This month we shine a light on our Social Work Department. Jill Biskup and Samantha Pelinger are our social workers and Sara Tolomer is our Healthcare Coordinator. Jill, Sam, and Sara all began working at Sunshine this past spring and are so happy to have joined the Sunshine family. In a short time, they have been able to establish themselves as a unified team, working together to ensure that the children’s needs are met as they continue to establish the strong link between families and our interdisciplinary team.
In her role as Healthcare Coordinator, Sara provides critical support to the department. She values opportunities to interact with families, whether its coordinating care plan scheduling or conducting Family Satisfaction interviews. She also writes our monthly newsletter, is a member of the admissions team and assists with insurance submissions.
Newly licensed social workers, Samantha and Jill both had the advantage of developing their clinical skill sets as graduate school interns here at Sunshine. They are most excited to work directly with the families — providing updates on their children, accessing important resources, problem-solving and providing emotional and social support. Samantha and Jill have enjoyed building relationships with the families and consider this to be essential to their role as social workers. Samantha explains, “I enjoy the close connections we develop with our Sunshine families. As social workers, we need to understand what each family values and what their specific wishes are for their child in order to best help each individual family. We are here for the children and their families and consider every one of their concerns, questions and requests to be extremely important. I always want to know that families feel that they are being heard.”
The social work team values any opportunity to share in all of the family’s life moments. Says Jill, “To gain the respect and confidence of the families that we serve is a privilege. As much as we enjoy celebrating the joyous moments with families, such as the birth of a new family member or a wedding of a child’s sibling, we want families to know that we are here for them when times are challenging as well. We are here for any additional support that families may want or need.”
Jill, Samantha and Sara understand the importance of working with the families as a unified team to guarantee that our remarkable children continue to thrive and live their best lives. They are always reachable and as Samantha says, “We are only a phone call away!”
Jill Biskup: 914-333-7089; Samantha Pelinger: 914-333-7082; and Sara Tolomer: 914-333-7075.