Category: Mission

Integrated Day Services builds independence and improve quality of life for individuals. They participate in many community activities and are focused on enhancing the lives of special needs adults and their families. Trained, caring staff use the resources available to help the participants with their goals in a safe, fun environment where they are treated like family. 

The activities that Integrated Day Services have recently participated in include: volunteering for the 2019 Litter Dash, Support Siouxland Soldiers, visiting the Orange City Tulip Festival, and sightseeing at Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center.

Interested in helping support Integrated Day Services?  

Integrated Day Services is always looking for free or low-cost activities to participate in the community. If you have suggestions for activities or would like to make a monetary (tax deductible) donation for Integrated Day Services to participate in more activities, contact Vickie at 712-293-1488.

If you would like to donate supplies, Integrated Day Services needs: books, adult coloring books, canvases, paint, colored pencils, DIY craft boxes, and board games.

 

Hello! My name is Maggie. I manage our Pre-Vocational Program for adults with Mental Illness and Brain Injury.  Individuals who have a desire to work but struggle with mental illness or a brain injury come to me and I work with them for 2 years to prepare them to transition into community employment.  I work with them on many different skills that are needed for anyone to be able to maintain employment at any location.  I truly enjoy watching people come to me with struggles and barriers and grow over the two years I work with them.  It is so rewarding to see how people can succeed when they never thought they could.

What do you wish you knew more about?

• I wish I could expand my knowledge on Mental Illness and Abnormal Psychology. I have learned so much working in the job I do, but my desire to continue learning is strong.

What would be your ideal way to spend the weekend?

• My ideal way to spend a weekend would be to take a trip and see a new place I have never been. I love meeting new people, exploring new places, and experiencing new cultures.

What is something you think everyone should do once in their lives?

• I believe everyone should take at least one trip outside of the country to a place they have never been.  It is truly amazing to experience other cultures and to be able to live the way they do for a small period of time.  My travels have opened my eyes to so much and I believe everyone should experience that feeling at least once during their lifetime.

Hello! My name is Molly and I am a skills trainer at Goodwill.  I am so blessed because I love my job and look forward to coming to work every day.  Working for Goodwill means I have an impact in people’s lives; people who face physical, emotional or mental challenges.

As a skills trainer, I support and teach our participants a variety of things they will need to be employable such as job skills, coping skills, behavior modification, and how to communicate appropriately and many other things. What I love most about my job is developing relationships with our participants and watching them reach their goals and gain confidence in themselves and their work.

What brings you the greatest joy?

• My greatest joys are my family, my fur babies and traveling.   A few places on my bucket list include traveling to Ireland, Italy, and Greece as well as every national park in the United States

What is your greatest fear?

• My greatest fear is my son, who is a police officer, getting hurt or killed or losing any of my kids.

What are some interesting facts about you?

• I desperately love animals and could easily be a crazy old cat or dog lady.
• I have a sarcastic, warped sense of humor.
• I love watching the TV show “Hoarders” because it inspires me to clean my house.
• I love historic architecture and I am one of the founders of SiouxLandmark a local historic preservation group.

 

 

Jill has been with Goodwill for 6 years as the program manager and ETO administrator in Rapid City, SD. She leads the Rapid City Missions Services department and has been involved in disability services work for 30 years. Let’s learn more about Jill!

What is your favorite part of your job?

• Being able to be a part of teaching people the tools they need to succeed and accomplish things they didn’t think they could accomplish.

What do you wish you knew more about?

• I wish I was better at sign language (ASL)

What would be your idea way to spend the weekend?

• Lazy clothes, relaxing, watching my history documentaries, not having any errands to run.

What is something you think everyone should do once in their lives?

• Learn something new, something they’ve always wanted to learn but haven’t taken the time or didn’t think they could. Travel to a place they’ve never been, and not be in a hurry.

Job Description:  The Skills Trainers works with many different participants for many different reasons.  Everyone is in the program for some type of supportive services.  Overall, a skills trainer needs to be adaptable, supportive, and empathetic to the specific needs of the participants that they work with.

What we do:  As a skills trainer I provide education and support of soft skills.  The soft skills we focus on are the personal attributes that enable someone to interact effectively and harmoniously with other people.  These are a combination of people skills, social skills, communication skills, character/personality traits, attitudes, career attributes, social and emotional intelligence.

What I like:  I like the variety of this job.  I like the opportunity to work with the variety of people that are in the program.  I really enjoy assisting someone overcome a barrier in their life.

Who’s my hero:  Anyone who has the courage to overcome something that tried to stop them from accomplishing a dream.

What’s my biggest fear:  Fear itself.

What’s my favorite holiday:  Thanksgiving.  Because no one is worried about presents.