S.U.N. Employee Newsletter - Systems Unlimited, Inc.

OUR CORE VALUES
We provide quality services through:
CONTINUAL COLLABORATION
CONSCIOUS COMMUNICATION
DAILY ACCOUNTABILITY
CONSTANT RESPECT
ON-GOING EDUCATION
An agency newsletter for employees, by employees
May 2013
Board Member Bio
~Ty Gehy
Katie Schneider, SUI Board of Directors President
Recently, the S.U.N. has been including profiles of various staff members
and introducing readers to the newest S.U.N. Team members (see page
8). There is another force out there working to support the agency and
its mission that also deserves a spotlight in our newsletter. Systems is
fortunate to have a group of dedicated community members and parents,
all professionals in their chosen fields, who lend us their time and
expertise—the *Systems Unlimited Board of Directors.
Support and evaluate the executive director, ensure effective planning,
monitor and strengthen programs and services, protect assets and
provide proper financial oversight, gain support from the community
and communicate the agency’s mission, accomplishments, and goals to
the public—this is only snapshot of what the Board does, and all on a
volunteer basis!
Leading this great group of volunteers is the Board President—who
better to spotlight first? Meet our 2013 Board President, Katie Schneider.
Being an active member of the community has always been important
to Katie, who says she has always been drawn to working with individuals
with disabilities. Katie volunteered in the special education classrooms all
throughout high school (she graduated from Iowa City West High School),
and she did some work for The Arc of Johnson County while attedning the
University of Iowa. When she saw an opening on the Systems Unlimited Board of Directors, Katie knew it would be a good
fit for her and for Systems.
Katie joined the SUI Board in 2008, and has hung in there through some challenging times for our agency. In 2012,
before being voted in as Board President, Katie served as Board Vice President. Although this stretch has been her first
experience on a non-profit board, Katie previously served as a member of her homeowner’s board of directors for two years.
Katie and her husband Allen have three boys: Jackson, age 7; Jacob, age 4; and Cooper, age 1. The Schneiders live in
Riverside and keep busy with school activities and sports.
Katie currently works for the Sigma Lambda Gamma National Sorority and Sigma Lambda Beta International Fraternity
Headquarters, where her primary responsibilities include managing the Human Resources
Department and bookkeeping. Prior to joining the sorority and fraternity headquarters
staff, Katie worked as Banker, most recently at West Bank where she managed the
Coralville office. In 2008 she left banking to pursue a career that would allow her the
flexibility to spend more time at home with her children. In her current position, she is
fortunate to work in the office two days a week and remotely from her home as needed.
When asked about her hope, as Board President, for the future of Systems and the
individuals served by the agency, Katie answered, “Coming out of our Board and
Management Team Retreat, I am extremely excited about the future at Systems Unlimited.
I think that we’ve got the right leadership in place to set our agency up for continued long-term success and financial
sustainability.” Katie also expressed her thanks to SUI employees for all they do for the agency. We, in turn, thank you,
Katie, for all you have done and continue to do for Systems Unlimited and the people we serve. We hope you will stay on in
2014 as Past President.
* For a complete list of the Systems Unlimited Board of Directors, see page 2.
“I am extremely excited
about the future at
Systems Unlimited.”

~ Staff Announcements ~
Wanted . . .
Want to help individuals, or know others who do?...Check
out our website www.sui.org for a list of needed items for
the people we serve. Click on the How to Help tab and
then the Needs List.
Thank You!
Thank you to Human Resources, Directors, Managers,
and other staff for your kind words and gifts during
Administrative Professionals’ Week/Day in April.
It’s a pleasure working with all of you and we appreciate
being appreciated.
~Ty and Rhonda
Staff Stats ~Mary Bartachek
New
Hires
Separations
Net Gain
(Loss):
February ‘11 15 14 1
February ‘12 26 17 9
February ‘13 33 21 12
YTD Totals 115 70 45
Based on agency data as of 4/29/13
The 2013 Board
President: Katie Schneider Sigma Lambda Gamma
Vice President: Adam Hahn Knutson Construction
Secretary/Treasurer: Nancy Elliott Stanley Consultants
Past President: Todd Means MidWestOne Bank
Steve Spenler Johnson Co Ambulance
Randy McDonough Towncrest Pharmacy
Mark Zaiger Shuttleworth & Ingersoll
Stephen Cummings UIHC
Deb Stewart Lucas Elementary
Terri Bronner Coventry Health Services
Mark Hartung Grant Wood AEA
Jill Valde UIHC
Doug Hart City of Iowa City
Scott Enyart AW Welt Ambrisco Insurance
Adam McLaughlin MidWestOne Bank
Congratulations,
Graduates!
~Ty Gehy
We would like to congratulate the following
students from the Class of 2013 on their upcoming
graduations!
Amie Huber will be completing her studies
at Kirkwood Community College and begin
attending the University of Iowa, where she
will study English.
Faith Wenger is graduating from Monticello
High School. She plans to attend the
University of Iowa.
Chelci Baker will graduate May 18th from
Kirkwood Community College. Her future
plans are to continue to work for Systems,
but transfer to the Iowa City Service Center
to work at Employment Systems.
Ian Kerns is graduating from MMU in the
MFT program in June. He shared that he
will either continue working at Family
Systems OR become a wealthy industrialist/
vigilante and fight crime. But most bets are
on staying at FS.
Haley Black will graduate from Washington
High School in May. She plans to work for
SUI and eventually attend college to study
business.
Ericka Sayre is graduating from Washington
High School in May. She plans to work for
SUI.
Jenna Michler graduated with a Masters in
Family and Marriage Therapy from Mount
Mercy last December but is participating in
the ceremony this spring.
Maria Ramos will receive her Masters in
Family and Marriage Therapy in August.
Elizabeth Heiar will also be graduating with
a Masters in Family and Marriage Therapy.
Good job, everyone, and good luck with your
future plans. Apoligies to any other graduates
who were not mentioned—give me your details
and I will gladly share your good news in the
next SUN.

SCL Spotlight
~Recognizing
exceptional staff performance~
-Your SCL Management Team
SCL Management would like to recognize
the staff at Location 482 for their continued
dedication to providing exceptional services.
The staff at this location have maintained a
high standard of excellence over the years and
continually receive positive feedback from
guardians and outside stakeholders.
Thank you for your commitment to Beth,
Margee, and Mike, it does not go unnoticed.
Brynn Lafler and her hourly staff from the
Monticello area have been nominated for the
“Exceptional Services” award for their support
given to an individual and his family. This
individual has always either lived with his family
or in a facility; never alone. It was his dream
to be more independent and live in his own
apartment. Brynn and her staff have assisted this
individual in realizing his dream!
During the early part of February, this
individual and his family moved him into an
apartment in Monticello. Over the last two
months, Brynn and her staff have helped him to
make a very difficult transition. The first few
weeks were a real challenge not only for the
individual and his family, but also for Brynn and
her staff. However, each week it seems that he is
becoming more accustomed to his independence
and working better with his hourly staff. They
still have a long ways to go, but they are all
working together to help the individual succeed!
We would like to take this opportunity to
commend Brynn and her Direct Care staff for all
of their hard work and honor them by awarding
them with the “Exceptional Services” award.
Lori Hall, a long-time employee
of Systems Unlimited in Jones
County passed away on April
8. Lori would have celebrated
nine years of employment with
the agency on April 22.
Lori was a generous and
caring person with a personality
all her own Through the years,
she touched the lives of several
persons served in both the hourly
program and at Location #292 in
Monticello. She was respected
by her co-workers.
Her senior counselor always knew she could count on Lori for
many things, but especially for those darn “short” shifts no one
else wanted!
Good-bye, Lori, we miss you!!
~Becky Johnson
Christina Vanderbeek and the staff at Location #362 were
nominated for the exceptional services award for working together
as a team to enrich, teach and improve the individuals at the
location.
At this particular site there have been four different Senior
Counselors in the past year and a half. Being a fairly new site, it
has been difficult for the staff working there to receive the support
needed when having continual turnover in the Senior Counselor
position.
Christina has been working hard with her team to ensure the
individuals are living as independently as they can by assisting
them in making choices and opening up to that staff at the location.
The staff have been working very hard getting everyone out
into the community and assisting them achieve their maximum
potential!
Change is a guarantee in this field and the individuals as well as
SC and staff have worked very hard to get where they are now!
Thank you for all for the teamwork everyone has worked so hard
to achieve.
Happy Mother’s Day
to all moms!
Sunday, May 12
Happy Memorial Day!
Monday, May 27
The Iowa City Service Center and all other SUI
administrative offices will be closed for the holiday.

Kid Stuff
~produced by SUI Staff
Michael Mahoney, Senior Counselor, and his
wife Sarah are the proud parents of a precious
baby girl. Congratulations!
Sadie
Born April 10
8 lbs, 13 oz.
nami Walk
~Janet Outlund
Systems Unlimited participated in the Nami Walk at City
Park on Saturday, April 27th. Systems had information
displayed from all divisions with a spotlight on the SUI
golf classic.
Michelle Potts did a great job setting up the table and
explaining our services to participants as they came in
from the walk.
Systems had staff and individuals we serve walking
the 5 K course. There was music, speeches, free food and
beverages and the weather was perfect. It all added up to
a good time for an important cause!
Management Team
~Jen Simmering
April 2013 Update
This past month, the Management Team has
submitted our corrective action plan for the
Waiver review and is working to implement the
plan. We are also preparing our response to the
recommendations made by CARF. At each weekly
meeting, we make a small dent in the process of
developing a comprehensive risk management
plan, with this month’s focus on the need to
prepare for newly finalized HIPAA regulations,
issues surrounding recruitment and retention, and
emergency preparedness. Budget preparation is
also under way.
In April, the Board of Directors met to hear
the Management Team’s ideas about our strategic
plan. The Board will establish a subcommittee to
consolidate the thoughts and plans generated in
the meeting into a usable document, which will be
shared in the next few months.
Themes of discussion included the need to
address changes in the state mental health and
disabilities services system brought on by the
system redesign, the need to reduce fragmentation
between our service divisions and work as a whole
more effectively, and plans to identify trends in our
referrals and statewide needs for services so that we
can plan to expand our services where and when
needs demand growth.
While it is still a big unknown, we will need to
steer our planning activities to take into account
the Affordable Care Act and the accompanying
possibility of the Iowa Medicaid expansion and the
impact that this legislation could have on SUI.
We continue to share stories of the many
staff members who have gone above and beyond
to provide great services. A few among many
examples mentioned are:
• The ES staff who have worked through
remodeling of just about every area of their
space in order to provide more safe, efficient
and individualized supports to the people they
serve.
• The Supported Living Advisory Board for being
a font of great ideas.
• The Golf Committee for all of their hard work
organizing and preparing for the Golf Event,
especially Cheli Morgan and Regina Crooks.
• Chuck Blackhurst for going the extra mile to
provide creative services to a child.
Management Team is thankful for the efforts of
all of our staff who are doing their best work every
day. Thank you!

Know someone who is looking for meaningful employment?
Direct them to a great opportunity at Systems Unlimited!
Don’t forget about the referral bonus!
Employment Open House:
• On-the-spot interviews
• Tours
• Refreshments
Thursday, May 9
Service Center, 1st Floor
5:30 - 7:30 pm
We’ll be firing up the grill for the . . .
2013 Systems Unlimited
EMPLOYEE PICNIC!
Saturday, July 13
Noon - 3:00 pm
Upper City Park, Shelter #3
200 E Park Road, Iowa City
a SIRC sponsored event
Kids are sure to enjoy the animal balloon artist!
Bring your family
and a side dish to share
Pork tenderloins donated & grilled
by our friends at Tyson Foods!
Inspired Name
~Cheli Morgan
Thank you everyone for your creative help in naming our
Systems Unlimited concert. We received many entries of
names that would have been great for this event. However,
our judges were tasked with choosing only one name out of
many. Well, actually, they chose a combination of two names
from several entries.
The winning name is:
Systems Unlimited “Changing Lives” June Jam
Congratulations to our friends from Inspire for their
inspiration!
Special thanks to Melinda Haley for coming up with
the following concept that we will incorporate into our
promotional flyer:
M.U.S.I.C= the Mill Unites with Systems to Introduce a
Community event to benefit those with disabilities.
Mark Your Calendars!
Systems Unlimited
“Changing Lives” June Jam
Saturday, June 22 - 6pm The Mill, Iowa City
If you are in a band and are interested in performing a
set, contact Cheli Morgan at extension 194..
More details to come.

Mercer Park Farmer’s Market
Tuesdays, May 14, 21, & 28; 3:00 - 6:00 p.m.
Mercer Park
2701 Bradford Drive - Iowa City
~Ty Gehy
Iowa City Saturday Farmers Market
Saturdays, May 4, 11, 18, and 25; 7:30 am - 12:00 pm
Chauncey Swan Parking Lot
460 E Washington St - Iowa City
The Saturday market kicks off with a variety of
special activities, including live music by musician
Brady Wells from 10 a.m. to noon.
Saturday Night Concert Series
Saturdays, May 4, 11, 18 & 25; 6:30 - 9:30 pm
Pedestrian Plaza’s Weatherdance Fountain Stage outside
of the Sheraton Iowa City Hotel - Iowa City
Coralville Citywide Garage Sale
Saturday, May 4; 8:00 am – 12 Noon
Maifest
Saturday, May 4 & Sunday, May 5; 10:00 am - 11:30 pm
Throughout the Amana Colonies
The festivities start Saturday morning with a parade
at 10 a.m. Plenty of kids’ activities and the Taste of
Amana Colonies & a Touch of Europe food fair follow
the parade on Saturday. Events continue Sunday. Find
the schedule of events at festivalsinamana.com.
2013 El Kahir Shrine Circus
Wednesday & Thursday, May 8 – 9
4:30 pm & 7:00 pm
Johnson County Fairgrounds - Iowa City
Cost: 12yrs & under $14; Adults $16
Tickets available at the fairgrounds box office one
hour prior to show times.
Iowa City Wednesday Farmers Market
Wednesdays, May 8, 15, 22, and 29; 5:00 - 7:00 pm
Chauncey Swan Parking Lot
460 E Washington St - Iowa City
Old Capitol All-Stars vs. St Chux Derby Chix
Saturday, May 11; 7:00 pm
Coralville Marriott Convention Center
300 E 19th St - Coralville
Doors open at 6:15 pm and the action starts at
7:00 pm. Tickets can be purchased in advance for $10
at New Pioneer Food Co-op or Crossroads Tattoo, or
for $13 at the door the day of. Kids 10 and under are
always free.
The 6th Annual Johnson County Master
Gardener’s Plant Sale & Flea Market
Saturday, May 18; 8:00 am - 12:00 pm
Johnson County Fairgrounds
4265 Oak Crest Hill Road SE - Iowa City
Shop tables full of annuals, perennials, vegetables,
herbs, tubers, bulbs, seedlings, houseplants, and
gently used garden related items.
Houby Days
Saturday & Sunday, May 18 - 19; 8:00 am - 10:00 pm
Czech Village - Cedar Rapids
Enjoy Czech music, song and dance as you wind
your way through the Village shops and vendors.
The carnival and Saturday’s car show is sure to
appeal to all ages. Sunday is Kids Day!
Marion Arts Festival
Saturday, May 18; 9:00 am - 5:00 pm
Marion City Square Park
7th Avenue and 10th Street - Marion
Fifty nationally sourced artists. A half marathon
and 5K run & fun walk, hands-on art activities and
demonstrations complete the event.
Iowa Renaissance Festival & Gathering O’Celts
Saturday - Monday, May 25 - 27; 11:00 am - 6:00 pm
Throughout the Amana Colonies
220th Trail - Amana
Cost: $6 - $10 (tots are free). Parking is free
Village cast of 200, 6 stages of entertainment and
horseback jousting, foods and beverages.
North Liberty Blues & BBQ - NEW LOCATION!
Saturday, May 25; Noon - 10 pm
West Side Park
1565 St. Andrews Dr. - North Liberty
Free, family-friendly Blues & BBQ. Live blues
on stage. Enjoy free kids’ games and activities
like inflatable rides, a petting zoo, speed pitching,
balloons and more! Local vendors offer a variety of
foods, with a BBQ contest at 4:30 p.m. Beverage
garden features beers from Iowa breweries. Event
concludes with fireworks at 9:45 pm.
Iowa Mennonite Relief Sale
Friday, May 31 & Saturday, June 1; 3:00 - 9:00 pm
Johnson County Fairgrounds
4261 Oak Crest Hill Rd. SE - Iowa City
Features the largest quilt auction in Iowa as well
as many handcrafted items and delicious food.
Children’s activities include a horse drawn cart,
barrel rides and games.

EMPLOYEE DISCOUNT!
Reduced rate of $75 for SUI employees!
Golf with a friend or spouse and pay only
$175 for the pair!

ES Lands on the SUN
The S.U.N. Team is down another member, so the pressure is on for our newest member to produce lots of exciting
content for the employee newsletter. Marc Hines attended his first S.U.N. Team meeting back in January of this year,
and wowed us with his writing skills in the article, “Casey Westhoff is for the birds, betterment” in the March issue.
We are thrilled to have not only a talented writer on the team, but also a presence from Employment Systems.
• Current Title:
Employment Coordinator
• Summary of Current Job
Responsibilities:
In theory, I coordinate Day
Habilitation, Prevocational,
and Supported Employment
services. In practice, I could be
doing 100 different things on
any given day. There are
sometimes full days when
I don’t sit down at my
desk for hours at a time.
• What do you most enjoy about your job?
My job is the perfect mix of administrative duties and handson
interaction. That balance allows me the ability to theorize
about effective techniques for service provision and try those
theories out alongside direct care staff. In that way, my job has
a scientific element to it that is very rewarding for me. Even
the sort of hypothesis/experiment portion of my job takes a
backseat to daily interaction with individuals served, though.
Each day I’m privileged to have at least one moment with an
individual or a group of individuals that reminds me exactly
why I’m here and reaffirms the notion that I’ll probably be
staying for a very long time.
• Work Contact Information:
(319)338-9212 x.327
m.hines@sui.org
• Preferred method of contact: Email
• General Office Hours:
Monday-Friday 8:30a-5p
• What, as a new SUN team member,
do you hope to bring to our employee
newsletter?
Who knows? I suppose I want to
give readers something interesting
to read beyond what they might be
used to from the SUN, but there’s a
distinct possibility that I’ll fail to do
that. I’ll probably just superfluously
utilize erudite vernacular in order
to feign intelligence and a grasp of
profundity. It shouldn’t take people
too long to figure out that this is just
an outlet for me to spew thinly veiled
vitriol (especially if this sentence gets
printed).
Need Money for your
Summer Plans?
Pick up more hours right here at
Systems Unlimited!
If interested, contact your immediate
supervisor, or Jolene Sorenson at
extension 328.
If interested in Employment Systems,
contact Katie Cummins at extension 619.
S.U.N. Team Members
Cheli Morgan
Marc Hines
Michelle Lloyd
Jolene Sorenson
Ryan Spurgetis
Ty Gehy
Interested in joining the
S.U.N. Team or have an
idea or contribution for the
newseltter? E-mail us at
sun@sui.org.
S.U.N. Team Mission
The S.U.N. Team exists
to create and distribute
a newsletter—by and
for employees—as a
means of:
• Communicating
information regarding
the agency
• Creating camaraderie
and unity across the
agency
• Recognizing excellent
performance by
individuals and teams
• Sharing personal
experiences that
emphasize our core
values