Millersville, Maryland—The Coordinating Center, Maryland’s statewide, premier nonprofit care coordination organization for children and adults with disabilities and complex needs, is excited to announce that Maryland Nonprofits has awarded five Service with Distinction Awards to the following coworkers at The Coordinating Center: Amanda Dayton, John Cannistra, Beth Groves, Maureen Tabor, and Sheryl Nickel. Maryland Nonprofits’ Service with Distinction Awards recognizes nonprofit employees, in positions that are not often formally celebrated, but who are critical to our work and deliver significant commitment, integrity, compassion, and caring for their organization and their communities. Awardees will be recognized during an audiovisual presentation and in a printed booklet at the Maryland Nonprofits’ 30th Anniversary Celebration, ‘This is the moment to care…and CELEBRATE!’, on July 28, 2022, from 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM at the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore, MD.
“We are thrilled to honor the accomplishments of Amanda, John, Beth, Maureen and Sheryl at Maryland Nonprofit 30th Anniversary Celebration. The Coordinating Center is a long-standing supporter of Maryland Nonprofits. Since 2000, we have maintained certification under Maryland Nonprofits Standards for Excellence program, which certifies nonprofits according to measures of ethical practices and accountability. We are proud to be a sponsor of “This is the moment to Care…and CELEBRATE,” and look forward to celebrating other nonprofit professionals who are doing incredible work in Maryland to ensure individuals, families and communities have access to vital services and supports,” says Teresa Titus-Howard, PhD, MHA, MSW, President and CEO, The Coordinating Center.
Meet the Awardees:
Beth Groves is a Community Health Worker who has been with The Coordinating Center since 2005. She is a strong advocate for adults with complex medical needs and chronic conditions, helping them navigate life after being discharged from the hospital with dignity and grace. Beth does an amazing job of meeting people where they are, literally and figuratively, with absolutely no judgement. She is skilled at motivational interviewing, listening, identifying barriers to care, accessing resources to overcome social determinants of health, and supporting others to become self-advocates. She successfully guides her clients through application processes dependent upon their abilities and collaborates with multiple community partners to ensure client needs are met, providing warm transitions to appropriate long-term resources when needed.
Maureen Tabor is a Licensed Certified Social Worker – Clinical (LCSW-C) in Maryland, and a Certified Case Manager (CCM) with experience in trauma-informed care and community-based services. Since 2016, Maureen has served as a Clinical Care Coordinator at The Coordinating Center for the Rare and Expensive Case Management (REM) program, which provides community case management services to over 4,000 people with diagnoses rare and expensive to treat. Maureen’s ability to navigate her clients’ social determinants of health is exemplary. It is not uncommon to find her making an extra visit with a client to complete a housing application, advocating for community systems to think outside-the-box for the adoption of a foster child to be expedited, or locating funding resources for items not covered by Medicaid. As a Maryland Board of Social Work Examiner’s approved supervisor, Maureen volunteers three hours per month to provide clinical group supervision to newer social workers at The Coordinating Center who wish to advance their licensure.
Sheryl Nickel is a Certified Case Manager and Pediatric Nurse (licensed in Maryland and Washington, D.C.) with 14 years of nursing experience in pediatrics (hospitals and hospice). Since 2017, Sheryl has served as a Clinical Care Coordinator at The Coordinating Center, providing exceptional case management services and advocacy for Model Waiver clients. Clients and families report that Sheryl is kind, caring and willing to assist to overcome any barriers to support them. For example, Sheryl is assigned to a rural section of Southern Maryland where there is a significant nursing shortage. Proactively, she participated in a Maryland statewide Nursing Workgroup to seek resolution for the shortage and implemented an electronic notification system to match clients with available nursing services, by alerting nursing agencies when a client was in need of support. Sheryl goes above and beyond supporting her clients, attends weekly program meetings with our State Funder, is a member of The Coordinating Center’s Transitioning Youth and Bereavement Committees and Pay for Performance work group and participates in strategic planning meetings for transition of the program into a new documentation system.
Amanda Dayton is a R.N. Care Coordinator with VIPhysicians&Kids, a new medical home program at The Coordinating Center that was established in 2019 to improve health outcomes and quality of life for children and youth with special health care needs and their families. Amanda played an instrumental role in helping to develop the new program, improving the lives of the families she serves and engaging providers in their care. Her approach with providers is always polite, professional, and warm and her warm “bed-side manner” comes across through virtual meetings and phone calls. Amanda has a keen ability to lift others up through encouraging words and communication style (both verbal and nonverbal). Even under stress, she maintains her patience, calmness, and warmth. She is empathetic and is very good at meeting coworkers and clients where they are. Always wanting to give back, Amanda serves on The Coordinating Center’s Bereavement Committee and takes initiative to send sympathy cards to client and families and she enjoys sending birthday cards to coworkers.
John Cannistra, a Supports Planner II, has been at The Coordinating Center for one year. As a new Supports Planner for our Community First Programs, John had to quickly learn four complex Medicaid programs, which provide supports planning services to older adults and individuals with disabilities who live and want to remain in the community or are living in a Maryland nursing facility and want to move to a home. John has the unique ability to take what is complicated and simplify it so that he can do what he loves best – helping others thrive in the community of their choice. With a degree in psychology and experience in behavioral health, John is an asset to his team. John is motivated, passionate, knowledgeable, and caring. He is also a team player, sharing resources with coworkers and taking initiative when our team needs mentoring or assistance.
