Essential Piece of the Puzzle Cant Imagine Us Without You

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Essential Piece of the PuzzleCant Imagine Us
Without You

• August 2008
• Staff Appreciation

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Maria Bonett

• Family
• My mother, father, and one brother, Russell,
  live in Houston under the same roof. Another
  brother, David, and his partner Paul live in
  Houston near NASA.
• One sister, Denise, lives in California with her
  husband and children, and another sister,
  Frances, also lives in California. My sister
  Rosemary is a free spirit who lives wherever
  shes guided.
• Ive created many families other than my nuclear
  family and Bobbie, my kitty, is the best
  companion ever. ?

Hobbies Anything that allows me to explore and
enjoy all my senses, connect with nature,
sunshine, water, share energy and have fun! I
also really enjoy music I dance, play the piano
and sing (now, only for my own enjoyment). ?
An Interesting Fact Im a Reiki Master/Teacher
who is working on becoming self-employed. ?
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Maria Bonett
Im Internship Coordinator and Workshop
Facilitator. I started contracting with the
Larimer County Workforce Center in 1995 and came
on officially, I think, in 2000.
I see my role as one of student and facilitator,
mentor and teacher. I like the concept of each
one teach one and believe we get a chance to do
that daily.
I enjoy helping people get excited about
themselves and remembering who they are.
What Do You Wish More People Knew About the Job
You Do? Im not sure what I would like them to
know about me or the job I do, but I am committed
to walking my talk and being the love that I
amIm working on it and hope when its time to
move on Ive been able to model that.
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Dulce Alire
Family My husband I have been together for 12
years (wow) and happily married for 4 years. We
have two beautiful children.Jesenia 11 years old
and lil Alejandro, 8 years old. My husband
Alejandro does a lot of traveling for his job, so
when he is home, we do a lot family oriented
activities.plus he catches up on his
honey-do-list. Most recently, the kids and I
have enjoyed having Alejandro home.
In my free time (like I have any) I spend time
with my children and their activitiesbaseball,
basketball, girl scouts Ballet Florklorico.
When I can squeeze some free time in for my
self, I enjoy peaceful walks, reading books,
spending time with friends and family, baking,
shopping and listening to oldies and Mariachi
music.
Ive lived in Fort Collins almost all my life.
For about 6 six years we lived in Windsor, but
then we came back to the big city. The most
memorable thing that sticks out in my mind
(besides my wedding day and my children being
born) is when I FINALLY made it to visit Mickey
Mouse at Disney Land last year. I dont know who
had more fun, my kids or me
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Dulce Alire

Dulce is an Employment Specialist and has been
with LCWC for 7 years. She assists job seekers
with all aspects of job searching, including
resume consultation/assistance, labor market
information, registration assistance, computer
lab support (MS Word, e-mails, and job
applications), Unemployment Insurance Benefits
and community resource information.
Seven years ago I started out as a member of the
Clerical Support team. A few years later, a
position became available on the job seeker team.
At that time, I had been helping the job seeker
team with some related duties, enjoyed helping
customers and knew I wanted to be part of their
team permanently. So I applied for the job and
got it.
What Part of Your Job Do You Most Enjoy? The
people contact, the variety of the job each day
and the satisfaction that I have helped one more
person in the community.
What Do You Wish More People Knew About the Job
You Do? Our jobs can be challenging at times but
rewarding when you can make a difference.
Thank You! Thank you to everyone for keeping us
in your thoughts and prayers throughout my
husbands recent injury and ongoing recovery.
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Martha Haffner
Family Martha is married to Gerald, who took an
early retirement and now has an expensive hobby
farming!
Im a native Coloradoan from Keenesburg - Yes,
definitely a Burg.
Pets Lots of cows, a cat named Black Cat, and a
box turtle who lives in the back yard.
Martha is a huge fan of the Colorado Eagles! Go
Eagles!
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Martha Haffner
Martha is a Business Services Consultant at the
LCWC, and is the Construction Industry Specialist.
What Drew You to This Line of Work? I was
originally hired under some special grant money
to provide employment for the needy.
What Part of Your Job do You Most Enjoy? My
Coworkers.
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Family Husband John, Son John Paul, and my mother
Jessie Schanck lives with me. We have a black pug
named Tiazo and some fish.
Jessie Mae Hendrickson
Hobbies I love to read. I love to type. I love to
work on a book I have been trying to write
forever. I love to volunteer my time to services
in the community. I am connected with Partners
Youth Mentoring and I take youth who havent been
connected to a Mentor yet on various fun
activities once or twice a month. Its very
rewarding and fun. I love to spend time tutoring
and playing with my 4 year old son.

• More about Jessie Mae
• I am from New Jersey.
• I was an Income Maintenance Tech before coming
  to the WFC.

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Jessie Mae is a Career Counselor for the Works
team and has been with LCWC for two years. She
works with families who have applied for and/or
are receiving TANF or Diversion benefits. Jessie
Mae helps them in their employment and training
goals.
Jessie Mae Hendrickson
What Drew You To This Line of Work? I have
always been the person that my friends and family
members come to for their employment needs. Once
I found out that I could get paid to do this and
I saw an opening I applied.
What Part of Your Job Do You Most Enjoy? I enjoy
developing a rapport with each participant that I
work with. I enjoy keeping up-to-date with the
different jobs that are in our area and the new
jobs being created. I love reading employment
information. I love finding additional resources
for people.
What Do You Wish More People Knew About the Job
You Do? I wish people knew how much this job
means to me. I am privileged everyday to be among
you all.
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Kristina Bulik-Hocum
Family
Im Married to Edward, aka Ted. Ted and I met in
1977 and have been together ever since. Ted works
for GMAC Mortgage. He is probably one the most
knowledgeable mortgage bankers in the Northern
Colorado area. Others, including Laura Olive, who
writes a real estate column for the FC
Coloradoan, call him for his expertise. Ted
played soccer most of his life. He now enjoys
spending his free time reading and as a business
member of Realties for Children, participating in
volunteer events. Ted has a dog named Brutis.
I have three children Chontte, age 37, lives in
Laguna Niguel, California. She works as a
paralegal for a large law firm in southern
California. Her only child is her dog Mia. We
will be flying out to southern California in
mid-August to visit with Chontte. We are to
meet her future husband, Jeff and his parents.
Kristopher, age 23, married Jessica, age 21 in
August 2006. Kristophers life is full of work
and other activities. He is a banker with the
downtown Loveland branch of Chase Banks. He is
self-employed with a company called Quixtar.
Jessica works at PVH. Several Workforce staff
have mentioned to me that they met Jessica when
they were being admitted to the hospital. Jessica
also works part time at T Barr in Wellington. She
has been working there since she was 14 years
old. Kris and Jessica have two dogs and two
cats. Jessica also is a business owner with
Quixtar. Theodore, aka Teddy, age 18 is back at
home after his freshman year at the University of
Wyoming. Teddy is currently working at the new
Staples store scheduled to open the first week in
August. He plans to attend CSU this fall to
continue his education. Teddy is also a business
owner with Quixtar. Teddy has a dog named Nakita.
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Kristina Bulik-Hocum
In regards to the family that I was born into, I
am the fifth of eight children born to Joseph
Bulik and Virginia Buchheim. I was born at home
in Chevy Chase Maryland. My father, of whom I am
very proud, gave most of his adult life in
service to the USA as a member of USSR Unit of
the CIA and later as a member of the middle east
recruitment unit. I was raised in a suburb of
Washington DC (except for the time that the
family lived in Iran). I went to the University
of Maryland for undergraduate studies, and later
went to Chapman College in Orange, California for
graduate studies. I took education classes at Cal
Poly San Bernardino and Drug Alcohol classes at
Citrus Junior College in southern California. I
moved with my family to Colorado in December of
1993.
Though this is not directly about me, it is
interesting. My dad was a spy. He is included in
the PBS Spy series. He is also included in the
book The Spy Who Saved The World. It is about the
greatest spy of the cold war, Oleg Penkovsky. My
father worked on this case.
As my life stages have changed, so have my
interests and hobbies changed. Throughout my life
I have always been drawn to defending for the
underdog and working for justice. That is why I
am in this line of work. I have served on boards
of womens programs and childcare centers. I was
a Commissioner on the Commission for the Status
of Women in California. I was awarded Outstanding
Woman of the Year in the California community I
lived in. As my children came into my life my
focus changed. My interest moved to be around
their lives. This included being Cub Scout den
leader and Boy Scout scoutmaster. Yes, I was in
boy scouts for over ten years. I have
taught/lead a Stephen Ministry program and
participated in and facilitated a Just Faith
group for a few years. Now I am in a small faith
sharing group centered on social justice. I am in
a weekly book club and the next book for the
group is Gods Politics. Current volunteer
activities are around the upcoming elections. I
am involved in a few campaigns, one of which I am
very involved in.
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Kristina Bulik-Hocum
Hobbies include doing crafts, gardening, skiing,
biking, watching good movies, dancing and
listening to good music, and being with large
groups of people with a common purpose.
For me, there comes a time in ones life that one
must take a stand and walk our talk. In
September 2005, I journeyed to our nations
capital to be part of an anti-war march as one of
over 350,000 patriotic citizens. The next day, I
was trained in non-violence resistance (Gandhi
method) in order to be part of a second march the
following day. I had decided to cross the line to
stand up for my belief knowing that I would
probably be arrested for standing up for our US
Constitution and our democracy. Not knowing how
far our current government might take action
against this group of peaceful protestors, which
consisted of many religious leaders, we marched
down Pennsylvania Avenue to cross the barricades
and sit in protest of the war actions of our
government in front of the White House. Many of
you may not know that nobody is allowed to stop
while passing in front of our White House. On
that Monday as I crossed the forbidden line to
join the sit-in protest at the gates of our White
House, a peace came over me. I was once again
free. Of course several hours later I was in hand
cuffs, being taken by bus to a federal jail site
in nearby Virginia. I remember sending post cards
to friends that said On Thursday I toured the
White House, on Saturday I marched in protest of
our governments aggressive actions by the White
House, and on Monday I was arrested at the White
House.
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Kristina Bulik-Hocum
August 1, 1994, I started as Youth Employment
Counselor with the JTPA program. I transferred to
coaching with the welfare program, known as the
New Directions program which later became the
Works Program. For a brief period, I supervised
clerical staff on the second floor in the old
building.
As a Technical Consultant, I work with Works team
members to assist, train, and support them in
knowing program rules, regulations, processes,
career/employment coaching methods, etc. As a
coach, I work with our candidates for employment
in achieving their goals while on the program and
at the same time meeting all the incredible
federal requirements for the program. Coaching
involves career and employment coaching, as well
as life coaching in more aspects of their lives
than can be written here. My personal role is to
attempt to get our team and the agency to think
and act outside of the politically correct boxes
that we sometimes have become enslaved within -
To go beyond the norm and do things
extraordinarily, to drop creative ideas to other
staff members and let them run with them.
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Kristina Bulik-Hocum
What Drew You To This Line of Work? It was a
fluke that started when I moved to California in
1976 to go to graduate school. I needed a job to
support myself and pay for school. I did cold
call walk-in interviews with various
organizations in the towns in southern California
around the city I was temporarily staying at. I
walked into an organization, the West End
Multi-Service Center and asked to speak to the
director/manager. During that informational
interview, I learned all about the CETA program.
It was just prior to a new federal funding year
that had increased budgets. Without a formal
interview, I was offered a job and accepted it. I
started in this line of work in October, 1976.
Without realizing it at first, this work fit my
passion and my values. Social Justice is my
passion. Justice is a key driving value. Through
job training employment programs for the
economically disadvantaged, some of the great and
ever growing economic justice in this country can
be balanced. By empowering others to achieve
their potential through job training, they have a
greater chance to reach a more stable life and
give their children a better life.
What Part of Your Job Do You Most Enjoy? Of
course it is working with our participants and
assisting my team members with their work -
seeing growth in both the participants and the
other coaches. Back to my theme in life of
finding justice and working with the underdog.
There is a reason people end up on our program.
Of course, having kids and being in poverty is a
definite cause and effect. Generally, there is
something going on in or around their life that
is holding them back from being all they can be.
Seeing each participant making breakthroughs is
worth all the long hours on that lovely state
computer system. Also, when training/working with
team members and seeing their passion for this
work - seeing them grow and develop, seeing how
they work with participants, and their special
gifts coming out makes ones day perfect as
perfect can be.
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Kristina Bulik-Hocum
What Do You Wish More People Knew About
You? Normally I would not be writing this, but
of late it has created issues that I just cannot
understand. Life takes on mysterious changes that
are not always fun. In the past year or so, I
have developed allergies and now have a condition
known as Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS).
Most people do not understand this and I surely
do not. I have been told it was due to extended
exposure to mold. When I am in a closed building
or room, and people have fragrances on, I get
soreness in my throat, a bad taste in my mouth,
and my lungs and air passages feel as if they are
closing. Actually, per the instrument that I
have to measure my lung capacity (peak flow
meter), they are closing down. I get runny eyes,
congested, my skin feels odd, and my head feels
foggy. I generally need to use the inhaler to
help clear my airways, though the head fog stays
on for an extended period of time after exposure.
At times, it feels as if someone is strangling me
or sitting on my chest, shutting off airway to my
lungs. Almost two years ago, I was in a car
accident, which left me with permanent damage.
Most days I have pain in my lower neck upper
back area. So if you see me frowning, this is
generally the reason. I do try to remember to
smile through it. I try not to think about it.
Also as part of my allergies, I have developed
allergies so far to a few foods. In October 2007,
I went into anaphylactic shock and was told if I
did not get to the emergency room when I did, I
might not be here today. I am allergic to
sunflower, ginger, parsley, and pumpkin. All
things that I have eaten and do enjoy. Strange
combination of allergies and issues. Perhaps I
need an alignment and an overhaul.