After 3 years without being able to hold an in-person gathering, Looking Glass staff members came together for the “All Staff Lunch” at Venue 252 in Eugene on June 7th and handed out awards to several staff members and three Oregon Department of Health & Human Services workers. The Distinguished Services Awards were handed out to twelve staff and three community members after internal nominations were solicited.
The award winners were not announced until the event, which made for some emotional moments and provided the gathering of just under 200 staff a chance to celebrate the challenging but rewarding work done by so many.
The three community members given awards this year all work at Oregon DHS: Katie Wyland, Sara Fox and Todd Cooley.
Craig Opperman (left) receives his surprise Distinguished Service Award at the 2023 All Staff event. Looking Glass Director of Marketing & Development, Tyler Mack, had the honor of handing him the award.
Looking Glass staff members also took this opportunity to provide a Distinguished Service Award to the agency CEO & President, Craig Opperman, who was quite surprised and moved by the honor.
All staff award winners also received a $100 Fred Meyer gift card in addition to their plaque.
Each staff award winner is listed below, along with the comments provided about them by fellow staff members in the nomination process:
Sydney Tostenson – Program Manager (Regional Crisis Center)
Sydney Tostenson started her Looking Glass journey as an RCC floor staff, and quickly rose through the ranks to become the RCC Program Manager. This can be attributed to Sydney’s determination, dedication, and encyclopedic knowledge of policy and procedure. In the over four years that Sydney has been with Looking Glass, she has demonstrated what it means to be youth-focused and has been a model of walking the talk of Looking Glass values. Sydney is a champion of compliance and has been a support to other programs around this as well. Sydney is able to strike the delicate balance of being a direct and supportive supervisor while holding staff accountable and providing the coaching needed for staff to grow. Despite working through some of RCC’s hardest or most acute days, Sydney is always looking forward and maintaining her positive attitude and self-control. Sydney is reliable and consistently goes above and beyond to support our youth, program, staff, and the agency at large. There isn’t much that Sydney can’t do. Sydney distinguishes herself daily as a staff member and a leader. I’m proud of the work she does for program and am honored to work with her.
Batina Pitts – Case Manager (AYS)
Batina has done so much for our youth and program over the last couple of years, from working the floor, case management, supervising the staff, always stepping into whatever role she is needed for, giving so much of her personal time to program, always prioritizing the youth and making sure they feel safe and supported. She goes above and beyond in everything she does and has been an essential part of our team throughout all of the challenges we have faced in the last couple of years. She deserves to be recognized for everything she has done for all of the youth and staff in our program.
Kerry Nistico – Case Manager (AYS)
Its been a while since we have had such a solid of a case manager as Kerry, from where I sit anyway. There is the obvious things, like professionalism and team player-ness. But also she meets with clients regularly, understands her role in their connection to their life outside of program, and does what she can to facilitate that and get their needs met at program. Historically when I ask a client what they are working on they say “AOD or Mental health” and then “I don’t know.” …..I know good stuff is happening when I ask “other than AOD and mental health, what are you working on,” and they say “im working on time and place, black or white thinking, catastrophizing and time management”.
Mike Johnson – Instructional Assistant (AYS)
Mike is the most consistent person at Pathways. The kids always know what to expect from him, and even if they verbalize frustration towards his expectations, they understand the "why," and follow suit. Mike is a safe person to the kids and has their best interests in mind.
Vince Cornelius – Street Outreach Worker (Rural Program)
Vince embodies our values of being kind, caring, and compassionate. He has grown so much as a social worker during his time at Looking Glass and continues to show up to work every day with a positive attitude and dedication to serving his community. Vince puts a ton of hard work into keeping the Rural Program a clean and inviting place for youth to hang out. His personality and charisma are top-tier and he is amazing at finding common ground and connecting with everyone he meets. Vince provides person-centered, trauma informed care to program participants in every aspect of his job from playing games to providing case management to crisis intervention. His amazing work ethic, dedication, and willingness to “be a life long student” as he calls it is truly evident in the work he does down in Cottage Grove. The Rural Program benefits so much for having him as part of the team. Thank you, Vince!
Ken Downing – Social Skills Development Teacher (Center Point School)
Daily, his mindful patience and attitude with both clients and fellow staff impacts and enriches the lives and the experiences of both. He is careful, wise, thoughtful, deeply appreciative, playful in spirit, and gives gladly of himself in the service of others; he is truly a treasure to those who know him.
Claire Nolan – Mental Health Therapist (Counseling Program)
Claire has always been a force to be reckoned with when it comes to the care of our youth in program and fights for them in a professional and assertive manner. Claire addresses any issues that arrive with the way in which approaches were carried out incorrectly or may just need to be adjusted in a way that provides a learning environment and fosters a desire for growth. Claire is a big advocate for our kiddos here and addresses concerns in a timely manner allowing for immediate change, if needed. Additional to the immense care and compassion that she displays for our youth, Claire displays a high level of compassion for anyone around her. On numerous occasions I have approached Claire with questions regarding methodology and intervention styles and received genuine responses that she takes her time to explain. Since I first began working at Looking Glass is 2020, Claire has always been a source of learning, compassion, strength, and fight within the agency.
Lynn Booth – Mental Health Therapist (Counseling Program)
Lynn has been with the Looking Glass Counseling program for 25 years and has provided invaluable care to clients during that time, and also been a strong and supportive supervisor to many staff. As a clinician she has provided services in Eugene, Springfield, and several rural areas. As a supervisor she has provided support and training to outpatient and residential clinicians, and interns. She was the lead for our Crisis Response team for many years keeping the program running successfully, and she facilitates the important work we provide at our local schools. Lynn is an incredible and dedicated employee, willing to grow and learn, and support staff and clients with warmth and care. Lynn is an integral part of our leadership team, and our program would not be the same if it wasn’t for Lynn’s part in it.
Ricky Currier – Maintenance Supervisor (Maintenance Department)
Ricky constantly goes above and beyond his duties for all programs and has often helped with direct client relations as well, which is pretty amazing for a maintenance manager. His passion for what this agency does is truly inspiring. He is extremely accessible for someone so busy and always has a smile on his face. I’m certain he saves the agency money in tons of ways and provides incredibly skilled services that help our programs function.
Mike Touchstone – Maintenance Worker (Maintenance Department)
I would love to internally nominate Mike. Love to give him any recognition when we can for all the hard work he does to keep all our programs safe and functional.
Brittany Luna – Compliance Manager (Administrative Office)
Brittany is a reliable support for all of our programs, makes herself available to help with training needs and coaching, is super knowledgeable about program needs and capacity, and always comes with a positive attitude. She really cares for our staff and the youth that we serve. All of our jobs would be harder if she wasn’t around.
Stephanie Lambirth – ILP Facilitator (Riverfront School)
Stephanie Lambirth is an exemplary employee. She is one of the most dedicated staff I have supervised during my many years with Looking Glass. She goes above and beyond to help her clients and support the staff she supervises. Stephanie has been praised by DHS caseworkers for her work with their clients. She is fun and a pleasure to work with!