This award was created to recognize the long term dedication of employees who share the same spirit as the namesake of the award. Claudia Thomas dedicated her life to helping others. She genuinely embodied the Advocacy Links mission statement of advocating for people who need help, connecting people to fiscally responsible resources and respecting everyone in the process. This was true both in her professional and personal life. All recipients of this esteemed award must meet the following qualifications:
- Worked at Advocacy Links for more than 10 years
- Worked in the field of developmental disabilities for more than 20 years
- Evidence of commitment to helping others in both personal and professional life
- Employee in good standing
The 2024 winner of the Claudia Claurice Marie Thomas Memorial Lifetime Achievement Award is Heather Van Ness.
Heather studied Human Services Management at Indiana Institute of Technology. She has held various positions in the Human Services field including direct care, training personnel, managerial support, programming support, administrative support, Vice President of Information and Data; Office Manager; Medicaid Waiver Case Manager Designee.
Heather joined Advocacy Links in March 2013 as the Business Manager where she has maintained this position over the course of time. Throughout her tenure, Heather’s position has morphed as the company’s needs have as well to absorb Human Resource responsibilities in addition to accounting, payroll, etc.
Heather brings unique skills to Advocacy Links but also supports her community with these specialized skills: American Heart Association Basic Life Saving Instructor, Commercial Driver’s License, Scouting America Parent Volunteer and Leader, Habitat for Humanity, Registered Notary Public, Court Appointed Special Advocates, Kids Market, Board of Directors for LTLJ Ministries.
Three different individuals submitted nominations for Heather to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award. Here are their submissions:
- Heather routinely goes above and beyond to help others. Heather could hide behind her computer, but she has chosen to step out of her comfort zone to make sure every Wrap kid has their needs met whether that means taking some extra phone calls/ answering e-mails when staff are sick, submitting referrals, and helping with the extra “computer stuff,” that are a part of a facilitator role, but take a huge weight off our shoulders when we are short staffed. Heather takes meetings with administration at the state level such as DCS and DMHA to ensure that we are meeting state standards, we get the training we need, and that if there is something wrong in the system it can hopefully be fixed. Heather has also used her skills to advocate for change for wrap kids at the state level, by showing data to back us up.
“Be the woman you needed as a little girl,” by Jayne Moore. Heather has quietly been a force not only for her younger self, but for all of the youth we serve.
- Though Heather doesn’t work directly with the partnerships, she ensures that our team is on track with no missing information and to answer any questions our team has regarding Wraparound policies or procedures. Heather is selfless, dependable, reliable and an all-around amazing coworker! She goes WAY above and beyond for our team and I am sure I speak for everyone when I say she is truly amazing, and we wouldn’t know what to do without her!
- I am always impressed by Heather trying to be part of the team. She attends staff meetings and tries to learn what we do. She is open to discussion about concerns and can provide well rounded explanations. And Heather helps to focus staff on why we are here by providing constructive feedback during meetings. She is always professional but has a good sense of humor.
Advocacy Links continues to exist because of Heather’s knowledge, experience and dedication to quality services. We are so privileged to have shared the past decade with Heather and look forward to the future working alongside Heather. We want to acknowledge Heather’s skills, abilities, attitude and work ethic as they align with other professionals who have received this esteemed award.