Integrity: We are committed to being open, honest, and forthright in all we do. The resulting trust ensures a level of efficiency, effectiveness, productivity, and service critical to achieving our mission.
The golden rule says to, “treat others the way that you wish to be treated.” For Brandy Hondros, that is the foundation of integrity. Brandy has been a Living-at-Home Case Manager at Senior Services for three years. She was nominated for an employee spotlight because she demonstrates the Senior Services Core Value of Integrity. Angie Wall, VP of In-Home Services said, “Brandy only ever wants to ‘do the right thing.’ She is thorough in all areas of her work, allowing her to achieve the best possible outcome for the services that her participants receive.” When asked why integrity is important, Brandy responded, “It means a lot to me personally when people do what they say they are going to do. It’s hard to trust someone when they constantly leave you stuck on standby. I don’t like it when others do it to me, so I do my best not to do it to others.”
To Brandy, not only does integrity mean doing what you say that you will do, but it also 
means having difficult conversations, even when they make you uncomfortable. “Being honest is important. I can remember a situation when I worked as a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant where a man was dying, and he didn’t know. He had cancer and no one wanted to tell him. Finally, another co-worker and I volunteered to deliver the news. I did that because it was in his best interest to be honest with him. He responded well enough to keep pushing through. He still had hope and remained socially active for as long as he could. I learned how important it is to find a balance between managing how much information you share and helping people transition into new realities.”
Brandy is the kind of person who will kindly tell you that you have spinach in your teeth. “I hate it when I get home and look in the mirror and realize that I’ve been walking around for hours with something in my teeth, and no one said anything. I would kindly say, ‘Come here, let me scoot you to the side where no one can see so we can fix this.’ That’s how I would want someone to treat me.”
Being open and forthright in what you communicate to others can be risky. Brandy says, “It can go either way. They may accept it well or have a hard time. You can learn how to cushion difficult conversations. Decide whether it’s more appropriate to deliver small bits of information that can be easily digested, or just come right out and say, ‘We need to have a serious talk.’”
Integrity is not only about what you say, but also about what you do. “As a case manager, 
I see lots of situations that can get out of hand when someone doesn’t do what they say they are going to do—when they say they will do it. When it comes to things like referrals for assistive technology or following up on a participant that may have a challenge such as bed bugs, the gap between when you say you will do something and when you actually do it can make things much worse for the participant and keep us from fulfilling our mission.”
Over the years, Senior Services has grown into the agency that it is today because we are committed to integrity. Our community and the older adults who rely on our programs can trust that we will do what we, as an agency, say that we will do because of the many Senior Services employees like Brandy, who allow a personal commitment to integrity to shine through in their work. Thank you, Brandy. Your diligence adds value to the Senior Services team!