June’s Employee Spotlight of the Month: SSA Rebecca Shepherd

Join us as we pay tribute to our incredible staff through “The Employee Spotlight of the Month!” Every month, we will spotlight a new employee so that we can share with the community the wonderful things our employees are doing every day!

Congratulations to Rebecca Shepherd, our Employee Spotlight for the month of June!

Rebecca has been with the BCBDD for 5 years. She first fell in love with the developmental disability (DD) field while spending time at Camp Campbell Gard. Since then, Rebecca says while working in the DD field she has made some of her most special memories at Camp Campbell Gard!

“I will never forget when two of the individuals on my caseload fell in love and wanted to have a commitment ceremony,” Rebecca said. “I was able to secure Camp Campbell Gard which is where they had their first date. It was a beautiful ceremony!”

Tina Jameson, whose daughter Tiffany has been on Rebecca’s caseload for the past 6 months, says she is so thankful and grateful for Rebecca as she has been instrumental in helping Tiffany get her own apartment.

“One of Tiffany’s goals was to be in her own apartment,” Tina said. “Rebecca was and is a huge help in getting Tiffany in her own apartment. She has advocated for Tiffany to get the best staff when she saw that the staff assigned wasn’t a good fit for Tiffany. She also got the remote home care setup. Rebecca continues to check in on Tiffany to confirm that everything is going well including staff and home services. Rebecca has guided me with processes and advice on what I can or should do with my daughter being out on her own. Rebecca went above and beyond one Tiffany got her own apartment by rewriting Tiffany’s ISP to accommodate changes in her staff days and times to be at the apartment for Tiffany.  Tiffany required more staff hours on certain days than originally anticipated. ” 

In addition to helping Tiffany get her own apartment, Rebecca did everything she could to help Tiffany find a new day program after she had to drop out of the day program she was with at the time.

“Rebecca attended the tour of the new day programs with us and asked questions on behalf of Tiffany and I,” Tina said. “She watched my daughter’s reactions during the tours and then gave us a recommendation on if she felt the program would be beneficial or a good fit for Tiffany. Rebecca has patience with Tiffany and always has Tiffany’s best interest in the forefront. Rebecca performs her role as a coordinator with passion and dedication. Rebecca has been the best coordinator my kids have had over the years. She truly cares for her clients and supports them with their needs or achieving their goals. Her actions show that her clients are more to her than just a job. Rebecca has done more for Tiffany in 6 months then all the other SSA’s have done for her in years. She doesn’t just do the minimum needed she makes sure that Tiffany is well taken care of and is happy.”

Rebecca’s SSA Supervisor, Beth Risner, couldn’t agree more with Tina as she says Rebecca has a heart of gold!

“I have watched her work tireless to advocate for those on her caseload,” Beth said. “She is one of the most genuine people I know. She is also a wonderful mentor to those on my team that are new. She is able to share all of her knowledge and past years of experience at Camp Campbell Gard and other HPC related positions to help us build a more well-rounded team.”

As for Tiffany’s future endeavors, Tina says she would like to be living in a community that gives her the best opportunities and is safe. 

“I am hoping that Rebecca continues to be Tiffany’s SSA,” Tina said. “I also want to mention that I am so grateful that the BCBDD has provided my daughter with the services needed to live a full happy life on her own.”

Is there someone from the BDBDD that has changed you and your family’s lives? Submissions for July’s Employee Spotlight of the Month are due by Monday, July 1!