Benco Updates

Congratulations to Benco’s PC of the quarter for the 3nd Quarter of 2025, Emilia DiNatale!

Congratulations to Benco’s PC of the quarter for the 2nd Quarter of 2025, Micha Fa’amausili!

Throughout the month of November Benco is doing a donation drive to help us:

Recently our Stone Street van wheelchair ramp became unsafe, and the lift shocks were deemed unrepairable at the last inspection.  This propelled Benco to find and purchase a replacement vehicle.

Benco purchased a 2019 Dodge Caravan and had it adapted to be wheelchair accessible to replace the Stone Street van! 

Did you know that in order to meet the transportation needs of Benco’s 11 programs, we have a fleet of 15 vehicles!

The cost of general maintenance & repairs is pretty spendy, not to mention the cost of fuel and insurance coverage for all our vehicles.  The funding Benco receives to provide services does not include money to cover these costs. 

For the last 5 years, Benco has been focused on enhancing employee pay and benefits packages to align with our recruitment and retention goals.  While this is still a priority, we also must focus on dedicating funds to our plan of replacing program vehicles that have been identified as a high priority to replace. 

Next on our vehicle acquisition priority list are vehicles at Witham Hill and Supported Living.

To meet our vehicle replacement goals, we hope you will consider making a one-time or reoccurring donation.

Donations are tax deductible and easy to set up through out online portal.  Click the “Donate Now!” button on our website to get started!

PC of the Quarter

🎉 CONGRATULATIONS🎉 TO PATRICIA MAYOTTE

PC OF THE QUARTER, 3RD QUARTER

Patricia consistently provides compassionate leadership with literally every aspect of DSP work. She shows up early to see her graveyard staff, she also has such a soft spot for compassionate, person-centered support. Her positivity goes far, a true example of what a P.C. should show in times of uncertainty. Her respect for not only her DSP’s but the people she supports is what sets examples for how we treat one another. All summer, despite pain and working every shift we have, she shows up with the best interests in heart and in practice. Her advocacy for the wonderful people we support could be likened to a guiding star.

~Knox L.

Grant Street, DSP

🎉 CONGRATULATIONS🎉 TO BREANNA GAYLER

PC OF THE QUARTER, 2ND QUARTER

Breanna has done an incredible job filling in for the PC during her maternity leave. Breanna makes everyone feel comfortable in their roles within the program. She is easy to talk to and is very insightful when I ask questions about clients. She has demonstrated excellent team building skills as seen in the impromptu house meetings and also our monthly meetings. She is an honest, caring person who demonstrates these qualities on a daily basis.

~Brandon K.

Stone Street, DSP

🎉 CONGRATULATIONS🎉 TO PATRICIA MAYOTTE

PC OF THE QUARTER 1st QUARTER

Patricia always goes above and beyond with little recognition! When you come into Grant, she is ALWAYS with one of the gals we support, helping on the floor and expressing how important it is that a PC genuinely know their people.  When one of our residents passed, and during the decline, she made sure staff was able to say final goodbyes.  She creatively compassionately advocates with and not for residents, thinking of the best-case scenario when scary things happened.  All around the dedication to be person centered couldn’t be stronger.

Dakota L.

Grant, DSP

We are excited to celebrate Cedar Kaplenk, APC at Rolf Hansen as our Employee of the Year.

When it comes to job performance, promotion of health and safety, demonstrating a positive attitude, maintaining positive relationships, possessing leadership qualities, and dependability, Cedar Kaplenk, APC at Rolf Hansen rises to the top. Benco is proud to announce Cedar as Benco’s 2023 Employee of the Year.

Cedar has a way of being clear, supportive, responsive, and empowering. Throughout the 2023 year, he stepped up in ways that went well beyond expectations. Beyond his support to the residents of RHA, he learned quickly and took on many pieces of program management as a whole. Through consistent actions, Cedar has shown that he believes in the right for the people supported to experience life to the fullest – even if that looks messy, risky, or different, and even if that creates more challenges for him. He shows up during extremely hard times and makes things work that no one else could.

Cedar has been willing to sit in on any meeting, initiate conversations with legal representatives, and provide clear guidance and advocacy around important issues.  His technical support and trip planning skills have not only been an asset to those supported at Rolf Hansen but have extended to the RHA team, family members, and outside agencies. 

Cedar uses solution-oriented thinking and always takes the time to show that what is important to others is important to him.  This has inspired everyone who works alongside Cedar and demonstrates his commitment to Benco’s values and motto of “Caring Without Limits.”

The Benco Board of Directors would like to thank our Benco team for their perseverance and dedication to the people and mission of Benco.  The recent ice storm brought a halt to normal operations, but that didn’t deter the Benco staff from protecting those in our services.  The ice storm – and all emergency situations – can shake us up but they held up the quality of services while navigating personal and professional challenges. 

When our job is caretaking, it can create extra pressure to solve problems to overcome!  Our Benco staff did that!

At our board meeting this week we heard of the creativity and determination to keep our programs running and residents well served and safe. We heard that some employees with four-wheel drive vehicles helped other employees who needed a ride.

We heard some staff extended their shift to stay with the residents to make sure there was 24-hour coverage, sacrificing time with their own families. 

We heard Benco employees navigated power outages, adjusted routines, got creative with meals and indoor activities, and more! 

This devotion to each person in our services and our organization has not gone unnoticed! Thank you so much!

Responding to emergency situations also requires careful balance.  Please join us in thanking our Benco team and encourage them to take good care of each other and themselves in the next few weeks. 

With appreciation,

The Benco Board of Directors