by Char Brooks, Project Healthy Living Coach and Attorney
I knew it was time to honor Kim Hill as Employee of the Month, but interviewing her for this article was frustrating. Why? Because Kim is a woman of few words; she is honest and humble.
However, as the second longest employee here, Kim is a treasure trove of all things ELM. We honor her as Employee of the Month because of her long term service in many different capacities.
Kim originally started with ELM as a Davenport University work study student in 2005. She was part of the intake staff, scheduling appointments for the attorneys. She became part of MiCAFE (Michigan’s Coordinated Access to Food for the Elderly) in 2010 and has worked steadily with MiCAFE to help seniors apply for Bridge Cards.
She now manages our MiCafe call center and makes sure that calls from clients and partners are handled professionally and promptly. Kim is the one in the background making sure that our clients get the information that they need in a timely way and that our staff has the time to give each client appropriate attention. She is the one who sends reminders for clients to recertify their information so that their benefits continue without interruption. She also manages and maintains the paperwork for the volunteer Application Assistants at our 134 partner sites throughout Michigan, who help seniors apply for benefits. In addition, Kim manages and prepares multiple outreach mailings on a monthly basis, completes data compilation and monthly reporting, and other various technological and administrative tasks.
Kim said, “Even though I’m not normally working directly with clients on a daily basis, I know that everything I am doing has an impact on the seniors we serve. It’s very important to remember that.”
One of the most impressive things about Kim is how organized she is. At any given time, you can walk into her office and see that she is hard at work with multiple mailings and projects off to the side of her desk. At the same time there’s a place for everything and she even has color coordinated office supplies.
Kim is also the go to person when you’re looking for something or have a question. She is never too busy to stop what she’s doing and do her best to help you. If she can’t answer your question, she can definitely point you in the right direction.
Because Kim is so modest, I interviewed other employees to learn more about the good work Kim does. One employee said, “Kim was the first employee to welcome me when I started working at ELM. She is very positive and helpful.”
Another employee said, “I feel happy and blessed to work with Kim.”
We are very proud to have Kim as part of the ELM team. Thank you for your many years of service.
Char is a Project Healthy Living Coach and Attorney with Elder Law of Michigan. In January 2013, Char became employed at ELM as an attorney focusing her efforts on writing articles for the blog as well as working on internal communications. Char holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from Michigan State University, and graduated with her Juris Doctor from Thomas M. Cooley Law School over 30 years ago. Prior to joining ELM, Char worked for Michigan Health and Hospital Association as an attorney representing 140 hospitals throughout the state of Michigan in unemployment compensation cases. Char has also received her certification as a Life Coach in 2004. Char is now teaching Project Healthy Living Classes in mid-Michigan and continues writing in various capacities for Elder Law of Michigan.