2009 Ceremony

The fifth annual Shelley Joseph-Kordell Award and Scholarship Ceremony was held on Thursday, October 29, 2009 to honor the life of Shelley Joseph-Kordell and to recognize Marge Thurin, Hennepin County Senior Social Worker and Social Work Supervisor, and Diane Coleman, Resident Assistant at St. Therese S.W., for their commitment and dedication to the elderly.

Shelley's daugher Jennifer Kordell, Award Recipient Marge Thurin, Award Recipient Diane Coleman, Scholarship Recipient Andrea Wysocki, and Shelley's Mother Geri Joseph

Opening Remarks: Gail Dorfman, Hennepin County Commissioner
Keynote Speaker: Loren Colman, Assistant Commissioner of Continuing Care for the Minnesota Department of Human Services
Shelley Joseph-Kordell Award Recipients – Honoring Individuals and Agencies: Marge Thurin.  Ms. Thurin spent nearly 20 years with Hennepin County, first as a Senior Social Worker and then as a Social Work Supervisor.  She reentered the field after several years of retirement to continue with advocacy and education at ElderCare Rights Alliance.  Through her career, she has provided direct help to families navigating the long term care system in her coaching and educating roles while also working for systemic change by advocating on national and local levels.
Shelley Joseph-Kordell Award Recipients – Honoring Unsung Heroes: Diane Coleman.  Ms. Coleman has dedicated the last seventeen years to the residents of St. Therese S.W., where she works as a resident assistant.  She has elected to be rehired through changes in management so that she could stay with the residents whose lives she touches, from connecting with an isolated senior who had been reluctant to leave her apartment to the coffee and classical music she brings to a resident with dementia. 
Shelley Joseph-Kordell Scholarship Recipient: Andrea Wysocki.  Ms. Wysocki is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of MN with an interest in aging health issues.

The Steering Committee would like to thank the 2009 sponsors:

Award Sponsor

	Lurie, Besikof, Lapidus & Company, LLP - This year’s award was funded by Lurie, Besikof, Lapidus & Company, LLP, a long-time friend and supporter of Shelley Joseph-Kordell. “Our Firm recognized early on the personal and professional potential in Shelley Joseph-Kordell’s vision for advocacy and service to the senior community. We are very proud to be a part of her dream and the subsequent growth and success of her legacy, Estates in Transition/Rent A DaughterTM. Shelley left a positive impression on everyone she met and was the voice for countless seniors seeking a better and more peaceful life. This Award symbolizes everything she stood for, and we are honored to be a part of this event.”
	Gregg Getchell and Joe Guertin created the Emerald Crest concept in 1998. Their collective interest and mission was to create an innovative model of senior housing and care for individuals with memory challenges. This model is based on both research and actual working experience which demonstrates how care for seniors with memory challenges is best accomplished: in smaller, home-like residences where one's dignity, privacy, safety and quality of life can be preserved. By complementing this environment with a unique cognitive care program administered by Registered Occupational Therapists and support staff, Emerald Crest offers seniors and their families a refreshing new option as an alternative to nursing home placement or large "institutional" settings.  The locally owned and operated Emerald Crest homes are specifically designed and staffed to provide a superior cognitive care program for its memory challenged residents.

Partners

	The Metropolitan Area Agency on Aging is the designated area agency on aging for the seven county metropolitan area. The Metropolitan Area Agency on Aging is a catalyst in building communities where elders live with dignity, mutual respect and shared responsibilities across generations and cultures.
	English Rose Suites combines exceptional, dignified individual care with loving and thoughtful caregivers. All team members are expertly trained in the most up to date information on dementia care and programming. It's their mission to be the Employer of Choice, to create learning opportunities for the staff that support and encourage individual development while advancing the quality of care for all residents who live at English Rose Suites.

We are grateful for our generous sponsors and provide significant coverage for them in all materials related to both the Fall Aging Conference and the Ceremony itself - your sponsorship will reach over 2500 people in the senior worker community, including home care agencies, senior housing facilities, hospitals and health clinics, health insurance providers, financial services firms, community organizations, and other senior services.  We have an impressive array of community leaders and speakers, and a committed group of volunteers representing the major senior worker organizations.  If you are interested in specific sponsorship opportunities, please email us at info@sjktribute.org or download the form.