HHS Recognized with Circle of Excellence Award
Food Distribution Staff, along with Carment Kalk, Executive Director of Human Services and Nicole Anderson, Commissioner of Health and Human Services took a few minutes to enjoy some spring sunshine with a photo op for recognition of the Circle of Excellence Award. Pictured are Carmen Kalk, Jessi Nayquonabe, Vanessa Weyaus, Nicole Anderson, Dean Reynolds in front. Not pictured are Jeff Aubele, Roberta Sam, and Dan Boyd. Miigwech to this incredible team your support to the community.
By VIVIAN LaMOORE, INAAJIMOWIN EDITOR
The Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Health and Human Services American Indian Food Security Work Group has been selected as a 2021 Commissioner’s Circle of Excellence Award winner. The awards recognize excellence among human services providers, counties, tribes, advocacy groups, and other organizations that work in partnership with Minnesota Department of Human Services to help people meet their basic needs so they can live in dignity and achieve their highest potential.
Carmen Kalk, Dean Reynolds, and their team continue to excel in locating, obtaining, and coordinating food services for the Mille Lacs Band communities. Meeting daily needs can be strenuous and difficult for families and individuals during challenging times. The Food Security group takes some of the pressure off to ensure the needs of the communities are met and that families and individuals feel safe and welcome through various programs and services.
“I am honored to receive this award, and am proud of Dean and his staff for going above and beyond during this pandemic,” said Carmen Kalk, Executive Director of Human Services. “Although, it was more than just Human Services department who made this possible. I would like to give a shout out to all Mille Lacs Band employees and staff from Mille Lacs Corporate Ventures, Grand Casino Mille Lacs and Grand Casino Hinckley who assisted Human Services.”
Receiving state recognition is rewarding to the team at HHS. But the real rewards are collected every day. “The reason I like my job is, I like helping people and every day is different,” said Dean Reynolds, Coordinator of Emergency Services. “There is a sense of accomplishment and being a productive part of the community every time we help somebody in need. In a way, I look at it as investing in the future of our community. By taking care of our people today, we ensure somebody will be there to take care of our children and Elders tomorrow. Eventually we will be the Elders and would need the children of today to take care of us. Hopefully when that time comes, we will have people like Carmen and our team to keep our work going.”
Commitment to providing excellent programs and services is a team effort. “We could not do this alone so I would also like to acknowledge our team, Dan Boyd, Jeff Aubele, Jessi Nayquonabe, and although fairly new to our team Vanessa Weyaus,” Reynolds said. “Without them we could not have served the community the way we did.”
