At WesleyLife, organizational culture is formed in the ways team members connect with the people they serve, and with one another. Chief Culture Officer Kristy VanDerWiel connected today with a team member at Edgewater, our Community for Healthy Living in West Des Moines, to let her know WesleyLife is thinking of her and her family during a globally tumultuous time.
Oksana Holbrook, a charge nurse in Edgewater's health center, is from Ukraine, and some of her family members remain there and in Russia. Kristy heard about Oksana's situation and put together a gift basket for her and delivered it today.
"It's important for us to show our support for all of the people who are impacted by the conflict in Ukraine and across the European Union," Kristy says. "Our team members who are affected by this conflict continue to support our residents and clients despite what must be constant worry about loved ones. We want to demonstrate our care, concern, and appreciation for them."
Oksana says she is able to be in contact with her family members in both Ukraine and Russia, but concedes she's never free from concern. "I'm able to talk to them for now and they are safe, but that may change," she says. "For me, sleeping isn't easy right now."
WesleyLife will stand in solidarity with Oksana and other impacted team members via an organizational day of support on March 31. Team members will wear blue and yellow, Ukraine's national colors, as well as stickers and pins shaped like sunflowers -- Ukraine's national flower, one of its primary exports in the form of sunflower oil, and a worldwide symbol of peace.
"Showing our support is the least we can do," Kristy says. "We value all our team members, as each diverse experience and viewpoint that is shared adds to the foundation of our culture and is vital to the continued success of our organization.
"WesleyLife's 1,800-plus team members represent a broad spectrum of perspectives, backgrounds, abilities, and beliefs, and we do our best work when we learn from and share with one another."
