www.nhtc.org Our goal is to help others reach theirs. Spring 2015

After an extensivenationwide search,Northern Hills

Training Center has se-lected Richard Mulholland

of Laredo, Texas as our new Chief Executive Officer. Hebegan with NHTC on December 15, 2014. Mulhollandbrings a depth of leadership experience, as he was employedwith the United States Department of Justice for 24years. His experience of overseeing three offices and 125employees will benefit NHTC, its employees and the peoplewe serve. Mulholland is committed to building a culture ofteamwork and mutual respect among the people we serve,

the leadership team, employees, parents, guardians, and thecommunities we serve. He is focused on excellence in all as-pects of our organization including service, quality, andteamwork as well as making NHTC an employer of choicewithin the Northern Hills.

Mulholland has been involved in the South Dakota andNational Special Olympics as a parent of an athlete and asa coach. In accepting this position, he stated, “I look forwardto becoming part of the Northern Hills Training Centerfamily and continuing its long history of enhancing the livesof the people supported and helping them achieve theirdreams. My family and I look forward to moving toSpearfish and becoming part of this wonderful community.”

NHTC welcomes newChief Executive Officer

Eric Bowers and Josh Steinhauer were invited to participate in a Self-Advocacy Project on Tuesday, December 9, 2014.This activity was a final project for BHSU students, Celeste Warne and Rockiel Akason, both Special EducationMajors. The project theme was to discuss the self-advocacy movement from the 1980s through today and what the

movement means for future educators. Eric and Josh were asked toanswer the following questions:

> What is your view about Self-Advocacy? What does it mean to you to be a self-advocate?

> What things are part of your daily life because you have the self-advocacy skills you learned at Partners in Policymaking?

> What could a teacher do to help students develop more self-advocacy skills so that students with disabilities can be more independent when they graduate?

Self-Advocacy continued on page 6Josh and Eric

Self-Advocacy with Eric and Josh

Northern Hills Training Center New Directions U www.nhtc.org2

We are experiencing some excitingnew changes here at NHTC. Our staffis taking steps to becoming more effi-cient to better serve the people wesupport. There is a new climate ofteamwork growing at NHTC and ourfuture looks very bright.

We anticipate our new building being completed by theend of March, and are looking forward to this new locationfor our Connections program. The main building will alsoundergo some improvements with a nurse’s examinationroom and improved use of office space. All of these changeswill provide better support to the people we serve.

I’m very happy to be here. As I continue to meet people, Iinvite you to stop by and introduce yourself.

Richard S. Mulholland, CEO

New Directions is published four times ayear for friends of Northern Hills TrainingCenter, a nonprofit organization that pro-vides vocational and independent livingservices to empower adults with disabilities,encouraging all to strive for their ultimatepotential in all aspects of their lives. Permis-sion to copy articles is granted, when appro-priate credit is given. NHTC does not givelegal or tax advice. For this information,contact your attorney or tax advisor.

NHTC Board of DirectorsShawn Rost, President

Greg Kruskamp, Vice PresidentKaren Bridges, Secretary/TreasurerEd Furois, Don Aaker, Russ Graesser

Rich MulhollandChief Executive Officer

Sandra NelsonChief Financial Officer

Dean ReuerInformation Technology

Mackenzie Aalbu, RNDirector of Nursing

Chris DavisNHTC Public Relations

Rachel AdamAdministrative Assistant

Shelly BakebergAccounting Specialist

Gary PummelProgram Manager, Tinton

Ryan AalbuProgram Manager, Harvard

Laura WendlandDirector of Service Coordination

Deb LeigeQuality Management Coordinator

Dan CrossStaff Development Coordinator

Julie LewandowskiVocational Aide

Cheryl Rohlf and Amy MackProgram Managers – Residential

April GaleaProgram Manager – Treasures & Connections

Administration, Workshop625 Harvard Street

Spearfish, SD 57783-1897605-642-2785 Fax: 605-642-5069

Email: romkema@nhtc.orgWebsite: www.nhtc.org

NHTC Connections522 W. Jackson 605-569-0987

Treasures Thrift Store714 N. 5th St. 605-722-1046

Housing730 Harvard 605-559-0201

Cypress Suites 605-559-01411005 Canyon Street 605-717-10051015 Canyon Street 605-717-1015

King Street Apartments 605-559-6503815 34th Street 605-717-8150

Ryan Road Apartments1620 Ryan Road 605-717-1620

Hill Street ApartmentsHill Street Main Floor 605-717-7287Hill Street Supervised 605-559-0363

NHTC NORTHERN HILLSTRAINING CENTER

Message from the CEO

February 19Parent/Guardian

meeting

February 22Special Olympics

Polar Plunge

May 2NHTC Run & Ride

October 20Chili Feed

If you would like to receive our newsletter electronically, sign up at www.nhtc.orgIf you are a member of Facebook, view the NHTC Facebook page

by searching for Northern Hills Training Center.

UpcomingEvents

Congratulations are in order…Blue Diamond Award Winner

2014 Fourth Quarter:Pam Schroeder, DSP

Nominees:Courtney BunchBrianna DontjeHunter KunerthConnections staffKaylene DanielsonPam SchroederLexi McGuire

125 Mile Challenge Participants:Diana Treadway

Jackie JuhalaTodd Fossen

Cade CampbellDaphne Loup

Kaylene DanielsonKelli Leitner

Tacey DunwoodyMarcie Holben

Chris DavisJessica Frost

3Northern Hills Training Center New Directions U www.nhtc.org

Holly EstergardAchiever of the Year

Rita HerseySpirit of NHTC

Northern Hills Training Center New Directions U www.nhtc.org4

Banquet

Bottom left: Lee Jay’s speech

Bottom right: Ammee and Dan

Community PatronMitchell & JoAnna Mechaley

Employer of the YearBlack Hills Honey Farm crew

Val, Carla and Kasha

Northern Hills Training Center New Directions U www.nhtc.org 5

Christmas

Left column, top to bottom:–– Donna and Santa–– Rich and Tammy serving chili–– Presents under the tree

Right column, top to bottom:–– Holy family and Wisemen (Christmas play)–– Enjoying the meal–– Room view

6 Northern Hills Training Center New Directions U www.nhtc.org

Self-Advocacycontinued from page 1

As part of Northern Hills Training Center’s certification as a Community Support Provider, we must be incompliance with the Administrative Rules of South Dakota and have a quality accreditation review. TheCouncil on Quality and Leadership (CQL) is the entity which reviews our quality of services through ac-

creditation. Since the onsite review conducted on May 21-24, 2014, NHTC has been working on a four-year PersonCentered Excellence Plan as part of our quality accreditation. The plan goals include: assisting people to managetheir supports and providers, keeping the workforce stable and qualified, and keeping the public informed about theagency’s supports and services. In addition, NHTC must continually show compliance with CQL’s Basic Assurances,which are the actions taken to ensure the health, safety and human security of all people we support.

On December 18, 2014 NHTC’s Leadership Team and Service Coordinators participated in an 18-month fol-low-up call to review progress on the goals and make sure NHTC continues to be in compliance with all Basic As-surances. The follow-up review was successful both in terms of the continued quality of NHTC’s services and in thecooperative effort between NHTC and CQL in sharing resources and technical assistance. NHTC will maintainCQL Accreditation through approximately May 2017 when a new accreditation cycle will begin.

Congratulations and thanks are extended to all staff of NHTC for their continuing hard work in providing thebest quality services to the people we support!

Council on Quality and Leadership 18-month report

In Rockiel ‘s words, “Knowingabout ‘the cliff ’ that some studentswith disabilities experience, I knewthat sharing about what Josh andEric are doing on a daily basiswould help my peers, who are alleducation majors as this is an entrylevel course, understand what lifeis like for students with disabilitiesafter high school. I was hopingthat it would help them see the types of conversations and interactionsto be a part of with students that have disabilities, so as to foster theirindependence. Josh and Eric were a huge hit! They answered questionshonestly and effectively. I would also like to thank Lisa Merchen andLorie Steinhauer for being such wonderful advocates and comingalong. They had many valuable parent and educator stories that thewhole thing ended up a huge home run!”

Celeste and Rockiel received 100% on their project.

Above: Josh and Eric address the class

Eric Bowers speaking

Northern Hills Training Center New Directions U www.nhtc.org 7

Thank you to our donors:October 22, 2014 - January 25, 2015

Builder ($1000-4999)

Juneks Chrysler Dodge

Our Savior’s Lutheran Church

Marjorie Morker

Steve & Lea Anderson

Bob & Neely Fox

Richard and Linda Meyer

Advocate ($150-499)

Edwin Baker

Jim Hood

George Feist

David & Carole Cuny

Boyd Waara

Black Hills Federal Credit Union

Richard & Alice Voorhees

Marvin & Kay Wermers

Sustainer ($500-999)

Spearfish Walmart

Friend ($50-149)

Karen Simmons

Marcella Gunderson

Gene & Diane Haivala

William Jordan

Clara Christensen

Jane Dowdy

Mark’s Old School Barber Shop

Sandra Merchen

Sarah Nelson

William & Patricia Ohnemus

Deb Sanford

Neighbor ($1-49)

Timothy & Judy Hodson

Dustin & Debra Day

Pat & Molly SalconeHelp save postage and printing costs!Receive NHTC’s newsletter, “New Directions,” byemail or read it on-line. Either option is available byvisiting www.nhtc.org. Be sure to let Rachel know ifyou no longer wish to have the newsletter sent toyou at your postal address. radam@nhtc.org or 605-642-2785, Ext. 201.

Thank You For ThinkingOf NHTC

and donating to NHTC and

Friends of NHTCFoundation

Christle Robinsonfor adult briefs

Jerry Krambeckfor janitorial carts

and refuse bins

Our Savior’s Lutheran Church

for quilts

Steve and Lea Anderson

for 19 pairs of gloves

625 Harvard Street • Spearfish, SD 57783-1897

Non-Profit OrganizationU.S. Postage

PAIDPermit No. 51

Spearfish, SD 57783

Are We Connecting?Please let us know if we need to correct or deleteyour address on our mailing list. Contact Rachelat 605-642-2785, ext. 201 or email your ad-dress changes to: radam@nhtc.org

This transit agency is committed to providing non-discriminatory service. To request more information or to file a discrimination complaint, contact this transitagency or the South Dakota Department of Transportation at (605) 773-3574.

This institution is an equal opportunityprovider and employer.

NHTC Run & Ride4 Mile Run

12 Mile Bike4 Mile Run

www.active.com or visit our website at www.nhtc.org

Saturday, May 2Saturday, May 2

and click on the NHTC Run & Ride button

Northern Hills Training Center ~ 625 Harvard Street

Registration from 7 to 8amEvent begins at 8:30am

Open to individuals or 2-3 person teams

Register Online at: