Tammy Burke and Susan Baitinger, the Administrative Assistants and the smiling faces that greet you upon entering the main office, are greatly appreciated by all of us at RISE Housing and Support Services. We are especially grateful for all they did and continue do for us to manage the changes due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. Functioning together as a team, they were essential in keeping things up and running when New York State was put on pause and the shelter in place orders were issued. “They were the glue that held us all together,” said Sybil Newell, RISE Executive Director, while reflecting on all Tammy and Susan did when the pandemic first started.
Of all their duties, Tammy and Susan feel that greeting people who come to the main office and being a live voice on the phone for people who call are the most essential, especially when things were so uncertain due to Covid-19. Susan says, “It was such a confusing time. It felt good to be a familiar face and a common factor to help bring calm in a time of chaos.” Tammy agrees, saying, “We were here every day to help provide a continuity of service for our clients, especially those experiencing crises, when so much of the staff was working remotely.”
Tammy and Susan were responsible for so many of the things that allowed RISE to continue to provide services during that time of uncertainty. Together they searched for, ordered, and figured out how to distribute essential supplies that became scarce and hard to obtain due to Covid-19. These supplies included personal protective equipment, such as masks and gloves, hand sanitizer, and cleaning products. Tammy and Susan both agree that one of the most important things they did during that time was creating the “Pandemic Phone List,” which allowed them to easily access staff working remotely in order to connect them to people seeking services. Tammy says, “It gave me peace of mind knowing Susan and I had a way to readily access staff who working remotely.
Tammy and Susan are to be commended for a job well done, especially since they both were so new to RISE when the pandemic hit. Susan started with the agency in January and Tammy a month later in February. They were both just beginning to become acclimated to their jobs and the duties they were to perform when the upheaval of the pandemic hit. Now that things have settled into the “new normal,” they have developed a routine and are grateful to be working together and available to back each other up when needed.
Tammy is the Administrative Assistant for RISE Administration. She is responsible for a myriad of things including scheduling meetings, taking minutes, and record keeping. She orders and organizes office supplies for the administration and the programs housed in the main office. She is also responsible for keeping track of agency forms, public records, and things like maintaining a list of current employee drivers licenses and insurance cards.
Susan is the Administrative Assistant for the RISE Programs. She orders supplies for Care Management and the programs located in various houses in the community. She keeps track of and gives out gift cards to the the people Care Management serves. She also does things like maintaining the inspections, registrations, and insurance for all the agency vehicles.
Both Tammy and Susan say they are proud to be a part of RISE and we at RISE are grateful to have them be a part of our agency. Tammy says that she enjoys her job because the human services aspect of it keeps it interesting and says, “Everyday I get to learn, see, and do something different.” Susan says, “RISE is a welcoming and comfortable place to be and I enjoys coming to work everyday.” They both say, “It feels good working for an agency where we gets to help others.”