I’m thrilled to tell you all that Briana, Jonah’s wonderful house manager, has won the Anderson Center for Autism’s Above and Beyond award this year, after being nominated by yours truly and two other parents as well!
From Anderson:
Briana Booker has been with Anderson Center for Autism since October 2019. She began her career at ACA as a shift supervisor in the children’s residential program, and was shortly thereafter promoted to the residence manager position. Briana has a long history of working with children and prior to ACA worked in a school setting. She also pursued higher education and received her Master’s in Sports Management with the focus of special education and inclusion in sports. Since joining ACA, Briana has made a tremendous impact in the children’s residential program. She oversees a residence of nine teenaged boys and has truly impacted their quality of life. Her genuine care for the students is recognized by ACA team and family members.
The Above & Beyond Award is an award given to a deserving ACA team Member, at the annual benefit. Candidates were nominated by ACA parents, who were asked to provide a short narrative describing how the Team Member they are nominating has gone “above & beyond” in the care of their child. This is meant to honor an individual who goes beyond the expectation of optimizing the quality of life for the people we serve, thus making the nomination reviews very important. The winner is a person who, either in a specific situation or on an on-going basis, takes actions that give you that emotional impact-the “they didn’t have to do that, but they did” feeling.
This award has been made possible by a generous donor who seeks ways to highlight the incredible work of all ACA Team members, especially those who go “above & beyond.”
I can’t think of anyone more deserving of this award and $1,000 prize!
Originally Briana was going to be celebrated at a fancy gala in Poughkeepsie later this month, but because of Covid concerns, they’re “re-imagining” the event.
Anderson did, however, contact the people who nominated Briana to record a speech about her. I did my speech via Zoom on Monday, and no matter how many times I practiced it, I wasn’t able to get all the way through it without my voice breaking – and I reckon that’s okay.
I’ll put the text of the speech here after the event is over and I know Briana has had a chance to hear it. For now I’ll just say it feels incredible to know she is in charge of the house where Jonah lives.
Congratulations, Briana!
We are all so appreciative of people like Briana who care for our children who can’t speak for themselves.
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Finally an unsung hero gets a song! Congratulations to her!
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Congratulations, Briana. From everything Amy has told her blog readers about you, I cannot imagine anyone more deserving of Anderson’s Above and Beyond Award. You are a blessing to the kids in your care and, therefore, a blessing to all humanity.
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Amy thank you so much for your continued support. Even taking the extra time to just check on me. I cannot express how much I appreciate you and am so happy to continue to see boo grow
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