Great Expectations for 2019

By: Rosy Rubio

I cannot believe January 2019, is over, February flew by, and March has already begun! How does that happen? My intent was to jumpstart on day one… but better late than never.

Tobosa has been doing exceptional and exciting things. This blog post will outline the great accomplishments and challenges faced in 2018 and will provide you a picture of 2019 and our expectations for it.

2018 Recap

2018, was a big year for Tobosa. It was the 40th anniversary of the creation of the organization and we began planning a celebration with much joy and gusto early in the year. This celebration consumed a lot of staff time, effort, and inspiration in 2018, but we hosted events throughout the year.

Tobosa planned and held its annual events including welcoming the Journey of Hope crew, “Go for the Gold” Golf tournament, Thanksgiving Dinner, and started a new event through children services named “Stepping Out for Children”. All of these events were very successful and brought great exposure to the great services provided by Tobosa.

Strategic Planning Retreat

In addition to these public events, Tobosa held its annual Strategic Planning Retreat in July. We were not able to hold the retreat at the location used in the past years. We settled on the Hurd Gallery and Haciendas in San Patricio. It was a fabulous location during the summer months and helped inspire some great ideas. The group in attendance was quite ambitious and we set goals that reflect that ambition.

Our group brought together management, board members, and staff advisory committee members to create and set ten goals,  These goals will impact services throughout the organization for both adult and children’s services. Together, we tailored goals to attract and retain a workforce by identifying and creating an employee brand, to improve the financial position of the organization, and to provide more and higher quality programming. We started working on those goals immediately and will continue through 2021.

Black Tie Gala

As mentioned earlier, Tobosa celebrated 40 years of providing services to individuals in Chaves County. The event was celebrated with a Black Tie Gala featuring guest speakers Joe H. Madrid, former Tobosa CEO, Angelica Rubio, State Representative, and Timothy Z. Jennings, former NM State Senator. Rick Trevino, the Grammy-winning recording artist, performed as part of the entertainment. His show was amazing and ended the great, fun-filled evening on a high note. Thanks to all who joined us for this amazing celebration!

In Memoriam

Although we had a very successful year, the Tobosa family also faced some hardships, including the loss of some of its members. Loss is always hard to face even when you know that it is inevitable. We want to honor those we have lost and we want our family and theirs to know they will never be forgotten and have left a memorable impact:  Brenda Bachman, Tony Strange, Daniel Madrid, Jackie Males, and Danny Zangara. Thank you so much, we will always miss you.

Into 2019

The Tobosa Book

Looking forward into 2019, we plan to publish our Tobosa Book. The idea was born during a gathering of Tobosa employees several years ago. We were sharing memories, laughter, and some of the stories that remind us why we’re here doing this work. Our team feels that moments like those needed to be captured for posterity, so we are finally going to make this dream a reality.

Expanding Program Development

Tobosa is also focused on expanding program development through emphasizing teaching and learning opportunities for both staff and the individuals we support. We are gearing up to push this change in culture within Tobosa. Although we have engaged in promoting this concept for many years, it has, at times, gotten lost in the shuffle of burdensome requirements, unfunded mandates, etc. We strongly believe that the individuals we support have become increasingly lost in the shuffle and we need to get back to making them and helping them be the focus.

We will continue to do so with CARE:

Compassion

Acceptance

Respect

Engagement

Because:

Together

wE

cAn

Create

cHange

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Diss-ability

By: Jacob Dicello

Have you ever briefly met someone and had a perception of who they were based on very little interaction? Then months, or even years, later you got to know them better and you realized that your notion of who you perceived them to be was the exact opposite of who they really are. That has undoubtedly happened to all of us. However, I am embarrassed to say that it happened to me in regards to a whole population of people.

I used to work with a healthcare agency that did monthly health and wellness presentations for the individuals of Tobosa Developmental Services at their Day-hab program. For about an hour a month, I interacted with the Day-hab group and, without merit, I developed a perception of Tobosa and, more importantly, the individuals we support. (I say “we support” because I was fortunate enough to gain employment with Tobosa a few months ago.) My perception, before I started, was that Tobosa was a glorified babysitting agency. I feel terrible for even saying that. Babysitting.

I don’t feel terrible for my perception of Tobosa’s services, because this accomplished and talented group certainly didn’t and doesn’t need my validation. I feel terrible because the perception I had of the individuals we support was so wrong. Tobosa does NOT babysit anyone. We support individuals with Developmental disabilities. SUPPORT is the keyword.

What bothers me now is how many people there are who may have the same perception I had. The individuals that we support are people first, who happen to have a disability. I have disabilities, but I do not expect people to see me as my disability. If I could, I would climb to the top of a mountain and scream out a clarification about who these individuals truly. I would do that to try to change all of the unfounded perceptions that people may have. I do not climb mountains and do not have a voice that can carry that far. But I do have this blog post: Let’s change that misperception!

I want to end today’s post with the first thing that Jessica Dunn, (Director of Program Support Services at Tobosa), told me on the first day of training. “Our goal is to teach the individuals the life skills they need so that they no longer need our services. We will consider our job a success when we no longer have one.”

Spirit of the Monkey Room

By: Michelle Pruitt

When I took over as Director at Little Steps, I didn’t know that I would find a whole new appreciation for the special people who work directly with children.

Cuteness and Chaos

If you’ve ever wondered what cuteness and chaos all rolled up together looks like, it’s the one-year-old room. Our one-year-old classroom is full of spunk, unique facial expressions, and even sometimes crying. It’s hard being one and wanting a specific baby doll when your friend is already playing with it (never mind the many other baby dolls in the room).

The Monkey Room

Our one-year-old classroom is called the “Monkey Room”. I learned quickly that it is not only a cute name for the room, but it is also the spirit animal these children embrace on a daily basis. During an experience helping out in this classroom one morning, I realized just how much these little ones resemble monkeys. They’ll climb on the table (or anything else), laugh, cry, and just act wild at times. There is definitely never a dull moment in this classroom unless they are sleeping, but even then you never know. Our teachers have done a great job getting these kids on sleeping schedules. Even though they’re only about a year old, if they are told to lay back down, they generally listen.

One of the most entertaining times during the day in the one-year-old room is mealtime. Have you ever seen a one-year-old eat yogurt or spaghetti? I guarantee once you have, the image will never leave you for the rest of your life. The enthusiasm for such delicious food causes complete and total destruction of the floor, plus it becomes an accessory to wear on both their faces and hair. I didn’t know spaghetti sauce could actually stain skin until these last few months.

Although not all of these little ones are talking just yet, some definitely are. Whenever food arrives in the room you can hear many of them yell out “papa” and excitement spreads over their tiny little faces. One little girl just this morning, during breakfast, looked at a helper in the class and said: “Hey you, more toast”. Their little personalities really shine through every day.

I love walking into the Monkey Room and being greeted by kids waving, saying “hi”, and even some great hugs. There’s always something new and fun as these kids age up to another classroom and new kiddos move up into this room.

What is your child’s spirit animal?
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