Hey look everyone, it’s “Thri y” the Connec ons Bird who just loves to save you money! Thri y has been fl ying around town looking for businesses that off er discounts to Evergreen employees (that’s you) and here is his report. Club Shoppers: did you know that both Sam’s Club and BJ’s Wholesale Club off er discounts to Evergreen employees? You can get a Sam’s Club membership with 2 cards for $40, and a BJ’s membership for $20. Drivers: Dunn Tire off ers a 5% discount on res and a 10% discount on alignment. People with Hair: Studio 806 off ers Evergreen staff a 20% Discount on Hair/Spa Services. There are a few discounts available on cell phone plans. Verizon users get a 22% discount by

visi ng www.verizonwireless.com/getdiscount and using the account name: Evergreen Health Services. Sprint users can get a 19% discount by comple ng the form at sprint.com/verify. Use account Name: AIDS Community Services. AT&T users get a 20% discount by visi ng any retail center or call customer care at 1-800-331-0500 to have the discount code 2485440 added to your account. T-Mobile users get a 15% discount. To ac vate a new line call 1-866-464-8662, op on 3. Men on promo onal code 6640TMOFAV. Or visit www.t-mobile.com/nyemployees. Exis ng customers can receive the 15% discount on monthly reoccurring charges for qualifying rate plans by calling 1-877-453-8824 and men oning you are a NYS employee or promo code 6640TMOFAV.

CONTACT HR FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THESE GREAT MONEY SAVING DEALS!

Milestones Birthdays Dr. Evans – 9/5 Andre Stokes – 9/9 Michael Lee – 9/10 Bridget McClain – 9/10 Corinne Henderson – 9/11 Kim Lombard – 9/15 Thomas Place – 9/15 Dr. Gbadamosi – 9/16 Julie Vaughan – 9/17 Dana McKnight – 9/18 Shannon Bryant – 9/20 Jason Rein – 9/20 Jennifer DeMarsh – 9/22 Sheila Stephens – 9/25 Jorien Brock – 9/26 Alain Rodriguez – 9/29 Shaquan Beard – 9/30 Ricardo Nazario – 9/30

Anniversaries Krista Fenske – 1yr Aaron Pry – 1 yr Ashley Roberts – 1 yr Tracy Eichelberger – 2 yrs Seth Girod – 2 yrs Jennifer DeMarsh – 3 yrs Lindsay Zasada – 3 yrs Shari DeMarco – 5 yrs Dr. Gbada mosi – 8 yrs Keisha Leavy – 8 yrs Susan Fiedler – 9 yrs Gary Williams – 15 yrs Kim Lombard – 21 yrs

Your Con nued Dedica on and HardWork Are No ced and Appreciated! - Management Team

Benedict House was founded in 1987 by the Rev. Vincent Crosby, a Benedictine priest and Buffalo native who had been working in AIDS ministry for three years. Father Vincent saw that in those dark

days, people living with AIDS incurred staggering medical costs and often could not continue to work. They could quickly end up with no resources and nowhere to live. Realizing that one of the most critical needs for the future would be housing, both transitional and long term, Father Vincent purchased a small cottage on the west side of the city with private funds, and then a second one which served as the headquarters for Benedict House until 1995, when the current facility, at 2211 Main Street, a former Merchant Marine Hospital, was purchased from Sisters Hospital and completely rehabbed into the beautiful space we now inhabit. With room for 34 residents, all of whom have their own rooms, Benedict House provides comfort and security for up to 34 men and women living with HIV/AIDS who would otherwise be homeless. All meals and personal needs are provided for with funding from state and federal agencies as well as the generous donations of groups and individuals who have recognized the value of our mission and the importance of providing a home for so many vulnerable and often marginalized individuals. Since 1995, the face of the virus has changed dramatically. In its early years, the House provided hospice-like services for people who came here to die. Since the development of new drugs and medical protocols, the needs of the people living with the virus have evolved as well. While our mission is still to serve homeless individuals who

have tested positive for HIV/AIDS, we also provide a first rate program of counseling, education and an experience of community which has often been missing from their lives. Our trained staff provides counseling and other supports including substance abuse, art therapy, meditation and other groups. Nursing services are provided along with outside programs designed to assist those living with addiction or mental health issues. While we provide these services for as long as they are needed, our hope for each resident is that they will be able to move back into their communities, armed with the skills they need to support themselves, to establish healthy relationships and to manage their illness appropriately. In June of 2013, the Director of Benedict House started a conversation with the management team at Evergreen Health Services which resulted in the establishment of a formal affiliation between the two agencies. This conversation followed a time in which funding for HIV/AIDS decreased dramatically, challenging us to seek collaborative relationships which would sustain our work financially while also expanding the menu of services we could offer. With missions that are so similar, the connection with Evergreen is a natural and good fit. Our experience providing housing for the ill and homeless and Evergreen’s commitment to work for and with the economic and socially marginalized in our city have already created a synergy which will open up new doors for both of us. This is an exciting time for us at Benedict House. In our third decade, we continue to address the real needs of the people who come to us for assistance and support. Working side by side with Evergreen gives us all the ability to continue the necessary work we do, well into the future. C

Editor's Note: Pathways asked James Sheehan for a guided tour of the history of Benedict House... so far. An expanded version of this story will appear in the upcoming Autumn issue of Pathways Magazine.

History of Benedict House

You’ll know us by our awesome haircuts, by our nerdy glasses, and by our eagerness to help. I’m talking of course about the IT Department. Th e IT Department is here to assist you with day to day information technology issues, media requests and troubleshooting. We can help you fi gure out how to mail merge, how to diagnose internet connection problems, or how to troubleshoot that darn copier (again), and now we have an even easier way for you to get help! We will soon be implementing a ticketing system to inform us of any computer issues you may be having, and to log them for reference of potential issues in the future. Th is

will help us keep track of what is happening amongst all the computers in the agency, as well as make it easier to contact us and for you to keep track of the solution to your problem. We’ll be using a website based messaging system, in which you can log your problem into a form describing your situation, and we will be immediately notifi ed that there is an issue. You will be provided with a website link in the near future, and we’ll give you more information about it when the change takes place within the next couple of months. One of the biggest challenges of this system, when reporting your day-to-day computer issues is the use of concise language. Computers run on a very specifi c order of operations. Oft en times something, or some action may disrupt the order and cause the computer to not work properly or to stop working altogether. Th is leads to situations where a seemingly insignifi cant piece of information becomes the golden key to solving the problem. Was a butt on pressed right before the issue arose? Did you get an error message? If you can let us know what has happened leading up to the issue, we may have a bett er understanding of how to fi x it. Computers run on information. Fixing computers also runs on information. Lett ing us know you are having an issue is a good start, but giving us all the information we need will result in fi nding a quicker solution for you. Th ere is a diff erence between, “My computer stopped working,” and “My computer restarted and is now showing a blue screen with a message on it.” Or “I’m receiving an error message that reads: Error 654 (0x28E)…” Th e fi rst statement does get right to the heart of the problem, but the latt er two statements give us enough information to begin thinking of solutions before we even see your machine. If you are able to give us more information, like what was happening before the issue arose, we can get even farther with our solution before we even get to you! Were you on-line? What programs were running at the time? Did something out of the ordinary happen that lead up to this? Please keep in mind that we are not asking you to diagnose and treat your computer yourself. Th ere is no need to get into the nitt y-gritt y or use full-on Star Wars lingo and say, “Th e fl ux capacitor on my motherboard needs a new turbo!” Just a few details about what is going on will suffi ce.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

The term “movies” did not originally mean fi lms, but was a derogatory term for people who made them, used withdisdain by locals who disliked the “invading” foreigners.

The highest grossing movie to never reach #1 on the weekly box offi ce chart is My Big Fat Greek Wedding, which brought in a total of $241 million.

1945’s To Have and Have Not featured a Nobel Prizewinning author (Ernest Hemingway) adapted for the screen by another Nobel winner (William Faulkner).

The Muppet Movie was cut by New ZealandCensors on grounds of gratuitous violence. Sweden banned E.T. for children under 11 because thefi lm showed parents being hos le to their children.

Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho was the fi rst movie toshow a toilet fl ushing.

The Departed has more uses of “the F word” and itsderiva ves (237) than any other Best Picture winner.

Daniel Radcliff e went through a total of 160 pairs ofprop glasses by the end of the Harry Po er series.

FUN FACTS Special Hollywood Edi on

Having all of those litt le bits of information can help us create a full picture of the issue, and can help you get back to providing quality care for our clients. - Brendan Orrange

Th e blue screen of death! Th e IT Department’s arch-nemesis. And YOUR arch-nemesis too, if you haven’t backed up your fi les correctly. Sometimes computers can become corrupted and malfunction, which in turn can put your fi les or your entire computer out of commission for a period of time. A virus can enter your computer through an email att achment, through soft ware downloads, or by visiting websites with questionable content. If a virus gets a hold of your machine, it can corrupt your important fi les and render them useless. Th is includes working copies of forms, spreadsheets of your complete client lists or even root fi les on your computer that make up the Windows operating system. As some of you already know, this can cause frustration when your fi les are corrupt, are no longer accessible, or when Windows isn’t working properly. It can cause you to lose days or weeks worth of work that is sometimes irreplaceable. Th is is where the importance of backing up your work comes in. Your H: drive is a separate “hard drive” that’s set up on our network just for YOU! Each employee of EHS, CAS and Pride Center has their own separate H: drive that you should be using as a secondary drive to save backups of all your work. If a virus corrupts your computer and Windows no longer runs properly, the IT department might have to erase your entire hard drive and start over from scratch – which includes wiping out the Windows operating system, and all of the fi les that you’ve stored on your hard drive (in most cases your C: drive), and then reinstalling Windows. BUT, if you’ve saved all of your fi les that you store on your hard drive (C: -- which includes your Desktop and Documents folders) to your H: drive as well, then its as simple as copying and pasting fi les from your H: drive back to your newly cleaned and virus free hard drive (C:). If you’d like a hands-on tutorial on how the H: drive works, and how it can benefi t you in case of a corrupted hard drive, feel free to email either Lindsay (lzasada@evergreenhs.org) or Brendan (borrange@evergreenhs.org) and we’ll be happy to come show you what you’ve been missing! - Lindsay Zasada C

connections S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 3

PUBLISHER/LAYOUT John CarocciEDITOR Kimberly Harding

CONTRIBUTORS Sheila Marcheson Brendan Orrange Lindsay Zasada Andy Kiener Patrick Butler Matthew John Pasquarella James Sheehan Nicole Coonly Shari Demarco

Matt hew John Pasquarella and Art Representative James Bower at the opening reception for Matt hew John’s Colorful Liaisons exhibit in Miami. Check out the gallery’s website at artfusiongallery.com, which features links highlighting the show, footage of the opening reception (under upcoming events), and even a virtual tour of the entire exhibition.

Connec ons Poll THIS MONTH’S QUESTION SUBMITTED BY PATRICK BUTLER

“would you rather live one con nuous life of 1,000 years, or 10 separate lives of 100 years, star ng over each me?”

6 say 1,000 CONTINUOUS YEARS 10 say 10 SEPARATE LIVES

For my dream vacation, I would drag my husband hiking/

backpacking with me through the United States (at least at

fi rst) and live off of the land, camping wherever we found

a spot. I want to hike in the most beautiful places in the

country, Survivor Man style. No cars and no technology,

except for maybe a camera to take pictures of our adven-

tures. -Ashlee Rudolph I would go to Greece with my entire

family and boyfriend. - Mindi Mietlicki If I could go on a

dream vacation it would be to Paris! I would take my BFF

Nicole with me. - Michele Ogden I would take my husband,

my 2 sons, my parents, siblings, Cathy Alvarez and fam-

ily, and my in-laws on a weeklong African Safari. - Maisha

Drayton My sister-in-law’s grandparents live in a tiny town

(maybe 150 people) in the mountains of Southern Italy.

It’s ridiculously beautiful. Th ey go out every morning and

look down on the sea, and pick fi gs for breakfast, and think

about how they’ll spend the day. My brother hates going

because he’s cheap and they don’t have any of his favorite

cereals. My dream vacation would be to spend a couple of

weeks in town, sipping Pellegrino under a canopy, watch-

ing people, taking photos, maybe borrowing a Fiat and

exploring Rome. I’ll bring my own cereal. - John Carocci

Connections Asked What Changes HaveHad the Biggest Impact on the Agency?Th ere is a three-way tie for the changes I believe have had the most impact: 1) Opening our primary care center – when it opened in November of 1996 people living with HIV in

Western New York fi nally had another choice for their health care. It was a very exciting time to open our practice because protease inhibitors, the fi rst eff ective treatment for HIV, had just become available. We were treating people who were very sick and watching them “recover” from HIV and AIDS related illnesses. Our role as a primary care provider and not just a human services organization also gives us a voice at the health care reform table.

2) Opening our pharmacy –this has not only improved access to treatment and treatment adherence for our patients; it has also provided a signifi cant revenue stream for our organization.

3) Opening our Wellness Center – it’s hard to remember life before the Wellness Center! Until January of 2010, there were lots and lots of people constantly hanging around our campus waiting for appoint-ments or groups with nothing to do. Th e Wellness Center has changed all of that by providing structured activities, a safe place for people to socialize and a nutritious meal. It is also a key component in our strategy to engage and retain people in our health and supportive programs.

Th at’s my 3 cents!! - Kate Gallivan

Evergreen has always had VISION. It seems like we have, in theory, always been decades in front of other health organizations. However, working on a shoe string uncertain budget seemed to always clip our wings. Th e change with the most impact I’ve seen in the 9 years I’ve been employed here is… wait for it... the pharmacy. Th e Pharmacy@Evergreen has brought more than simply fi nancial stability. It has allowed us FREEDOM. We know what our people need, and now we are free to serve them in the most eff ective and innovative ways imaginable.

- Maisha Drayton

CWE DUNGOOFED!Last month’s issue

of Connec onsshould have included

Maisha Drayton’sanniversary with

the agency.

But it didn’t.

Congratula onsMaisha, and oursincere apologiesfor the mistake!

Consequences will never be the same.