20th Annual Dinner of Recognition and Renewal
2009 Most Treasured Volunteer Award
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Adult Guardianship Services provides trained volunteers and staff to serve as legal guardian of person to indigent incompetent adults in Cuyahoga County that have no available or appropriate family to become their decision maker. AGS has been serving the community for over 20 years. Currently AGS has a staff of 15 and over 150 volunteers serving as guardians or attorneys of record.
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Bishop C. Tyehimba Thonor-Kuykendall II was awarded The Center For Community Solutions’ 2009 Most Treasured Volunteer Award. Tyehimba has been a volunteer guardian for AGS since 1998. He worked as the AGS Recruiter/Trainer for almost three years but continued as a volunteer guardian even when he left the program to pursue his education.
Tyehimba is currently the guardian of three individuals (wards), ranging in age from 36 to 86. As the guardian of person, TK makes all the medical and placement decisions for his wards. This includes having a plan in place for when his wards pass away, which is not easy because most AGS wards do not have enough funds for even a basic funeral. TK has always used every avenue at his disposal to make sure his wards’ funeral wishes are followed.
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Adult Guardianship Services Volunteer Spotlight
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Tom Stevens has been a volunteer with Adult Guardianship Services (AGS) since 2003. In February of 2004, Tom became the guardian of person for Ethel. As a guardian, Tom is on-call 24/7 to make all medical and placement decisions for his ward, besides visiting monthly. Tom always made himself available to be there when Ethel needed him. She passed away last Christmas after a short illness.
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Ethel was a very proud and strong-willed woman. As Ethel’s guardian, Tom always upheld Ethel’s dignity and worked hard for justice in her life. He collaborated with her physicians and nursing home staff to make sure they addressed both her medical and psychiatric needs. Whenever Ethel had to be hospitalized for behavioral issues, Tom worked diligently with the hospital psychiatrist so she could return back to the nursing home as quickly as possible.
Over the years, Tom became Ethel’s advocate and only friend. He listened to her with compassion and she learned he was someone she could trust. When he first met her, he never realized what an impact being her guardian would have on him. Tom’s last gift to Ethel came at her funeral. While the Rabbi spoke at the grave site on a cold, windy December day, Tom and the funeral director shoveled dirt on top of Ethel’s casket. In the Jewish faith, it is a privilege to do this. Without Tom, Ethel would not have had any friends at her funeral. Thank you Tom for giving Ethel Shalom.
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2009 Good Samaritan Award
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At the Annual Meeting of the Adult Guardianship Services (AGS) Board held in December, the Good Samaritan Award was presented to Alan Shankman in recognition for his long and faithful service to the Cuyahoga County Probate Court. The award is given to a member of the community who has made a significant contribution to Adult Guardianship Services. Their actions promote and exemplify the core values of AGS, including advocacy, volunteerism, justice, integrity, dignity, compassion, collaboration, shalom and the ideal of the Good Samaritan.
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Alan has been a true advocate for Adult Guardianship Services through his work at the courts. He was instrumental in implementing the Ohio guardianship statue, over ten years ago. He advocated for community service providers to make appropriate referrals to AGS and educated the community on our fee for service to keep the program growing financially.
In his retirement, Alan has already signed on as a volunteer attorney with AGS and to serve on the new Adults At Risk Board.
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In 2002 Adult Guardianship Services created the Greg Hoshek Award. For 12 years Greg was a dedicated volunteer guardian, upholding his wards’ dignity and serving each one of them with a spirit of empathy and selflessness. Greg was also LMM’s liaison to the AGS Board of Trustees. His sudden death in 2002 ended his career as a volunteer and Cleveland firefighter but his memory and contributions live on.
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This year the Greg Hoshek Award was presented to Patricia Ross. Pat has been an AGS Board member since 1997. In 1999, she became a Volunteer Guardian to Jasmine. Jasmine was only 21, the youngest ward at that time. According to Jasmine, “Pat is a great guardian. She always does things for me. She has used her money to buy me things, like blankets. Pat loves me and I love her. I call her mom as she’s the only mom I have right now.”
Pats actions as guardian exemplify of the core values of AGS and the spirit of the Greg Hoshek Award. Thank you, Pat, for your compassionate service.
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