Happy First Work Anniversary: Carolyn Mills
Quality in human services has a direct correlation to quality humans delivering those services! Experienced and committed staff who stay in their jobs over the long term are critical to a strong workplace culture. They serve as mentors to new staff, and establish a consistent trusted presence with individuals supported by LiveWorkPlay and their families. We are sharing a bit more about our staff team on the occasion of annual workplace anniversaries. Join us in celebrating a first anniversary for Carolyn Mills! To help get to know her a little better, here are some questions and answers about Carolyn.
What is your favorite memory of your first year at LiveWorkPlay?
Over the last year there have been many wonderful moments and memories shared with members and the LiveWorkPlay team. Many of my memories have been from moments with colleagues displaying their love and passion for what they do, which inspires me. I have many fond memories of the moment when you are getting to know someone you are supporting to the point where you are confident that you have built a meaningful reciprocal relationship. A specific memory for me would be attending the Family Feast events! Being part of something with so much community, inclusion, and laughter while sharing good news and accomplishments of members have been great experiences. I enjoy meeting members whom I don’t work with and everyone’s families. The Festive Family Feast was a lot of fun because of all the music and I took part in a holiday sing-a-long!
What brought you to LiveWorkPlay?
I’ve known for many years I’ve wanted to be involved in helping people who are facing barriers to community inclusion and quality of life. Having previously worked with seniors, I learned a lot but I knew I wasn’t quite where I wanted to be. As part of my final year of completing my Bachelor of Human Kinetics at the University of Ottawa, I completed an internship that provided me an opportunity to work with people with intellectual disabilities, and this helped put me on the right track. I was looking into different organizations that support this population and I could see that the LiveWorkPlay approach to community-based outcomes and person-centred thinking represented values was very consistent with my own. When I saw the opportunity to join the Community Connector team, I jumped on it, and was very excited that my application was a success!
What are you looking forward to in the future with your work at LiveWorkPlay?
There is so much about LiveWorkPlay I admire: not only the approach to support for members but also the attention to staff success and personal development. We are given many opportunities to learn and grow, not only to better ourselves as individuals but also allowing us to provide the best support we can to others. I am looking forward to upcoming learning opportunities, as well as knowledge I will gather every day just by doing my job in seeking out opportunities in our community for for the people I am supporting. Additionally, having recently attended the Core Gift training with Bruce Anderson I look forward to implementing my strengths and gifts in the work I do to support my members best. This will be something I continue to explore over the next year and beyond!
What do others have to say about Carolyn?
Carolyn is thoughtful and a good listener which is so important for connecting with the people she supports and as a member of the Community Connector team.
She is a fabulous singer!
Carolyn and her family went through some difficult challenges and I admire her strength and resiliency.