Our Staff is Our Treasure, and two are CCKids GEMS

July 24, 2024

Communities Connected for Kids' recognized two more members of staff this month for extraordinary work. Yulanda Baldwin and Emma Beninda received this quarter’s Going the Extra Mile – or GEM – Award.

Baldwin is the supervisor in CCKids' Road to Success office, which helps young people in foster care transition into adulthood. She was nominated by her supervisor, Caryn Toole, for her leadership, and received the award in the Ruby Division, which covers program and administrative staff.

"Yulanda consistently goes above and beyond for her clients and her staff," Toole said, describing how, late on a recent Friday afternoon, child protective investigators removed a young man who was going to be 18 in just five days. "Yulanda immediately began working with the young man, including spending all of Saturday and Sunday with him working on placement options and ideas.

"She put aside her needs to directly tend to a young man who had little to no local supports and was abandoned by his family."

She never gave up on him, Toole said. She found a placement for him that let him finish the school year at his current school, worked with out-of-state family and eventually connected him with an adult sibling.

"This is what she does, she works hard to solve issues that others might let slide, always making herself available for her co-workers and the young adults we serve," Toole said. "She is the definition of selfless."

Beninda, a case manager in St. Lucie County, received her GEM award in the Ruby Division, which recognizes the work of case management staff. She, too, was nominated by her supervisor, Mo Shihadeh.

"Emma has worked with us for several years now and has always gone above and beyond for her families," Shihadeh said.

But on April 25 of this year, she helped save a parent's life.

"Emma answered the phone for one of her parents and unbeknownst to her the parent was in crisis mode...During their conversation Emma recognized the parent had delayed or slurred speech, and immediately became concerned."

Beninda reached out to several local emergency resources, stayed connected with the parent and worked with responders to prevent a suicide.

"Due to Emma’s quick thinking and actions a parent doesn’t have to mourn the loss of a child, and a child doesn’t have to mourn the loss of a parent," Shihadeh said.

Baldwin and Beninda were recognized by the CCKids Board of Directors during its July Board meeting. Each received a $100 bonus and a plaque.