Director is Earl Walden Award Winner
Nominated by her Statewide Independent Living Council (SILC), Joyanna Geisler (left) is said to have a no nonsense attitude about Independent Living. In 1992, Joyanna started the Independent Living Center in Homer. Her core service area is the Kenai Peninsula, with outreach to Kodiak Island and Prince William Sound Communities. In the beginning and for a few years that followed, Joyanna did the work of several people. The Center grew slowly as she advocated for additional resources with DVR and the SILC to serve her area. Today, ILC is a well-respected agency, with offices in three communities and fourteen employees.
Working to transition consumers out of nursing homes is one of Joyanna’s passions. She and her staff are experienced in advocating on behalf of individuals with disabilities and work tirelessly to help acquire the services and benefits to which individuals are entitled and that will allow them to move back into their communities. To ensure a transition is safe and successful, the ILC team works closely with families and individuals, nursing home and long-term care staff as well as medical treating professionals.
Under Joyanna’s Leadership, ILC has been instrumental in affecting disability policy on both a state and federal level. As a systems advocate, Joyanna chaired the statewide committee that brought consumer-directed personal assistance services to thousands of Alaskans. She also led the charge to get her fellow directors and the SILC to work together, share information, and leverage the power of IL into a force to be reckoned with!
The Transportation voucher program that Joyanna instituted is one of the finest examples of a consumer-controlled program in the state. In conjunction with the Alaska Department of transportation and area taxi companies, ILC offers a voucher system that pays for transportation to doctor’s visits, shopping, or just for mobility. This is one of the most popular of the Center’s programs, having fewer restrictions than many transportation programs. It allows users to call for a ride on demand rather than having to schedule in advance.
ILC maintain a presence in the Peninsula School system by offering youth with disabilities and other high risk kids the opportunity for intensive training in basic work skills. Students learn the importance of appearance, punctuality, and accountability in the work place. Joyanna and her staff works with the local Chambers of Commerce to introduce the program to area employers. The program offers employers a guarantee that graduates are well acquainted with expectations in the workplace.
Nominated with pride and admiration of her work as a rural CIL Director, SILC Executive Director Patrick Reinhart says, “I cannot imagine a more deserving advocate and harder worker when it comes to promoting IL in rural Alaska.”
Top of Page
In Soldotna, New Staff... Same Great Service
New talents coordinator inSoldotna
Hello to all of you. My name is Laurel Frison and I’m returning to work at the Independent Living Center after a break of about 3 ½ years. I was born and raised in Seward, spent a great deal of my life in the Mat-Su Valley and have been living on the Peninsula for about 11 years now. Through ILC I will be working with high school students in the Kenai/Soldotna area doing a program called TALENTS, teaching them skills to transition from school, to work, and living on their own. I’ve enjoyed seeing consumers I knew in the past and looking forward to meeting lots of new people.
Assistive Technology Specialist in Soldotna
My name is Michael Christian. I am the newly hired Assistive Technology (AT) Specialist and TRAILS Co-Coordinator for the Central Peninsula office. The Kenai Peninsula has been my home for over 10 years. I grew up in Whitefish, Montana, and moved to the Peninsula shortly after receiving my B.S. in Anthropology from Montana State University (Bozeman, MT) in 1997. I am an avid outdoorsman, enjoying such activities as hunting, fishing, mountaineering, cross-country skiing, mountain biking, and sea kayaking. My relationship with ILC began as a consumer. I myself am legally blind with Macular Degeneration, and have benefited greatly from ILC services. Now, I find myself in a role I have long wanted to be in. I am extremely passionate in my desire to help others unlock life’s possibilities through AT and recreation. I am currently pursuing national certification as an Assistive Technology Practitioner. I have received training from California State University Northridge, and have started my rounds of the nations leading AT conferences. I continually expand my network of relationships and resources in the field of AT, and keep my finger on the pulse of AT’s latest and future developments. Using AT in my own everyday life gives me a unique and valuable perspective in providing AT services to others. I focus on what people CAN do, not what they can’t do.
Masst worker in soldotna
My name is Gene Earl, after 45 years of welding, then getting hurt and disabled I have found that I really like my new opportunity working at the ILC in Soldotna.
I worked my whole life ranching, cowboying, in the navy, then to oilfield specialty welding. This has really been a big change for me. I will be providing office support in the Soldotna office through the Mature Alaskans Seeking Skills Training (MASST) program until completing computer skills training, then I hope to become an “official” employee of the ILC.
New Talents and Trails Assistant In Soldotna
Hi! My name is Joyce Williams. I was born and raised in Maine. I lived there until I was in my thirties, when I decided to move to Alaska. I have three grown children, two living here in Alaska and one in Maine. I have five grandchildren, three boys and two girls. All are living here except for one granddaughter, who lives in Maine.
Prior to moving to Alaska, I worked in the woods cutting trees, was a sawyer, welder, worked as an adult basic education teacher, and ran a women’s shelter. I homesteaded, raising sheep, goats, pigs, chickens and rabbits. I sheered my own sheep, spun the wool, then knit or wove the yarn in various articles of clothing or rugs. We lived a mile in the woods, no running water nor electricity.
Since moving to Alaska I have worked at CIP (a fish processing plant), substitute taught for a year, worked at KPC in the learning center as the Co-coordinator of the Family Literacy Program and Parent/Child Activity Specialist. I then worked for Frontier Community Services (FCS) for 9 years in a variety of positions, such as residential manager, care coordinator, activities coordinator, vocational manager and various others positions through the years. After FCS, I assisted in starting a new company, CAPS, which provided services to individuals with disabilities, as a care coordinator. Now I am here at ILC doing the TALENTS program, the RecWorks program, and assisting with TRAILS. I am very excited to be here and love my job. I enjoy working with people in a way that promotes independence verses dependence. It is very refreshing.
Top of Page
Inside Seward ILC, New Staff but same comprehensive Service
“Nana” retires
ILC bid a fond farewell this past October to long time employee Jean Sether. Jean was Office Support staff at ILC-Seward from July, 1999, until she retired at the end of October, 2007. Beyond providing clerical support, Jean’s presence in the Seward office for more than 8 years was priceless to ILC. After operating a day care in Seward for many years, called “Nana’s Nuggets,” Jean was already well known in the community before she came to ILC. Her familiar, welcoming personality was a link to establishing ILC in Seward, and proved to be an asset over the years. Better known to most as “Nana”, Jean will be missed by consumers and staff alike. But there’s a happy ending … fortunately for all of us, Nana now volunteers as a member of ILC’s Board of Directors!
If you’re reading this Nana, thank you for many dedicated years and continuing service to ILC. We appreciate the giving, sincere human being you are.
New TRAILS staff
My name is Dee Dee Borodychuk. I became a resident of Alaska in April of 1995. I lived in Cordova for 2 years Fairbanks for 5 years and on the Peninsula for almost 6 years. I have been working professionally with individuals with disabilities for 10 years. I bring enthusiasm and willingness to the TRAILS program. Total Recreation And Independent Living Services, is an inclusive recreation program for people and families with disabilities of all ages. I am dedicated to assist this program in opening up recreation, community and social activities to everyone. I am motivated to plan and host many exciting social and recreational activities and events for individuals and their families. Recreation gives all of us an opportunity to have fun, to grow, gain confidence, and socialize. I am excited to be part of T.R.A.I.L.S. to provide opportunities for non-disabled individuals to work and play along side their peers with disabilities.
New IL Specialist in Seward
Hi, my name is Ola Johnson. I am a native born Alaskan from a long line of Alaskans going back to my great-grandmother who was raised in an Aleut village on Afognak. I was born in and grew up on the waters of Kodiak. My mother’s family utilized subsistence fishing to supplement their incomes. My father is a life long mariner and has sailed around the world numerous times in the days when the sailing ships provided the bulk of world commerce.
I returned full time to Alaska just this past year. I have spent the past 30+ years in WA State as a nurse, and former business owner. I raised my 4 children in Washington State and have 4 grandchildren there too.
I have a love of hand tools. I am not sure why. But in my storage unit back in WA, I have lots of automotive tools, woodworking and yard tools. Many of which I do not know how to use!
Besides my family, my loves include the color pink, old cars, all different kinds of art, history, gardening, sewing, the out-of-doors and hiking. I adore the smell of the sea, and I love big ships and little boats. If I am sailing or on the water in almost any situation, I am in my bliss. I am happy to be making my permanent home in Seward, and I look forward to spending more time on the waterfront and the bay as time/money allows.
It is a pleasure to be back at home and to be working with the wonderful people and consumers @ IL. I greatly appreciate the opportunity to be an employee of IL. I look forward to learning from all of you and gaining experience and insight into my new position here.
Top of Page
Two New Staff in Homer Office
New independent living and vision specialist
Annie Williams, a 28 year resident of Homer, has recently redefined her career for the umpteenth time to join the Homer Independent Living staff. In semi-recent years Annie has worked for ERA Aviation as a stellar ticket agent, and for Homer Head Start as a tone-deaf bus driver and insubordinate family advocate. What Annie does best, however, is be a mom to her two children (Christian, 11, and Lindsay, 18.) An art major from the University of Iowa, Annie expresses her creativity by rearranging furniture and other heavy objects into interesting patterns. Annie’s strengths include her uncanny sense of direction, her ability to whip up delectable dinners out of thin air, and her kind and gentle manner. Annie is partial to English Breakfast tea and toast, and her favorite movie is Gigi. She finds Irish accents attractive, but hasn’t left the country in over thirteen years. Supportive, innovative, and caring, Annie has a light-hearted air about her that touches all in her presence. Annie will be working as the Center’s Vision and Independent Living Specialist in the Homer office.
New recreation specialist
Hi, my name is Tela O’Donnell and I will be organizing activities for the T.R.A.I.L.S program. I will tell you a little about myself and I hope you will set up a time to come into the ILC office and do the same as well as work with me to get some great activities going.
I was born and raised right here in Homer. More recently, I lived in Oregon, Colorado, and Connecticut in pursuit of education and athletics. I am a graduate of Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut where I received a BA in Psychology with a minor in Visual Studies. I also had some success in wrestling including participating in the 2004 Olympics in Athens Greece. Now living in Homer, and I am happy to be back to raise my son Raiden in this a unique and special environment.
I love all activities outdoors, animals (especially horses and dogs), and I enjoy doing activities and projects with others. With regard to my interests—it is clear that I am thrilled to be a part of the T.R.A.I.L.S program!
Top of Page
