November 2022 Connections

JASON

Surmaceviz is Evergreen's Human Resource Generalist. He oversees employee benefits, 403(b) retirement plans and Consolidated Omnibus Reconciliation Act (COBRA) insurance, as well as compliance with mandates such as flu shots or health assessments. Jason also assists with a variety of other projects and responsibilities in the Human Resources office. Open enrollment is a big part of Jason's job, and as open enrollment season approaches you'll begin to see and hear much more of him.

What exactly is open enrollment? "Open Enrollment is a two-week period where employees can make changes to their benefits that they're unable to make during the rest of the year," explained Jason. "This is also the time when changes in insurance plans (medical, dental, vision, etc.) are provided to employees for review."

Insurance is an important part of the benefits package at Evergreen, and coordinating open enrollment for more than 500 employees (and counting) is a big, complicated project. Even so, Jason enjoys getting to meet and work with the entire staff, especially new employees. "Benefits are a big part of employment that many people don't fully understand," he said. "I'm here to help with that! I want our employees to have the best experience with enrolling in our plans. I want to get them enrolled in the best option for them not everyone needs to pay for the Cadillac of insurances if they don't have to."

Big, complicated projects come with challenges. "I think my challenge is that since not many people understand their benefits completely, the emails and information I send out or present to staff are very important." Jason notes that he works hard to make the

information as digestible as possible. "I know its not always easy or enjoyable to read."

Helping take care of Evergreen staff is important to Jason. "Evergreen's environment is amazing. I've worked for previous employers where I always felt like the bad guy walking into the room. Evergreen has welcomed me with open arms and everyone is so friendly. We all understand each other’s struggles and appreciate them everyone just wants the best for everyone else. I've only been here for 6 months and it has felt like I've been with Evergreen for a lifetime. This agency has provided the staff with so many amazing resources to let them know that work isn’t the only thing in life. On so many levels staff are appreciated and well respected for what they do day in and day out."

Jason grew up in Ohio. "In a small town, right outside of Columbus," he said. "We only had one stop light and about as many residents as there are staff at Evergreen." Jason attended school there and earned a degree in psychology from a small liberal arts college. "After graduation I worked for a the HR department of a Fortune 500 company, then at an agency in the OPWDD system. Then I came to Evergreen."

Outside of work, Jason enjoys spending time with his wife "We just got married in September" - along with Dachshunds Frannie and Ruby. "We enjoy traveling and attending theatre performances. Outside of that I don’t have any regular shows that I watch but if you put on a good murder mystery documentary I am all in!"

Thank you for everything you do to take care of Team Evergreen, Jason. If we hear of any good murder mysteries we'll let you know!

TIFFANY

Valentin is the Diversity and Inclusion Project Manager in Evergreen’s Administration Department, and just about the biggest-hearted person you’ll ever meet. Tiffany sums up her work at Evergreen with: “I'm responsible for managing and implementing diversity, equity and inclusion strategies and initiatives. I partner with employee resource groups to assist in their development and ensure they run effectively.”

Evergreen has several Employee Resource Groups (ERG’s) where employees from diverse communities come together to talk about diversity and inclusion issues they’re facing. Some of our ERG’s are Communities of Color for employees of color, Lean In for women employees, SPROUT for employees who are caregivers to children and Proud for LGBTQ+ employees.

Tiffany explains what she’s trying to build with ERG’s: “my goal is to create brave spaces for employees to learn and dialogue about issues in the workplace, providing opportunities for networking, professional development and community engagement, especially in diverse, marginalized and underserved populations.”

In addition to being a co-chair of the Communities of Color ERG and a member of each active ERG, Tiffany works with the Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Team to make sure that Evergreen’s policies and workplace culture reflect the diverse communities we serve and give all our employees equitable opportunities to be happy and successful at work.

Tiffany says the goal of the DEI team is “to create an environment where our employees can show up as their true, authentic selves, diversity is celebrated and people can live to their

full potential without us being the barriers.”

Employees that are happy and empowered at work are able to do better work. “Happy employees mean happy patients. The work done internally will trickle out to the populations we serve.”

The work Tiffany does internally certainly trickles out to the populations she serves, but it’s more of a river than a trickle. “I was put on the Earth to serve people in many capacities. And one of my greatest passions is advocating and being a voice for populations that have been denied access to positions of influence and power.”

Outside of her work at Evergreen, Tiffany serves as Vice Chair of the Hispanic Women’s League of WNY, which just honored her with the President’s Award this month for her outstanding service throughout the year. She also serves as a mentor and advisory board member for the KLGPhi Youth Organization, as a mentor for the NYS Latina Mentorship Initiative and on the worship team for the Thy Kingdom Era Collective.

To add one more accomplishment to the list, this year Tiffany was appointed as an Oshei Leaders of Color Cohort for 2022. “Being selected lets me know that although I may not have an executive title, that my work and efforts are not in vain. That no matter what space I'm in, I do have some sort of influence and it's what I decide to do with that influence that matters.”

Not just anyone could be so accomplished without getting a big head, but Tiffany’s not just anyone. “This is a way for me to give back to my community, provide resources and tools, and also to stay humble. Never forget where I came from, where I am, and also where I'm going. And to take people along.”

Profile by Jean Conway, Copywriter

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 December 2022 issue of Connections is November 16. 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.

,

HII'm Jacob Marsh. I am one of the graphic designers here at Evergreen. I've been working here for almost seven years.

What was it like participating in the photo shoot for the UNCONDITIONAL campaign?

It was great. Given that I also have been coordinating the campaign, it was kind of a unique experience for me. For this photoshoot in particular we had to adjust our original plan, find a new location, test shoot to make sure the lighting matched the video, and then finally get the models in. It was cool to see all of the staff come in and see how excited everyone was to be involved.

This is the first time that Evergreen's really done a brand awareness campaign. It’s the first time that Evergreen has been out there like this. So that's incredibly exciting. We've kind of adopted UNCONDITIONAL now as our new tagline. It's not just a campaign slogan. This is who we are. So it's an exciting time to be involved in Evergreen.

What does unconditional care mean to you?

I think that unconditional care just means meeting everyone where they're at. Doing everything we can to make sure that someone is comfortable, feels accepted and to keep them healthy.

How does UNCONDITIONAL show up in your work in Evergreen?

I mean, I make things look pretty. (laughs) So for me, unconditional care is a little bit different. But in my work, I'm trying to catch people's attention, help them connect with people that look like them. And I think that is, you know, unconditionally inclusive. I wanna make sure that every single person out there, no matter how they dress, feel, act, can connect with at least one of our ads. With our marketing, they see Evergreen and they see themselves here.

Zachary Marchese November

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Annual Trainings

The second round of annual trainings are now available on Evergreen University.

Health Equity Index Trainings

For the past few years, Evergreen has received the designation as Health Equality Leader for our work providing LGBT culturally competent healthcare in the areas of medical, supportive and behavioral health services. In order to continue to receive this designation, we are required to meet training requirements. That's where we need your help! We are required to complete 25 hours of training as an organization. If you have time over the next few weeks, please complete one of the training webinars. To get started follow these steps:

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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.

Megan Fagyas