April 15, 2025 • 17 mins
Lori Feldkamp reflects on her 30-year career at Big Lakes Developmental Center as she prepares to retire, while introducing her successor, Liz Hawley, who brings 18 years of experience with the organization.
· Big Lakes has grown from 100 to over 200 employees during Lori's tenure
· The organization faces a statewide waiting list of 4,500 people needing developmental disability services
· Around 100 people are waiting for services in their four-county service area
· Funding challenges require piecing together resources from multiple sources
· Transportation is a critical need, as 99% of clients cannot drive themselves
· The organization plans to use Grow Green Match Day fundraising to purchase two used vehicles
· Staffing remains challenging, but dedicated employees often work overtime to meet client needs
· Big Lakes empowers clients through involvement in program development and event planning
· The organization's summer party on June 20 will feature a "Party in the Desert" theme
· Consistent leadership has been a hallmark, with only two CEOs since 1978
Support Big Lakes Developmental Center on Grow Green Match Day to help them purchase much-needed vehicles for client transportation!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Philanthropy Today is brought to you by the Greater
Manhattan Community Foundation.
In this episode we feature arecently broadcast segment of
the GMCF Community Hour, asheard on NewsRadio KMAN.
One of the organizations thatwe're going to be talking about
today is one that I have had along time interest in and I'm
(00:20):
always excited to have here inthe GMCF Community Hour From Big
Lakes Developmental Center mylongtime friend, lori Feldkamp.
Welcome to the show.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Good morning.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
How are you?
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Crazy as ever.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Crazy as ever level, because you know you are doing
your swan song, you're retiring,you're, you know moving
everything over everything hasmoved into fast forward fast
forward now yes when's your lastday?
Speaker 2 (00:56):
uh may 30th that's okay.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
Let me ask you this how many days are left?
Speaker 2 (01:02):
I could tell you it's on my phone, but I don't have
it with me right now.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
And you brought in your successor, who's no
stranger to Big Lakes, lizHawley.
Hi, welcome to the show.
Thank you so much.
Is this your first time here onthe?
Speaker 3 (01:16):
show it is yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
It is.
It's a good thing that you knowwe got six, seven feet in
between us here, so it's a safeplace.
It's a safe place.
Yeah, we've got guardiansaround here, so that helps.
Congratulations on the new job.
Thank you so much.
You got some shoes to fill,don't you Big ones?
I bet you haven't heard thatbefore.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
Well, I think I've said it a bunch, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
But you've been with Big Lakes, she's time, yeah,
coming up on 18 years.
Really.
So you think you know what'sgoing on.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
Do we ever know what's going on with the state
and all of the things thathappen?
Lori's still shaking her head.
No, no, yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
You see on radio.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Sometimes we have to interpret the visual so our
listeners can understand whatthe sidebar discussion is After
30 years, I still don't have itall figured out.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
So I bet you've got some great stories from the last
30 years.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Oh, just a few.
The best ones, of course, areabout the people we serve and
some of the funny things thathappen and the wonderful
successes we've had over theyears.
That's.
One of the things that I willmiss are those relationships and
those stories, but I'm sure Lizwill keep me up to date on
(02:30):
what's going on.
Oh for sure.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Lori, give me just a sample of some of the highlights
of your career at Big Lakes.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Oh, wow, I think.
First of all, just the varietyof things I've done.
I was originally hired in humanresources.
The human resource departmentpretty much got that started.
We had just broken 100employees when Jim Shaver, who
was the previous exec, hired meto have a centralized HR
department and, like I said,that was 100 employees.
(03:01):
Now how many positions we havewe have over 200 positions now,
so I've seen tremendous growthduring.
That was 100 employees.
Now how many positions we havewe have over 200 positions now,
so I've seen tremendous growthduring that period of time.
Another thing that, especiallysince I became CEO about 20
years ago, that we've seen istremendous growth in our
residential department.
We really have opened up a lotof opportunity for our
(03:24):
individuals to get residentialservices, whether it's in a
group, home environment orindependently or
semi-independently.
I think we have a lot moreoptions than we used to.
For certain, especially whenyou look at the number served,
has gone up tremendously duringthat period of time, and it
would have gone up probably evenmore if we didn't have the
statewide waiting list.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
Where is that list at ?
Speaker 2 (03:47):
now.
The last I looked was March15th and it was just under 4,500
in the state of Kansas andthat's in the state.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
How about locally About?
Speaker 2 (03:55):
100.
We have about 100 people thatare waiting for services.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
yes, and Big Lakes covers what counties?
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Riley-Garry, pottawatomie and Clay.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
Okay, so you could multiply your capacity by
another.
Well, another 50%.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Yeah Well, there's lots of factors to consider.
Of course, funding for thosethat are on the waiting list is
one consideration.
Another consideration isstaffing finding the number of
people to provide those services, which is a struggle for us as
well and then again, affordableand accessible housing, if we
(04:32):
have individuals that areneeding those kinds of things
and can't find it in thecommunity.
Our foundation has been a bigpart of making that happen, and
so our fundraising will have tocontinue in order for us to
expand services in the future.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
And something as simple as vehicles for all of
those locations as well.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
It's always something .
Speaker 2 (04:51):
Yes, it is always something.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
Liz, you said 18 years.
Yes, 18 years.
Give me the 32nd, liz Hawleyresume.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
Okay, well, I started at Big Lakes Developmental
Center working in our grouphomes.
I worked in several of ourgroup homes and then I also
worked in day services, holdingmultiple positions and sometimes
just subbing for open shifts.
So I've worked in almost everyhouse and every department of
Big Lakes, at least from serviceprovision side.
So I've been a case manager anda director and currently I'm
(05:23):
the deputy operations officer.
So I've been a case manager anda director and currently I'm
the deputy operations officer.
So I've had just a little bitof everything almost what drove
you into this line of work.
Well, I actually was trying tofigure out what I was going to
do as a young person and someonewas a special ed teacher that I
knew asked me to come and workfor them and I just fell in love
(05:43):
with this population and wantedto do as much as I could.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
It's pretty easy to do that, isn't it?
Speaker 3 (05:46):
It is so easy to do that.
Yeah, they're some of thegreatest people I know.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Do you walk in in the morning wondering whose life am
I going to change the mosttoday?
Speaker 3 (05:56):
You know, I don't know that I necessarily feel
that way, because sometimes Ithink that they change mine.
I learned so much more aboutperspective and fortitude from
our clients than I think I amable to provide for them.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
What do you look forward to most in your new role
?
Speaker 3 (06:17):
I think that I look, I love kind of always developing
things and always trying tolook at how we're doing things
to make them better, and so I'mjust excited to be in a
different role that gives meeven more opportunities to do
that.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Yeah, you've got quite an extensive background
with Big Lakes, yeah, so I'msure you probably know this.
What is going to be some, orwhat are some, of your biggest
challenges that you'll face?
Speaker 3 (06:41):
I think that the challenges are going to be
trying to meet all the newregulations that are coming from
government, as well as fundingand really staff recruitment,
because that's a nationalproblem for direct support.
So being able to try to provideas much service and community
inclusion as you can with thelimited resources that we have
(07:04):
for funding and things.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
I know that probably you know the timing of the
transition here between you know, from Lori to Liz, it seems,
and I don't wanna get politicalbut there is a looming sense of
uncertainty, primarily from thefunding perspective.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
There certainly is, you know, although again, you
talk about perspective andlooking over my 30-year career,
there's always something, as yousaid, and funding has always
been an issue.
And what the future looks likeI don't know, but we'll adapt.
What the future looks like Idon't know, but we'll adapt.
(07:43):
We always find a way to moveforward and be able to continue
to provide support as we can.
Liz and I just went to anational conference here not too
long ago and if misery lovescompany, we had lots of it.
You know, that's one of thethings that it's universal
across the country isEverybody's struggling with
having adequate funding.
(08:04):
Everyone is struggling withfinding staffing the way that
they need to and to be able toprovide the supports that we
want, and struggling withregulation.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
And funding is consistently a challenge from
every level, whether it be local, state, regional or national.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
And one of the things that Big Lakes that's one of
the things Liz is learning aboutbecause, of course, she hasn't
been on the administrative sideof it, so there are things that
she's picking up on very fast isit's a patchwork quilt of
things that we put togetherfunding-wise to keep things
going.
It isn't any one certain thing,although Medicaid and our home
(08:43):
and community based servicewaiver under Medicaid is the
vast majority of the money thatwe get for service supports, but
it takes other things.
Like I said, transportation, weget from another source, and
housing we get from anothersource, and there's multiple
things that we have to patchtogether in order to make the
whole thing work.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
Let's Grow Green Match Day is eight days away.
This is a big day for everynonprofit.
How does Big Lakes benefit?
On Grow Green Match Day?
Speaker 3 (09:11):
Well, our campaign for this year is to purchase a
vehicle, Actually we're hopingto get two used vehicles out of
it.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
Yes, we hope Okay, keeping our fingers crossed.
Yes, two used vehicles out ofit.
Yes, we hope Okay, keeping ourfingers crossed.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
Yes, a big concern is having enough operational
vehicles that aren't beingworked on somewhere.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
Yeah, our fleet is aging and the cost of vehicles
have gone up significantly,especially since COVID, and
because of that we've beenhanging on to vehicles a lot
longer than we normally do, andso we need to do some
replacements.
We really do to help keep ourmaintenance costs down and
continue to provide reliabletransportation for our folks,
(09:53):
because 99% of the people weserve cannot drive, so
transportation services aregreatly, greatly needed.
We do partner with our publictransportation here in town,
atta Bus is a great partner, butnot all of the individuals we
serve can navigate a publictransportation system.
They just don't have thatcapability, and so we continue
(10:14):
to have to providetransportation.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
How about staffing challenges?
That always seems to be achallenge for basically just
about every business and everyentity.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
Especially anything in human services is really
tough.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
I think we're really fortunate that we have some
really dedicated and amazingstaff.
A lot of them have been with usa very long time and are used
to putting in a lot of overtimeto help just meet the need for
our clients, so we're veryfortunate for that.
We're currently exploring waysto try to maximize those
resources and still provide thequality of service that we want
(10:49):
to provide.
You know, looking at istechnology in our future to help
do that.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
I know also, you are key on developing the current
staff and giving them new, newinitiatives.
I saw Amy at the professionaldevelopment day that the chamber
had last week and that's alwaysit's.
I get to know some of yourstaff because of what we're
going to be talking about in ournext topic, which is the the
parties, which what a joy thatis.
(11:15):
But every time I get to workwith one of these events, you
know what your staff looks like.
They're having almost as muchfun as the clients, for sure.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
For sure I think we have clients who feel the same
as I do that we have just anamazing group of people that we
have the privilege to support,and so coming to work is pretty
exciting most days.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Yeah, so the client party June 20, if I remember
correctly, I believe so.
Are you going to be able toattend, lori, because Ith, if I
remember correctly, I believe soyes, Are you?
Going to be able to attend LoriBecause I mean you're done
officially.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
I have been asked and , with Liz's permission, I will
be there.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
Way to go.
Liz, that's really nice of you.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
Very kind gesture Well as you know, our clients
and our staff for that matteralways look forward to our
parties.
We have our summer party, whichyou just mentioned, and we
always have one during thewinter holidays.
And I have to share with you,Dave, a funny thing that
happened when I announced myretirement back in February.
(12:18):
I knew the hardest part wasgoing to be telling our clients,
because I've had relationshipswith them for so long, and there
was a lot of sadness.
But as soon as I announced thatthere would be a retirement
party that they would be goingto, we had a lot of cheers after
that.
So I've got to follow throughand make sure that we have a
(12:38):
party before I leave.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
You haven't done that yet.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
We have something scheduled.
We do have something scheduled.
I think it involves ice creamand ice cream sundaes, so there
you go yeah, that's going to bejust horrible for those, those
kids, yeah yeah, all right, well, that is uh, and and the and
the summer party.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
Do you have a theme for for this year?
Speaker 3 (12:57):
yes, party in the desert in the desert yes, they
have.
We have a whole theme ofcactuses and cool desert kind of
color schemes and stuff theclients actually we have a
client steering committee thatchooses the party theme.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
I have several pictures on my Instagram and I
put them on Facebook of the DJbooths that the kids create for
me.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
So I'm sure that there's going to be some sort of
Cactus Dave setting.
Speaker 3 (13:20):
Oh, yes, for sure.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
Yeah, great, looking forward to that.
Oh, yes, for sure.
Yeah, great, looking forward tothat.
Well, we got this bigtransition here, but you know
the one thing, and I think thatyou know, knowing both of you
and the experiences that both ofyou have had and shared at Big
Lakes, there doesn't seem likethere's going to be any
challenges really with thetransition.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
I think it's going to go very.
It is going very smooth, andone of the things that I'm very
proud of at Big Lakes is theconsistency that we've had in
leadership.
We've only had two CEOs since1978, and that was.
Jim Shaver and myself, and,turning this over to Liz, I
(14:04):
couldn't feel more confident andthrilled.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
How many years were you in that capacity as?
Speaker 2 (14:09):
the CEO 20.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
20.
Liz, you got 20 in you.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
I think I do.
I've been at Big Lakes foralmost 31 now.
Wow yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
Well, thank you for everything that you've done for
Big Lakes and all these, notjust the clients, but their
families too, Because what senseof relief you bring those
families and giving these kids agreater sense of purpose.
That's just a Herculean effort.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
Well, that isn't me.
That is the amazingstafferculean effort.
Well, that isn't me.
That is the amazing staff thatwe do have.
Especially, as Liz mentioned,we have some very dedicated DSPs
that have been with us for avery long time.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
Well, it's good to know you did nothing.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
Yes, I did nothing.
It's not me.
Speaker 3 (14:51):
Well, I would say that Lori's been a great leader
in really investing in our staff.
You know, I personally can sayin the different roles that I've
had, even talking to Lori aboutsomething that's going on in my
life she always cares a lotabout our staff and I think
that's what's made thatdedication and the good support
that we have.
We're only as good as our staffare, so really investing in
them is important.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
It's quite obvious that the staff appreciates, you
know, not only the leadershipbut also the experience of what
they have there as an employeeat Big Lakes.
So that's, do you have someinitial goals, liz?
Maintain.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
Well, right, I think right now there's a lot that's
looking to change in the nextyear or so on the government
level.
So, trying to kind of figurethat out, I'm working with,
actually on some work groupswith the state to to kind of
figure out all the details ofthose things.
So once we figure out whatthose changes are, then we can
kind of really move forward.
Like I said, you know, usingtechnology and we're really have
(15:50):
been working to increase theamount of involvement clients
have and how we develop programs.
We have that client steeringcommittee and having a client in
charge of that committee andreally telling me what I need to
do better which is one of myfavorite parts of my job so that
we're giving all of that backto them and they're really the
driver of our services.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Well, congratulations on the appointment.
I'm sure that this is somethingthat you will be able to
cherish throughout the rest ofyour career to be in that
capacity to serve in thisclientele, and I know you've got
a lot of cheerleaders that aregoing to have your back.
Yes, yes, I do so.
Liz Hawley is the incomingpresident and CEO of Big Lakes
(16:33):
and that girl that's heading outin May, lori Feldkamp.
Congratulations, best wishes.
I'm looking forward to stillseeing you around.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
I'll still be around.
I bet you will yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
You're going to be a grandma full time, aren't you?
Speaker 2 (16:48):
Yes, I am.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
Yeah, there you go.
Coming up next, emily Wagner isthe Executive Director of the
Manhattan Emergency Center.
They've got a big event comingup.
We'll talk about that and more.
And don't forget Grow GreenMatch Day.
Got to put a quick plug inthere for that.
No-transcript.
Philanthropy Today is brought to you by the Greater
Manhattan Community Foundation.
In this episode we feature arecently broadcast segment of
the GMCF Community Hour, asheard on NewsRadio KMAN.
One of the organizations thatwe're going to be talking about
today is one that I have had along time interest in and I'm
(00:20):
always excited to have here inthe GMCF Community Hour From Big
Lakes Developmental Center mylongtime friend, lori Feldkamp.
Welcome to the show.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Good morning.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
How are you?
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Crazy as ever.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Crazy as ever level, because you know you are doing
your swan song, you're retiring,you're, you know moving
everything over everything hasmoved into fast forward fast
forward now yes when's your lastday?
Speaker 2 (00:56):
uh may 30th that's okay.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
Let me ask you this how many days are left?
Speaker 2 (01:02):
I could tell you it's on my phone, but I don't have
it with me right now.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
And you brought in your successor, who's no
stranger to Big Lakes, lizHawley.
Hi, welcome to the show.
Thank you so much.
Is this your first time here onthe?
Speaker 3 (01:16):
show it is yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
It is.
It's a good thing that you knowwe got six, seven feet in
between us here, so it's a safeplace.
It's a safe place.
Yeah, we've got guardiansaround here, so that helps.
Congratulations on the new job.
Thank you so much.
You got some shoes to fill,don't you Big ones?
I bet you haven't heard thatbefore.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
Well, I think I've said it a bunch, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
But you've been with Big Lakes, she's time, yeah,
coming up on 18 years.
Really.
So you think you know what'sgoing on.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
Do we ever know what's going on with the state
and all of the things thathappen?
Lori's still shaking her head.
No, no, yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
You see on radio.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Sometimes we have to interpret the visual so our
listeners can understand whatthe sidebar discussion is After
30 years, I still don't have itall figured out.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
So I bet you've got some great stories from the last
30 years.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Oh, just a few.
The best ones, of course, areabout the people we serve and
some of the funny things thathappen and the wonderful
successes we've had over theyears.
That's.
One of the things that I willmiss are those relationships and
those stories, but I'm sure Lizwill keep me up to date on
(02:30):
what's going on.
Oh for sure.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Lori, give me just a sample of some of the highlights
of your career at Big Lakes.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Oh, wow, I think.
First of all, just the varietyof things I've done.
I was originally hired in humanresources.
The human resource departmentpretty much got that started.
We had just broken 100employees when Jim Shaver, who
was the previous exec, hired meto have a centralized HR
department and, like I said,that was 100 employees.
(03:01):
Now how many positions we havewe have over 200 positions now,
so I've seen tremendous growthduring.
That was 100 employees.
Now how many positions we havewe have over 200 positions now,
so I've seen tremendous growthduring that period of time.
Another thing that, especiallysince I became CEO about 20
years ago, that we've seen istremendous growth in our
residential department.
We really have opened up a lotof opportunity for our
(03:24):
individuals to get residentialservices, whether it's in a
group, home environment orindependently or
semi-independently.
I think we have a lot moreoptions than we used to.
For certain, especially whenyou look at the number served,
has gone up tremendously duringthat period of time, and it
would have gone up probably evenmore if we didn't have the
statewide waiting list.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
Where is that list at ?
Speaker 2 (03:47):
now.
The last I looked was March15th and it was just under 4,500
in the state of Kansas andthat's in the state.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
How about locally About?
Speaker 2 (03:55):
100.
We have about 100 people thatare waiting for services.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
yes, and Big Lakes covers what counties?
Speaker 2 (04:00):
Riley-Garry, pottawatomie and Clay.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
Okay, so you could multiply your capacity by
another.
Well, another 50%.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Yeah Well, there's lots of factors to consider.
Of course, funding for thosethat are on the waiting list is
one consideration.
Another consideration isstaffing finding the number of
people to provide those services, which is a struggle for us as
well and then again, affordableand accessible housing, if we
(04:32):
have individuals that areneeding those kinds of things
and can't find it in thecommunity.
Our foundation has been a bigpart of making that happen, and
so our fundraising will have tocontinue in order for us to
expand services in the future.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
And something as simple as vehicles for all of
those locations as well.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
It's always something .
Speaker 2 (04:51):
Yes, it is always something.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
Liz, you said 18 years.
Yes, 18 years.
Give me the 32nd, liz Hawleyresume.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
Okay, well, I started at Big Lakes Developmental
Center working in our grouphomes.
I worked in several of ourgroup homes and then I also
worked in day services, holdingmultiple positions and sometimes
just subbing for open shifts.
So I've worked in almost everyhouse and every department of
Big Lakes, at least from serviceprovision side.
So I've been a case manager anda director and currently I'm
(05:23):
the deputy operations officer.
So I've been a case manager anda director and currently I'm
the deputy operations officer.
So I've had just a little bitof everything almost what drove
you into this line of work.
Well, I actually was trying tofigure out what I was going to
do as a young person and someonewas a special ed teacher that I
knew asked me to come and workfor them and I just fell in love
(05:43):
with this population and wantedto do as much as I could.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
It's pretty easy to do that, isn't it?
Speaker 3 (05:46):
It is so easy to do that.
Yeah, they're some of thegreatest people I know.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Do you walk in in the morning wondering whose life am
I going to change the mosttoday?
Speaker 3 (05:56):
You know, I don't know that I necessarily feel
that way, because sometimes Ithink that they change mine.
I learned so much more aboutperspective and fortitude from
our clients than I think I amable to provide for them.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
What do you look forward to most in your new role
?
Speaker 3 (06:17):
I think that I look, I love kind of always developing
things and always trying tolook at how we're doing things
to make them better, and so I'mjust excited to be in a
different role that gives meeven more opportunities to do
that.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Yeah, you've got quite an extensive background
with Big Lakes, yeah, so I'msure you probably know this.
What is going to be some, orwhat are some, of your biggest
challenges that you'll face?
Speaker 3 (06:41):
I think that the challenges are going to be
trying to meet all the newregulations that are coming from
government, as well as fundingand really staff recruitment,
because that's a nationalproblem for direct support.
So being able to try to provideas much service and community
inclusion as you can with thelimited resources that we have
(07:04):
for funding and things.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
I know that probably you know the timing of the
transition here between you know, from Lori to Liz, it seems,
and I don't wanna get politicalbut there is a looming sense of
uncertainty, primarily from thefunding perspective.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
There certainly is, you know, although again, you
talk about perspective andlooking over my 30-year career,
there's always something, as yousaid, and funding has always
been an issue.
And what the future looks likeI don't know, but we'll adapt.
What the future looks like Idon't know, but we'll adapt.
(07:43):
We always find a way to moveforward and be able to continue
to provide support as we can.
Liz and I just went to anational conference here not too
long ago and if misery lovescompany, we had lots of it.
You know, that's one of thethings that it's universal
across the country isEverybody's struggling with
having adequate funding.
(08:04):
Everyone is struggling withfinding staffing the way that
they need to and to be able toprovide the supports that we
want, and struggling withregulation.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
And funding is consistently a challenge from
every level, whether it be local, state, regional or national.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
And one of the things that Big Lakes that's one of
the things Liz is learning aboutbecause, of course, she hasn't
been on the administrative sideof it, so there are things that
she's picking up on very fast isit's a patchwork quilt of
things that we put togetherfunding-wise to keep things
going.
It isn't any one certain thing,although Medicaid and our home
(08:43):
and community based servicewaiver under Medicaid is the
vast majority of the money thatwe get for service supports, but
it takes other things.
Like I said, transportation, weget from another source, and
housing we get from anothersource, and there's multiple
things that we have to patchtogether in order to make the
whole thing work.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
Let's Grow Green Match Day is eight days away.
This is a big day for everynonprofit.
How does Big Lakes benefit?
On Grow Green Match Day?
Speaker 3 (09:11):
Well, our campaign for this year is to purchase a
vehicle, Actually we're hopingto get two used vehicles out of
it.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
Yes, we hope Okay, keeping our fingers crossed.
Yes, two used vehicles out ofit.
Yes, we hope Okay, keeping ourfingers crossed.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
Yes, a big concern is having enough operational
vehicles that aren't beingworked on somewhere.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
Yeah, our fleet is aging and the cost of vehicles
have gone up significantly,especially since COVID, and
because of that we've beenhanging on to vehicles a lot
longer than we normally do, andso we need to do some
replacements.
We really do to help keep ourmaintenance costs down and
continue to provide reliabletransportation for our folks,
(09:53):
because 99% of the people weserve cannot drive, so
transportation services aregreatly, greatly needed.
We do partner with our publictransportation here in town,
atta Bus is a great partner, butnot all of the individuals we
serve can navigate a publictransportation system.
They just don't have thatcapability, and so we continue
(10:14):
to have to providetransportation.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
How about staffing challenges?
That always seems to be achallenge for basically just
about every business and everyentity.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
Especially anything in human services is really
tough.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
I think we're really fortunate that we have some
really dedicated and amazingstaff.
A lot of them have been with usa very long time and are used
to putting in a lot of overtimeto help just meet the need for
our clients, so we're veryfortunate for that.
We're currently exploring waysto try to maximize those
resources and still provide thequality of service that we want
(10:49):
to provide.
You know, looking at istechnology in our future to help
do that.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
I know also, you are key on developing the current
staff and giving them new, newinitiatives.
I saw Amy at the professionaldevelopment day that the chamber
had last week and that's alwaysit's.
I get to know some of yourstaff because of what we're
going to be talking about in ournext topic, which is the the
parties, which what a joy thatis.
(11:15):
But every time I get to workwith one of these events, you
know what your staff looks like.
They're having almost as muchfun as the clients, for sure.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
For sure I think we have clients who feel the same
as I do that we have just anamazing group of people that we
have the privilege to support,and so coming to work is pretty
exciting most days.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Yeah, so the client party June 20, if I remember
correctly, I believe so.
Are you going to be able toattend, lori, because Ith, if I
remember correctly, I believe soyes, Are you?
Going to be able to attend LoriBecause I mean you're done
officially.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
I have been asked and , with Liz's permission, I will
be there.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
Way to go.
Liz, that's really nice of you.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
Very kind gesture Well as you know, our clients
and our staff for that matteralways look forward to our
parties.
We have our summer party, whichyou just mentioned, and we
always have one during thewinter holidays.
And I have to share with you,Dave, a funny thing that
happened when I announced myretirement back in February.
(12:18):
I knew the hardest part wasgoing to be telling our clients,
because I've had relationshipswith them for so long, and there
was a lot of sadness.
But as soon as I announced thatthere would be a retirement
party that they would be goingto, we had a lot of cheers after
that.
So I've got to follow throughand make sure that we have a
(12:38):
party before I leave.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
You haven't done that yet.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
We have something scheduled.
We do have something scheduled.
I think it involves ice creamand ice cream sundaes, so there
you go yeah, that's going to bejust horrible for those, those
kids, yeah yeah, all right, well, that is uh, and and the and
the summer party.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
Do you have a theme for for this year?
Speaker 3 (12:57):
yes, party in the desert in the desert yes, they
have.
We have a whole theme ofcactuses and cool desert kind of
color schemes and stuff theclients actually we have a
client steering committee thatchooses the party theme.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
I have several pictures on my Instagram and I
put them on Facebook of the DJbooths that the kids create for
me.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
So I'm sure that there's going to be some sort of
Cactus Dave setting.
Speaker 3 (13:20):
Oh, yes, for sure.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
Yeah, great, looking forward to that.
Oh, yes, for sure.
Yeah, great, looking forward tothat.
Well, we got this bigtransition here, but you know
the one thing, and I think thatyou know, knowing both of you
and the experiences that both ofyou have had and shared at Big
Lakes, there doesn't seem likethere's going to be any
challenges really with thetransition.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
I think it's going to go very.
It is going very smooth, andone of the things that I'm very
proud of at Big Lakes is theconsistency that we've had in
leadership.
We've only had two CEOs since1978, and that was.
Jim Shaver and myself, and,turning this over to Liz, I
(14:04):
couldn't feel more confident andthrilled.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
How many years were you in that capacity as?
Speaker 2 (14:09):
the CEO 20.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
20.
Liz, you got 20 in you.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
I think I do.
I've been at Big Lakes foralmost 31 now.
Wow yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
Well, thank you for everything that you've done for
Big Lakes and all these, notjust the clients, but their
families too, Because what senseof relief you bring those
families and giving these kids agreater sense of purpose.
That's just a Herculean effort.
Speaker 2 (14:35):
Well, that isn't me.
That is the amazingstafferculean effort.
Well, that isn't me.
That is the amazing staff thatwe do have.
Especially, as Liz mentioned,we have some very dedicated DSPs
that have been with us for avery long time.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
Well, it's good to know you did nothing.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
Yes, I did nothing.
It's not me.
Speaker 3 (14:51):
Well, I would say that Lori's been a great leader
in really investing in our staff.
You know, I personally can sayin the different roles that I've
had, even talking to Lori aboutsomething that's going on in my
life she always cares a lotabout our staff and I think
that's what's made thatdedication and the good support
that we have.
We're only as good as our staffare, so really investing in
them is important.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
It's quite obvious that the staff appreciates, you
know, not only the leadershipbut also the experience of what
they have there as an employeeat Big Lakes.
So that's, do you have someinitial goals, liz?
Maintain.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
Well, right, I think right now there's a lot that's
looking to change in the nextyear or so on the government
level.
So, trying to kind of figurethat out, I'm working with,
actually on some work groupswith the state to to kind of
figure out all the details ofthose things.
So once we figure out whatthose changes are, then we can
kind of really move forward.
Like I said, you know, usingtechnology and we're really have
(15:50):
been working to increase theamount of involvement clients
have and how we develop programs.
We have that client steeringcommittee and having a client in
charge of that committee andreally telling me what I need to
do better which is one of myfavorite parts of my job so that
we're giving all of that backto them and they're really the
driver of our services.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Well, congratulations on the appointment.
I'm sure that this is somethingthat you will be able to
cherish throughout the rest ofyour career to be in that
capacity to serve in thisclientele, and I know you've got
a lot of cheerleaders that aregoing to have your back.
Yes, yes, I do so.
Liz Hawley is the incomingpresident and CEO of Big Lakes
(16:33):
and that girl that's heading outin May, lori Feldkamp.
Congratulations, best wishes.
I'm looking forward to stillseeing you around.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
I'll still be around.
I bet you will yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
You're going to be a grandma full time, aren't you?
Speaker 2 (16:48):
Yes, I am.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
Yeah, there you go.
Coming up next, emily Wagner isthe Executive Director of the
Manhattan Emergency Center.
They've got a big event comingup.
We'll talk about that and more.
And don't forget Grow GreenMatch Day.
Got to put a quick plug inthere for that.
No-transcript.
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