Transparency
Angie Cox (Superhero)
Angie Cox is more than a service coordinator; she is someone who genuinely cares about the people around her, both clients and coworkers. Angie goes above and beyond to serve people with developmental disabilities and their families. She often is working with some of the most difficult cases, but does it with ease. She takes time away from her own life to go out of town to be a support for her clients and families. She is welcoming and approachable and has years of knowledge regarding the regional center, our clients and services. Angie is also that person who will take time if you are having a hard day to talk to you and make sure you are doing ok. Moreover, she cares enough to then follow up with you later. She is a wonderful mom and wife at the same time that she is making a difference in people’s lives every day. Angie is truly a SUPERHERO!
Cori DeWaide (Team Hero)
Cori is patient with every staff member. She helps each staff member grow in their positions by being supportive, loving and caring. She jumps in whenever she feels there is a need to help them out so that they can get the job done as a team. This boss supports friends of her staff, has dignity and respect for their work and outside life. She talks to other staff members about how their lives are going. Cori even shares her life stories and shares her life with staff members and patrons several times a day when she is working.
Crystal Brown (Advocacy Hero)
Crystal has been a People First Helper for over 22 years. In that time, she has touched the lives of many Advocates in Region 2. Crystal has worked behind the scenes to support people to find their voice, to stand up for themselves and each other.
People First Advocates learn leadership skills to become officers. Those officers in turn teach their peers to be members, officers and contribute to their local communities. Some of those Advocates went on to become public speakers on various speaking teams. She supported them to speak to their peers in local presentations, and at conferences locally and statewide.
Some of the Self Advocates in the People First Chapters she supported even went on to become members of the Far Northern Regional Center Board of Directors.
Kathryn Boroff (Barrier Buster Hero)
Kat is the Employment Specialist at FNRC and always goes above and beyond for every single client she works with! She is extremely friendly, kind, generous, and just an overall amazing person. She is always thinking outside the box and coming up with new and inventive ways to assist job placement agencies with finding the best fitting internships for everyone. Kat listens to others ideas and always ensures that everyone feels supported.
Katrina Woodcox (Superhero)
Katrina is the head boss at the ARC of Butte County. She has been a huge positive influence in helping at community events. Not only is she helping run one of the oldest companies servicing people with disabilities in Butte County, she is also a parent to a daughter who is receiving services from Far Northern Regional Center. Katrina is loved and appreciated by everyone around her. She has this unique ability to make everyone feel loved and valued. Katrina is an amazingly wonderful inclusion leadership hero. She has an executive presence that draws in others to be inclusion heroes. In that way, Katrina amplifies her impact. She has dedicated herself to leading Butte County ARC in a manner that is changing so many lives in positive ways. Katrina has a track record of having gotten things done. She has deep knowledge/expertise and deep trustworthiness. This is a powerful combination when it comes to inclusion leadership. Katrina also has a heart and a concern for others. She is a compassionate, empathetic, and approachable person. This is critical for inclusion because it enables people at all levels and from all backgrounds to engage with her.
Lindsey Phillips (Team Hero)
Officer Phillips is employed by Butte Community College, where she coordinates and trains cadets for the California State Parks Academy.
Officer Phillips is a Team Hero in the sense that she goes above and beyond as a leader. She works to ensure that cadets in the program receive additional training and resources to improve enforcement interaction with individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Officer Phillips recognizes the importance of educating her cadets on the wide array of social services that an individual might be connected to. She provides a comfortable learning environment often encouraging questions and thoughts on resource discovery and how new knowledge might be applied once cadets become employed as State Park Officers.
As a Team Hero, Officer Phillips operates with a sense of respect and honor to the community and is someone her cadets can not only learn from but also look up to.
Maria Torres-Altamirano (Advocacy Hero)
Maria is employed as the Education Services Manager with Sierra Cascade Family Opportunities, Head Start/Early Start.
Maria goes above and beyond to ensure that students, parents, teachers, and assistive staff have the tools they need to flourish. Maria recognizes the importance of early support for children with developmental disabilities and is creative and persistent in ensuring each child is set up to feel welcome and ready to learn.
Maria is vocal that she continues to learn and grow within her role and never hesitates to seek new knowledge to better serve her community. Maria possesses a can-do personality and values that every child should have equity in their educational experiences.
Rachel Alwag (Barrier Buster Hero)
Rachel started working with my daughter in October 2023. Our daughter had just gotten her diagnosis of Autism and my husband and I didn’t know where to start. As a daycare provider, she went above and beyond. She did her own research for sensory toys, sensory reduction activities, and treated my daughter like every other kid. My daughter has flourished since being with Rachel and I am so thankful for her.
Wayne Doerning (Everyday Hero)
You are an Everyday Hero who is humble and kind. This is shown in how you treat, respect and honor others daily. That is why you are the go-to person at Far Northern Regional Center and within the community, vendors, agencies and so many others. Everyday Hero’s make others feel safe to talk frankly. They listen and allow others to process without fear of retaliation, judgement or condemnation. Most importantly, Everyday Heroes create a place where others feel comfortable to be themselves without judgement, accepted.