It was very early in the morning on Thanksgiving of 2022. Molly Dillon, Compliance Officer at Blossom, was covering for COVID-19 check-ins and was experiencing some technical difficulties. The app Blossom uses to perform these check-ins with our aide staff was unresponsive. Molly did not want to bother anyone early on a holiday and attempted to solve the problem on her own by using a different phone to contact our field staff. Cynthia Fernandez, a Staffing Coordinator at Blossom, was working on-call that day and immediately helped Molly when she saw that she was struggling. Cynthia took the lead and made sure all field staff and clients were taken care of over the phone, sacrificing time away from enjoying the holidays with her own family. Cynthia did so with her trademark generous spirit and positive attitude. This act of selflessness is why Cynthia is our 2022 Making the Moment award winner.
Not only did Cynthia Make the Moment on Thanksgiving, but she is always eager to provide help to others. Molly and Cynthia have worked together for several years, and their departments often overlap. Knowing the strong bond that Cynthia has with staff and clients, Molly will often times reach out to Cynthia for assistance during a QA investigation. Cynthia is a ray of light, providing reassurance and peace of mind during what can be a stressful situation. “… I also think it’s really challenging to deliver that level of, you know, just positivity and compassion and patience day after day after day after day, and I think she does a really great job of it.” Molly expresses.
As a Staffing Coordinator, Cynthia's job is like solving a giant puzzle and requires her to wear many hats. In addition to scheduling, matching clients with aides, and replacing call-offs, Cynthia acts as an emotional support system for aides and clients. She is always someone they can confide in and get things off their chest with. Cynthia is a perfect match in this role as she is always willing to help out and has a strong desire to contribute to people’s happiness. In her own words, Cynthia states, “… I think it’s really important to look out for others. Especially when others are in need and they’re down. You know, you never know what effect you will have on somebody.”
Making the Moment is our core purpose here at Blossom. For Cynthia, Making the Moment means giving it your all. She believes Blossom exemplifies Making the Moment by constantly doing the impossible. This was, and still is, especially evident in navigating the pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic brought about many challenges for Blossom. One of the major challenges was finding staff to serve people in need of care, an obstacle Cynthia witnessed first-hand in here role as a Staffing Coordinator. Through the challenges, Cynthia and the Blossom team have responded with perseverance and creative solutions.
Cynthia finds the motivation to persevere and stay positive from her daughter, “…having pictures of my daughter helps out a lot. Yeah, that helps out a lot. Whenever I’m having a stressful day, I just look at her pictures.” Family is everything to Cynthia and she is grateful to come from a large one, “I come from a big family. I come from a family of six of us, three boys, three girls.” Cynthia’s mom moved her family to Rochester from Puerto Rico after a hurricane had devasted their home. Cynthia is appreciative of all the opportunities the move has granted her and her family.
Cynthia carries her value of family into the workplace and is a living example of our core value, Extending the Family. Just recently, Cynthia reached out to an old client to check up on her and show her that she cared, “For example, I had a client I haven’t talked to in a few months since the holiday last year. You know when I called her the other day I said ‘hey I know you’re getting great services I know I haven’t talked to you in a while. I just wanna make sure you’re okay and that I am thinking about you.’” Here at Blossom, we want to thank Cynthia for all her moments with us and congratulate her on receiving the incredibly well-deserved Making the Moment award of 2022.