About Merrick, Inc.  

• General Dental Services
• Restorative Dental Services
• Cosmetic Dental Services

Their goal is to assist each patient with achieving and maintaining long-term dental health and a beautiful smile. Please support our business partners with your spending dollars. 

Help us continue to find meaningful work for the clients of Merrick by suggesting business partners who might be interested in hiring a client or a work crew. Send referrals to Executive Director John Wayne Barker at: JWB@merrickinc.org 

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About Merrick, Inc.  

 

Greetings!

Our 2012 Golden Gala took place just a few short days ago and by all accounts was a fantastic time. See the article below to keep the magic flowing! This edition of Navigator winds up with a story on client Kofi K. 

We thank you for your continued support and appreciate all you do to help us strive to be the agency of choice for every client and business partner we serve. ❖

Becca assists client Sonia H. with an iPad

Name: Rebecca "Becca" Krinke

Job Title | Service Area: Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant | mainly Alternative Services

Years at Merrick: Five

 

Becca's workday begins at 7:30 a.m., as she arrives to prep for the day. Once clients begin arriving to the main program site at the 3210 building, her day shifts into high-gear as she assists clients as they enter the building, and helps with putting away coats and lunches. During this process, Becca likes to encourage clients to be as independent as possible.

 

Once everyone is settled in, therapies begin. Depending on the day, she will work with a variety of clients using physical aids such as gait trainers and standers. She models to staff ways to help clients be more independent and firmly believes that with encouragement and confidence building, clients will often do more than staff expect. After therapies comes lunch time where she assists clients and staff with adaptive equipment designed to make eating and drinking easier. The first wave of departures begins at 1:30 and continues through 3:15. During this time, Becca utilizes the iPads, or a gross motor activity, like tossing around a ball to keep clients engaged. Her day wraps up with paperwork and she usually departs by 3:30 after a whirlwind eight hours. Besides her COTA responsibilities, part of each week she is also included in the staff to client ratios as a support service staff.

 

Becca started out in nursing because of her love for helping others, however she found that that occupational therapy was more her calling and pursued her two-year degree through a program run jointly by Ramsey Community College and Anoka-Hennepin Technical College. After working in a few other settings as a COTA, she came to Merrick five years ago through her relationship with Support Service Coordinator Heather Harding at the NE Metro 916 program.

 

Her greatest joy comes from seeing the little successes made by the clients. Letting someone struggle with a task that they eventually will master is a huge boost to their self-confidence. It is her role to encourage independence and she always tries to let the client try something first before she assists. The one thing she wants to impart to staff regarding working with clients is to, "Let them try."  ❖

The 2012 Golden Gala happened last Friday night and was an awesomely groovy and successful event! Thank you to all the supporters, clients, staff, and volunteers who worked so hard to make this a night to remember as we celebrated our past since 1964. Check out the links below to keep the magic of the night flowing! 

• Photos from the event
• Historical slideshow shown during dinner
• Sponsor listing 
• Engage Video shown at event

Executive Director JWB and client at Merrick Mary R.

If you were unable to attend the event and wish to make a donation, please visit this link:  http://givemn.razoo.com/story/Merrickinc❖

Kofi K. has been with Merrick for three years. He is a friendly, complex, intriguing, inquisitive, and reserved young man. He spends part of his week in Utility Services (US) working on various contracts such as fish hooks through VMC or packaging greeting cards for Design House Greetings. In addition to his work in Utility Services, he also spends time volunteering for Feed My Starving Children as part of Off-Site Work Crew Placement Services. He says he enjoys volunteering and when asked what he likes about coming to Merrick he says, "It's nice."

Kofi in the Sean Kenny Room at Merrick

Video games are a big part of Kofi's relaxation after work, as is spending time with his family and going to the Y. His current favorite video game is Playstation 3's Tekken 6. Kofi also has a fondness for cheese pizza and spending time in the Sean Kenny Computer room at Merrick.

 

Vocationally, Mark Bauer and David Kesseh support Kofi. They report that over the last year he has been verbally expressing himself more with both staff and peers. Kofi takes pride in doing a job exactly to specifications and enjoys staff recognition for his skill in quality control. Kofi likes getting to know others and sharing his activities of the previous day. You know you are in his inner circle when he gives you a daily fist bump or tells you about which video game he played the night before. Kofi's typical week at Merrick illustrates well how our program can be shaped to best fit the needs of individual clients.

 

Get to know more clients of Merrick with the client spotlight stories on our website: http://bit.ly/clientspotlight ❖