Employee Spotlight
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"My duties are to be a mom. What a mom would do is what I'm there for, to help them do whatever they can do. I tell the girls that their job is to figure out what they want to do and my job is to figure out how to do it."
Florence has assisted the same two individuals for more than 12 years.
"I love the fact that every day is different and you never know what is going to happen. It is not the humdrum of an office job."
Over the years she has learned about herself through her job.
"They teach me how to let them grow. I don't have the attitude to 'do for them,' but instead I work with them. That is part of the growing, to make your own mistakes and learn from them. Some things take forever to do, but they're doing it their way."
Sometimes that means finding new ways, like when neither of the women Florence works with wanted to use the stove.
"We just changed the recipes so that everything could be done with the microwave or toaster oven!"
Sometimes she helps others learn too.
"I'm there to help them interact if the place is new or strange to them, like a medical or social setting. Often the doctor would talk to me instead of Nancy or Melissa. I'd say, 'I'm not the patient,' and make sure the doctor explained everything so that they could understand."
Florence has worked for other providers, but she's happiest with Mosaic.
"There is honest caring. If something can be done, I can depend that it is going to be done. They're just there for everything, both for me as an employee and for the people that we serve."
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"I love the hands-on times, to be with individuals in service just talking and hanging out. That is what I love. It is the littlest things, like hearing about their days."
Arvis has worked with Mosaic almost nine years, but has nearly 15 years' experience in this field.
"I have a medical background and worked in a doctor's office. I went to medical school, but an injury had me hospitalized for six months straight. I had to learn to walk all over again. That's what led me into this field. People helped me and I needed to turn around and help others."
Her attitude is infectious.
"My son is 21 now and he works in this field too!"
Her job goals are clear.
"The point is to provide service and support to individuals with developmental isabilities to help them meet their goals and dreams and to make sure they live in a healthy and safe environment."
With Mosaic, she sees good things happen for people.
"Mosaic is different because we do make dreams come true. Things have really happened, it is not just talking about it but doing it! I like seeing the outcomes."
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"I love playing with babies, and they're learning through the play activities. I also love helping parents understand where the child is at, where the child can go and what the child can attain."
Vicki gets to spend her days with newborn babies
through 3-year-olds.
"We do cognitive learning activities, work with language and speech development, work with fine motor and gross motor skills and social skills."
But her work isn't just with children.
"We support the parents and enable them to be able to work with their children, so that those children will meet their milestones and work to their Godgiven abilities. We model for them the ways they can help their children."
It isn't just a job for Vicki, who has a master's degree in special education and taught for many years in a Lutheran school.
"I have an adult Bible class at Christ Redeemer Lutheran Church. Some of our adult members are from Mosaic."
And her faith comes into her job as well.
"It is a Christian agency. I enjoy being in a Christian atmosphere. The agency is so supportive of our program."
