I started at Evergreen a week before Christmas 2022," said Christi. "Then there was the blizzard shut-down, so the onboarding process was a little different for me. Once the world reopened and I had my orientation, things started to fall into place, just in time for the Huddle.

Orientation was a lot of fun and I learned so much about Evergreen, the organization's mission and history and more. I love being part of the Evergreen community and working with such talented, incredible people."

The biggest challenge so far? "Navigating all the messaging platforms!"

Christi took the scenic route to Evergreen. "I was born in Burleson, Texas and went to school in Dallas. My passion has always been in TV, film and event production. I worked both in front of and behind the camera in those fields for decades. I moved to Buffalo 12 years ago. I produced a feature film and coordinated a few commercials, but it never really caught on and I landed in the hospitality/restaurant industry. Five years ago I designed/built out/staffed and currently run my own restaurant, Misuta Chow’s located in downtown Buffalo."

Christi has two sons, Zoe (30) and Jackson (17). "Zoe lives in Los Angeles and is a TV/ film color editor. Jackson is a junior in high school in Buffalo and is a boxer and musician."

Christi notes that running a restaurant is a family effort. "Zoe works as our graphic designer and Jackson works as a porter and busser when he's not in school. I also have three dogs (Gypsy, Sticker and Lulu) and one cat (Bacon). I have an unhealthy relationship with online shopping."

During Buffalo's winter chill months, people probably aren't thinking about warm weather events like Pride or Juneteenth, but planning is in full swing NOW. We can't wait to see what Christi and Co. have in store for us!

CAS celebrated the holiday season in style. Stephani Miranda reports: "We enjoyed catered food from @Eleven, played games and then went off-site to “It All Makes Scents” where we made our own personalized candles." Thank you, Stephani... looks like you had a great time!

Southern Tier Services celebrated National Care Coordination Week with activities and staff superlatives. Marcia Derby, Megan Brady, Veronica Velazquez, Shawn Caldwell, Nicky Frank and Kizzy Tell all won awards. Thank you Marcia Derby for sharing these photos!

If you have any questions about COVID-19, or our vaccination program, please send an email to COVID19questions@evergreenhs.org. Or, visit ADP or evergreenhs.org for more information.

Mark your calendar! The submission deadline for the March 2023 issue of Connections is February 15. Be sure to get your content in before the deadline to guarantee placement. Kids, pets, vacations, recipes -we want to share it all with Team Evergreen! Email EvergreenConnections via Outlook.

Have you met Shadow? Shadow is Evergreen's new therapy dog. Check Blink for information on when and where Shadow will be visiting.

The Southern Tier staff served up holiday cheer at their annual party. Three teams competed in games like Partridge in a Pear Tree, the Snowball Game, Office Tennis and Christmas Egg Drop. Team "Silent Knights" won... bravo! Thank you Marcia Derby for the photos!

You can alert your fellow employees of an on-campus emergency by dialing x2222 on your desktop phone. This paging system should only be used in true emergencies such as code blue (overdose response), medical emergencies for patients or staff, fire alarms, active attackers or any other true emergency. Dial x2222 from your desktop phone at Evergreen, the Pride Center or Community Access Services. The phone line will be silent; you won't hear a dial tone. Don’t worry, the phone is recording!

Say your message loudly and clearly into the phone receiver. Make sure to include the location of the incident. Repeat your message one more time, then hang up the phone. Your recorded message will be heard over the intercom system for all buildings. Your message will not play until after you hang up the phone.

If you have any questions regarding this system or any other safety protocol, please reach out to Robert Moore. You can also check out the Safety & Security section of the Hub on Blink. Stay safe, Evergreen!

Publisher/Layout

John Carocci

Copy Editors

Jean Conway

Kristy Mangel

Contributors

Jean Conway

Megan Fagyas

Marcia Derby

Stephani Miranda

Eric Poniatowski

Crystal Cooke

Connections is the monthly newsletter for employees and board members of Evergreen Health and its affilliates, the Pride Center of Western New York and Community Access Services. You can submit photos, comments or a "hello" via Outlook at Evergreen Connections.

As promised at the Huddle, every Friday will be a Jeans

Day. Our updated Employee Handbook now states that any employees who do not have important, outward facing meetings may wear work-appropriate jeans and sneakers on Fridays. For a refresher on our dress code, please refer to page 16 of the handbook saved on the Blink Hub under Policies and Procedures as well as on ADP.

Team Evergreen definitely has the Buffalo Bills spirit. Evergreen staff wore Bills-themed jerseys, hoodies, t-shirts, hats, socks, lanyards, pins, earrings and face masks during their incredible season this year. Sometimes all at once!

LaTonia Lewis

Jake Ralabate

Matthew Faltisco .............................

Lisandra Rivera

Siddika Choudhury

Amina Shaibi

Destiny Wilburn Wilson

Teresa Lee

Allison Verstraete

Joleen Rodriguez .............................

Megan Brady.

Christi Allen

Lauren Jamieson

Shawn Caldwell ................................

Maurice Williams

Stephanie Vroman-Goodrich

Jovan Mathis.

Kristine Spada. .................................

Liza Pereira

Kimberly Brown

Michael Chapman

Xiana Parker ......................................

Amber Hudson

Rosalind Sulaiman

Tonia Kelly

Sheila Marcheson ............................

Sara Altieri

Melissa Laux

James Shoptaugh

Ian Eastman

Charles Hunt

Victoria De Leon

Christopher Patti ..............................

Joseph Genau

Steven Jagord

David Setlock

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