MC News - Mary`s Center

MC News
Dear Friends
Two days ago my daughter sent me a quote
by Cesar Chavez, whose legacy the country
celebrates this week. He said: “We cannot
seek achievement for ourselves and forget
about progress and prosperity for our
community.”
The students and staff of Carlos Rosario International
Public Charter School have definitely taken those words to
heart. They moved me to tears recently when they
presented Mary’s Center with a check for $1,677 to
support our work with the unaccompanied minors from
Central America. I was especially touched by the fact that
the Carlos Rosario family saw the value and impact of our
work and sacrificed their coins and bills to help people in
their own community. Their gift inspired me and affirmed
that what we do every day at Mary’s Center is worth all the
effort.
Thanks to demonstrations of support like this one from
Carlos Rosario (see picture below), we have been able to
continue to advocate for those in need. One of our current
advocacy efforts is focused on working with government
officials in Prince George’s County to provide a safety net
for its residents, and I am hopeful that very soon
participants at our Adelphi location and all community
members who don’t have health insurance will be able to
access a program similar to the DC Healthcare Alliance in
the District.
April 2015
Spring finally seems to be making its way to our area. With the
new season comes new staff. I warmly welcome all the new
hires, especially our new Development Director, Nina Golding,
who has many years of experience in mobilizing resources to
assist underserved communities. Nina has already hit the
ground running and hosted a very successful cultivation event
at Georgia on April 1st with the Development team.
I am also delighted to welcome back Dr. Tollie Elliott who has
been with our partner Providence Hospital for the last 10 years.
He joins Mary’s Center this time as our Chief Medical Officer.
Dr. Elliott has many exciting ideas about how we can be even
more effective in delivering medical services. Dr. Elliott takes
over from Dr. Cornejo, who will continue to work as a
pediatrician on a per diem basis. Dr. Cornejo earned the respect
and admiration of all of us here with his quiet and gentle
leadership style. I know I speak for many of you when I say
that his commitment was inspiring. Thank you, Dr. Cornejo.
In closing, I thank all of you for your daily extraordinarily hard
work. I know it is very challenging at times, but please do know
that you work does not go unnoticed and that you are making a
difference in the lives of one another and the community atlarge.
Happy Spring, Happy Easter, Happy Passover. Whatever you
celebrate, I hope you enjoy it with your family and friends.
Warmly,
Maria Gomez,
President and CEO
Check Presentation from Carlos Rosario
During the check presentation from Carlos Rosario,
mentioned by Maria in her letter, their Student
Government representative Josué Lemus (yellow Tshirt) said “We collected quarters, dollars, everything.
We worked together to see if we could help a little
bit. It’s a small amount, but it’s from our hearts.”
Edgar, the father of 3 children who came to the US
as unaccompanied minors, attended the check
presentation.
He thanked Mary’s Center for helping his family. He
said he was touched by the kind act by the Carlos
Rosario students and reminded everyone that many
more unaccompanied children need assistance.
April 2015
2
Warm Welcome for 3 Key Team Members
Mary’s Center continues to grow stronger, with 3 key positions filled recently. Under the leadership of Dr. Tollie Elliott, our new Chief
Medical Officer, Mary’s Center will maintain its high quality healthcare services. Our new Director of Development, Nina Golding, will
oversee the major gift and planned giving campaigns, as well as provide support for all our other fundraising initiatives. We are also very
proud that a former Teen Program participant and volunteer, Juan Miranda, will serve as the new Director of Operations at Georgia
Avenue. Welcome!
Summer Youth Program is Around the Corner
This photo of Teen Program staff members
Walter Castillo, Rebecca Cruz and Marco
Lopez, is the perfect example of the talent
that our teens can contribute through the
Youth Employment Program.
Robel Atklit, participant in the summer
program last year and the person who took
this image, is passionate about photography.
During his time in the Advocacy and
Communications Department, Robel took
more than 200 photos that we’ve been using
in our marketing materials.
Now Robel is planning to pursue a career
that involves photography and marketing.
So far, we have 110 teens ready to start in June. We invite you to consider having one of more of them working with you. Help us
make a difference in the lives of our teens, our future leaders!
The Winners!
Congratulations to the winners of the Take a Bite Into a
Healthy Lifestyle competition. Perhaps not surprisingly, the
photo of our President and CEO, Maria Gomez biting on
an apple got the most Likes, but she has forfeited her prize.
So the winners of the photo competition are:
1st place: the Teen Program with 43 Likes.
Tied in 2nd place: Home Visiting and the Flower
Avenue staff with 41 Likes.
The winners received healthy fruit baskets.
Congrats to our dietitians for such a successful campaign!
And well done to Michelle Brown, Aracely Chavez, Laura Dri, Maiyu
Fernandez, Emily Gordon, Mindy Greenside, Noelani Mussman,
Siomara Segovia, and Joan Yengo, who won prizes for answering
questions about healthy eating. They won food-related items like lunch
boxes and travelling cutlery.
April 2015
3
Always a reason to celebrate!
At Mary’s Center we certainly know how to do surprises. In March we had 4 surprise parties: a birthday lunch for our President
and CEO Maria Gomez and for COO David Tatro, a well-deserved thank-you event for outgoing Chief Medical Officer Dr.
Christian Cornejo, and a baby shower for Sofia Morales (Development Manager and former Special Assistant to the CEO).
The senior management team surprised Maria on her
birthday on March 28th with a lunch at Lauriol Plaza.
A group of staff members surprised David on his birthday on March
30th in the Kalorama Conference Room.
The medical and administrative team surprised Dr. Christian Cornejo, outgoing Chief Medical Officer, with a party to thank him for his years of ser-
The development and communications team surprised Sofia Morales with a baby shower. Sofia gave
birth to a baby boy, Sebastian, on April 3rd.
Kudos to our Mental Health Therapist Lynne McIntyre for her participation in Linea Directa on Telemundo. Lynne was invited to share her
experiences in working with women with post-partum depression
(PPD).
During the show, Lynne shared her own PPD experience which led her
to make the decision to leave her career as reporter and become a
Mental Health Therapist and support moms going through this
situation. You are a real inspiration, Lynne!
Upcoming Events

May 12th: Taste of Adams Morgan: Sample the culinary delights in our neighborhood. Buy your tickets online at
www.maryscenter.org
 May 19th: The 4th Annual Mary’s Center Golf Classic at Lake Presidential Golf Club in Upper Marlboro, MD
 October 16th: Noche Tropical Gala
DISCOUNTED TICKETS FOR STAFF are still available and you can purchase via payroll. Contact Emily Dreckshage or Lizzett
Uria in Development.
April 2015
Happy Birthday - April
April 2
Berta Perez (Briya IT Specialist/Teacher)
April 2
Lynne Mclntyre (Mental Health Therapist)
April 2
Brigitte Zivkovic (Dentist)
April 3
Susan Fleishman (Director Mental Health)
April 3
Sandra Forrester (Unaccompanied Child Advocate)
April 4
Robert Guevara (IT Specialist)
April 4
Jennifer Interiano (MCO Panel Assistant)
April 6
Alex Santos (Front Desk Receptionist)
April 7
Gladis Canizales (Briya Early Childhood Assessment Coord.)
April 7
Toya Buchanan (Family Support Worker)
April 7
Diana Miranda (Community Health Worker-CCIN)
April 9
Katherine Olden (Briya Pre-K Teacher)
April 10
Timothy Pracher-Dix (Family Support Worker)
April 10 Samara Roth (Mental Health Family Support Worker)
April 11
Maritza Vasquez (Phone Operator)
April 12 Maira Elias (Medical Assistant III)
April 12 Lisa Luceno (Briya Director Early Childhood)
April 12 Mesfin Dessalegn (Budget Analyst)
April 12 Eva Arias (Medical Assistant)
Welcome
A warm welcome to our new family members:
Left to right:
Jennifer Estrada (Referral Specialist II)
Flor Alfaro (Domestic Violence Advocate)
Jessica Quintanilla (Mental Health Program Assistant)
Sara Prince (Clinical Nurse Coordinator)
Christina Kachulis (Clinical Nurse Coordinator)
Michelle Booker (Family Support Worker)
Sawsan Rached (Early Childhood Assistant)
Nina Golding (Director of Development)
Juan Miranda (Director of Operations)
April 13 Ezekiel Reich (Mental Health Therapist)
April 15 Cristin Reeder (Briya Adult Ed. Instructor)
April 16 Jessie Lupo (WIC Nutritionist)
April 17 Maria Andreina Vethencourt (Family Support Worker)
April 17 Jennifer Cisneros (Medical Assistant II)
April 17 Paul Doherty (Pediatrician)
April 18 George Lander (Prevention at Home Care Partner)
April 19 Kenia Robles (Dental Assistant)
Please join us in congratulating the following staff
members on their anniversary of working at Mary’s
Center during the month of
April. Thank you for all
2 years of service
your years of service.
April 19 Hazel Meda (Communications Associate)
April 20 Jennifer Dalzell (Workforce Development Coord.)
April 21 Corinne Sampson (Community Health Worker)
April 21 Shanelle Gayden (Community Health Worker)
April 21 Marangely Nazario Berrios (Credentialing Specialist)
April 22 Joyce Day (Nurse)
April 22 Jose Sandoval (Maintenance Worker)
April 23 Vivian Cativo (Nurse Manager-Ontario)
April 23 Mable Dunn (Physician Assistant)
April 24 Alis Marachelian (Director, Health Promotion)
April 24 Daysi Guardado (Briya Early Childhood Teacher)
April 25 Rebecca Robert (Nurse Practitioner)
April 25 Emily Gordon (Briya Pre-School Teacher)
April 26 Pedro Flores (Patient Serv. Manager)
April 27
Siomara Segovia (Interim Nurse Manager)
April 29 Bethel Hailu (Dedicated Service Coordinator)
4
8 years of service
Violeta Chirino
Maribel Juarez-Escamilla
7 years of service
Ramesh Herath
Enrique Renteria
5 years of service
Richard Gesker
4 years of service
Carlos Munoz
3 years of service
Jose Almanzar
Elizabeth Bonilla
Glenda Corado
Alejandra Lopez
Kara Lowinger
Yesenia Palacios
Yolis Cedeno
John Gonzalez
Gloria Masache
Roxanna Molina
James Ortega
Cindy Reyes
Siomara Segovia
Benjamin Siegelman
1 year of service
Lisette Amparo-Javier
LaSharon Bartley
Penny Butleer
Shanelle Gayden
Gloria Jurado
Jessica Coates
Ivette Diaz
Brenda Perdomo
Ruth Perez
Estela Gonzalez