Serena McCuen Receives Frontline Supervisor Award

The Iowa Association of Community Providers (IACP) announced the Frontline Supervisor Award at the annual conference in April. Over 100 nominations were received from agencies across the state.  IACP recognizes that Frontline supervisors (FLS) play a critical role in bringing together all of the pieces of service delivery and have a tremendous impact on the lives of Iowans with disabilities.  Mainstream Living’s Serena McCuen was honored as one of the five recipients of this award!  Listed below is an excerpt of her nomination. Angela Beane was also nominated. Please help us in congratulating Serena for her recognition! 

SERENA's NOMINATION: 
Serena McCuen is best described as a champion for advocacy.  Serena has been employed with Mainstream Living just over a year, hired as a Team Leader overseeing a caseload of 13 members living with daily and hourly supports.  In Serena’s short time at Mainstream Living, she has become a crusader and advocate for members.  For example, Serena works with a gentleman who has been with the organization for four years.  This gentleman wants nothing more than to be employed or, at the very least, have something to do during the day.  While he uses a wheelchair for mobility, his biggest challenge is that he is a brittle diabetic who needs blood sugars checked multiple times per day and may need insulin injections at those times as well.  Because of his spastic movements, he is unable to do the injections himself.  Prior to Serena joining Mainstream, we felt we felt certain that there were no programs available to meet his needs.  Serena did not accept this and thanks to her help and creativity, she found a day program that was willing to give it a shot.  The man has been attending part-time since September and is loving it.  Serena was also able to convince the parents/guardians to approve of him attending Camp Sunnyside last year.  She checked on him most days to be able to report to his family that he was doing well - so well in fact that he will be attending again this summer.  Without her advocacy his family would not have allowed this opportunity for fear of his health.  Serena has gained their trust which has resulted in huge successes for this member.

Serena works with another man who has been declining in physical health and mental health.  The psychiatrist would say the symptoms were neurological and the neurologist would say he could not treat as they were psychological.  Serena would not accept this.  She pushed long and hard and was able to advocate for a neuro-psych appointment in Iowa City.  

These are just a couple of the challenges that Serena has taken on in her short time with Mainstream Living.  She is active with her staff and the individuals under her responsibility. She attends the medical appointments with the members and their families and has build  a level of commitment and trust that families now seek her out for advice and assistance.   Serena is a leader for the Direct Support Professionals, modeling the way each day.  She is a primary trainer for the sites she oversees and makes an effort to work along-side of her employees until they are comfortable in their duties.  Serena trains staff until they reach a level of confidence that is necessary.  Serena is a role model for other Front-Line Supervisors in how she works with, trains and develops relationships with the members, their families and her employees.  We are proud to have her as part of our team.