As Employee Ownership Month comes to a close, we want to take a moment to thank everyone for the dedication, collaboration, and ownership mindset they bring to our company every day.
While October gave us a special opportunity to celebrate what it means to be employee-owned, our appreciation for your hard work and commitment extends far beyond one month. It’s your commitment to support people with disabilities, your creative ideas, and teamwork that drive our success all year long.
Thank you for making this a great place to work and for taking pride in what we achieve together. Here’s to continuing to build our future—side by side—as employee-owners.
Now, it’s time to ANNOUNCE our WINNERS!
The FALL DECORATING CONTEST was a blast! Most houses participated, along with apartments and individuals in our Community Support Service division. We had a few judges from the office who were excited to get out and see some of the houses for the first time. It was great to visit with the folks we support, the staff and to see incredible effort put into making NHS houses and community apartments homelike. Thank you for again for all you do! It was extremely hard to pick winners, but we had TWO that stood out with their creativity, effort, teamwork and fall themed fun. Lori Wright will be reaching out to the winners to hear what the teams chose as their prize. The two winners will get to chose from one of the following.
- A Pizza Party or Meal Cooked by Leadership Enjoy a delicious meal made and served by leadership — just for your program!
- Train a CEO for a Day The CEO will visit your program and work alongside your staff, learning your routines and participating in your daily schedule.
- Movie Night at NHS Reserve a private evening in the main office with pizza, snacks, and popcorn for a fun, relaxed movie night.
- NHS Gear- A winter hat with our NHS Northstar logo on it.
Lakewood Apartments in our Community Support Service division had people coming together to make handmade creations that took hours to create. They win the Spellbound Award!
Our Evergreen home in Embarrass wins the GRAND CHAMPION GOLDEN GOARD AWARD! Everyone pitched in to create a one of a kind fall scene, stringing real leaves together, using paper mâché and balloons to replicate the three guys of the home!
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The Breakfast and Baskets event was so much fun and we DOUBLED the number of people who stopped by to win prizes, enjoy breakfast, visit and provide some feedback! Thanks to all who participated.
The Winner of the pickleball basket: Michelle McComesky, DSP at Yellowstone
The winner of the s’mores basket: Megan Hanninen, Program Coordinator
The winner of the coffee and espresso maker: Alex Schmitt, DSP at Forrest
The winner of the Vikings entertainment basket: Cathy Poradek, DSP at White Pine
The winner of the Bath and Body Works basket: Jessie Erickson, DSP II in Community
The winner of the heated chair and beanie: Bret Stenstrom, Training Coordinator
*Some prizes may be taxable and included in wages on a W-2 form
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The Scavenger Hunt brought us some incredible pictures of folks in our homes and out in the community. We have award winning photographers among us! It was so hard to decide that EVERYONE who submitted a photo will be receiving an NHS Northstar Beanie.
The staff that participated include:
Tim Tancabel
Megan Hanninen
Bernice Polichnick
Nathan Picket
Danielle Russell
Tina Henderson
Christine Giersdorf
*If you submitted a photo and your name was not included, please email Lori Wright
The overall home winner of the Scavenger Hunt is our Horizons home in Chisholm! Lori Wright will be reaching out to hear what the team has chosen for their prize. They will get to choose between the following:
- A Pizza Party or Meal Cooked by Leadership Enjoy a delicious meal made and served by leadership — just for your program!
- Train a CEO for a Day The CEO will visit your program and work alongside your staff, learning your routines and participating in your daily schedule.
- Movie Night at NHS Reserve a private evening in the main office with pizza, snacks, and popcorn for a fun, relaxed movie night.
- NHS Gear- A winter hat with our NHS Northstar logo on it.
Here are a few of our favorite pictures submitted during the Scavenger Hunt:
