200 More Volunteers Needed to Help Count People Experiencing Homelessness

HHSA employee norma velasco participates in last year’s count.

 Last call. We still need 200 more volunteers.

To date, about 500 County employees have signed up to count people experiencing homelessness. Another 200-plus are needed to reach the number who signed up last year—about 700.

The annual Point-in-Time Count will take place Thursday, Jan. 23, 2020 from 3:30 a.m. to 8 a.m. Volunteers are being asked to arrive at 3:30 to allow time to become familiar with a new mobile app that will be used for counting. Use of the app will be optional. It will provide a tool to assist in a more accurate count.

The deadline to sign up is Monday, Jan. 20 at 5 p.m., and employees are encouraged to register for the count as soon as possible.

This is the seventh year the County has supported the annual count. During the span of several hours, volunteers count and survey the homeless they see in a certain area.

The Board of Supervisors believes this is such a worthy cause that County employees who participate can do so on County time.  

If you are interested in participating, review the FAQs and then obtain approval from your supervisor via the supervisor approval form.

Once you get approval, please sign up here. Once you have signed up, you will receive an email receipt for this event after signing up to volunteer. In the email there will be a link to a training from The Regional Task Force on the Homeless for you to review.

Members of the public can also join the count. If you know family or friends who would like to participate, they can sign up to volunteer. 

Year In Review: InSite Polls

Find out how your fellow employees voted in some of the most popular InSite polls of 2019:

County Employees Kick Off 10th Anniversary of Live Well San Diego

Hundreds of County employees rang in Live Well San Diego’s 10th anniversary at the San Diego Gulls game over the weekend.

The game kicked off a yearlong celebration of the County’s vision for healthy, safe and thriving communities, while welcoming the team as the newest Live Well partner.

Share your photos from the game and find out more details about the anniversary celebration.

Karla Lopez, HHSA Agency Contract Support and Claudia Souza, HHSA TB control with the gulls mascot

Live well san diego outreach team

Rasheed Hassan (left), HHSA Human Services Specialist, won a ride on the Zamboni

Deputy, 'Ninja Warrior' Takes on Self-Doubt

Emmi Rose running the course in an American Ninja Warrior competition.

Most of the year, she is a San Diego County Sheriff’s deputy, but once a year, she is a ninja warrior competitor.

Emmi Rose, 29, has been a Sheriff’s deputy for four years, but has competed on the NBC television show American Ninja Warrior and its offshoot Ninja Versus Ninja on and off since 2014. She notes that she has not won yet, but she’s not giving up. She applied for the spring 2020 season but won’t find out until this month if she’s been cast. Rose is thinking positively and so is currently in training for the show.

“People are asked, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ And people will pick one thing — but why can’t you be this and this and this?” Rose says with a laugh. “People are not one-sided, everyone has so many gifts and talents.

“Life is short. Why not pursue other passions?“

Fitness has been a passion for Rose nearly all her life. She competed as a gymnast until her junior year of high school, attaining a college-level performance. She is drawn to challenging herself physically and mentally, and that explains her career in law enforcement and her competitive streak. 

Ramping up her year-long training for the show means two intense workouts a day on her weekends. This could include rock climbing in the morning and yoga in the evening, or sprint training and weightlifting, or grip strength training and a run. During her work week, she opts to do yoga before her shift because she wants to be focused on her mindset.

Rose was still in college when she was recruited for the Ninja Warrior show the first time. At the urging of a friend, she had competed in an Alpha Warrior obstacle course at SDCCU Stadium, and she placed second fastest among females and 19th among men and women. This led to a call from a Ninja Warrior competitor who told her she should try out for the show.

The first time she did the show, she didn’t make it very far on the strenuous and athletically challenging course. When they invited her back, she asked herself if she wanted to fail like that again in front of millions of viewers.

She decided that it would be an opportunity wasted not to try since so many people are not even at the level where they would be asked to be on the show.

“It’s not about failure, it’s about doing the best that you can do,” she says. “Failure is like the best thing I’ve ever experienced in my life because it just pushes me to do even better next time.”

Rose says any training she does for the show benefits her job as a deputy sheriff. When she’s competing, she says she imagines she’s at work and got an emergency call she has to get to her partner.

Life is about getting past hurdles and Ninja Warrior is a fun game version of this, Rose says.

“Take control of your thoughts and close your eyes and picture yourself knocking it out of the park and like killing it,” Rose says. “That is such a powerful mental practice. I would just sit there and visualize doing my routine, perfect, perfect, perfect and then I would just do it how I pictured it.”

Visualization is something that can be applied to our everyday lives too, she says. Anyone can do it before they’re about to do a presentation to their workmates or any other task you may be nervous about, says Rose.

Rose says her sheriff’s colleagues encourage her, and her Ninja Warrior teammates are also inspiring to her. When she first started doing the show, there were only a handful of female competitors but that has changed now, and she’s glad for it. She says she was amazed at how close and supportive everyone was of each other even though they are competing against each other.

“I just want people to know that you don’t have to watch someone do something, you can do it too. It’s the whole point of the show. It’s schoolteachers, it’s clerk workers, it’s law enforcement, whatever running the course,” says Rose. “I’ve never competed against anyone but myself. Just trying to be a better version of myself ever year in every way is my goal and physically this show is one of my markers.”

Even if you aren’t ready to do something really challenging just yet, Rose advises people to prioritize self-care.

“You have to value yourself and you’re important. Carve out an hour for yourself. I wake up every day and pray, I read a devotional, I do yoga and meditate on what I pray about. I start my days intentionally every single day.”

PerkSpot: Join the Gym for Less

Stay financially fit by signing up for a gym membership through PerkSpot.

Get deals at 24-Fitness, Equinox, Gold’s Gym and more. Perks range from waived registration fees to discounted monthly memberships.

PerkSpot offers benefits and discounts through more than 400 service providers and retailers. Go to sdcounty.perkspot.com and shop. If you are new, click on “Create an Account” to register.

Each month, one of the most popular PerkSpot deals will be highlighted on InSite.

InTouch – Taking a Decade View

Happy New Year, everyone! And new decade!

When the calendar turns, we often pause to look back before looking ahead again. You reach a new decade and you get a longer view. Taking a moment and thinking about the changes I’ve had, and we’ve all seen over the last 10 years, I’m blown away.

(Quick aside: I know you can argue the decade doesn’t technically start until next year, but come on, everyone is talking about “end of the decade” this, “coming decade” that. So even being a stickler for details, I’m going with it.)

At a personal level, I’ve passed so many of life’s milestones in the 2010s. Four graduations and one child married. I started this job. I lost both parents and beat cancer. I adopted two dogs and recently welcomed my first grandchild! Incredible highs and lows. I know you’ve all been through lots of changes of your own, many no doubt more dramatic than mine. Ten years of challenges and, I hope, many celebrations.

And the world around us has seen so much change. So many things about daily life are different from a decade ago.  

Smartphones went from being the exception to the rule. We rely on mobile apps for rides and meal delivery and countless other tasks. We stay in Airbnbs, share everything on Instagram, pay with Venmo. We started asking Siri, Alexa and Google for help – and they answered.

Amazon delivers nearly instant gratification – and entertainment. It’s pitted against many rivals in “streaming wars” that are heating up. Podcasts existed, but then erupted in the 2010s. Spotify became our infinite jukebox. Drones, electric cars and scooters offered new forms of movement. 

It’s not all tech and gee whiz. Marijuana is now legal in California, and same-sex marriage is nationwide. “Me too” and the rights of transgender people brought difficult topics into the open.

I could, of course, go on. But you get the drift that much has changed in 10 years. While some trends were projected, no one in 2010 painted a picture that included all the things I mentioned.

That’s what we need to keep in mind as we turn to the decade ahead. We’ll plan as best we can – and we work really hard at planning at the County. But we’ll be surprised. We’ll be amazed and challenged. New technology will bring us new opportunities, and new ethical questions. Political and social landscapes will forever shift.

We’ll plot our course, then adjust, adjust, adjust. I’m not going to try to guess exactly what we’ll be doing or talking about in 2030. But as we enter the next decade, will you resolve to eliminate homelessness, treat mental illness more effectively, advance social and justice reform and reduce our carbon footprint?  I say YES!  And let’s do it with unity and respect for all members of our workforce and the diverse community we serve.     

We have about 3,653 days this decade. Each is a gift, an opportunity. The future is full of surprises, but it’s also waiting for us to shape it. Let’s all be thinking how we want to spend this span of time, envision what might be, then get to work on making it happen. I’m pumped about the possibilities and the chance to move forward with you all. Let’s go!       

Share Your Resolutions

It’s a new year and new decade! Do you resolve to travel to new places, try meditating, drink more water, or spend more quality time with family and friends in 2020?

If you have a New Year's resolution you'd like to share with your co-workers, you can post one below. Comments will be reviewed before appearing.

Pet of the Week – Sadie

Meet Sadie (Tag #N9010), a 2-year-old boxer mix looking to ring in the New Year with a new home.

Sadie is a great companion! She loves to go for walks, play fetch out in the yard, enjoys human attention, and is ready to be the greatest sidekick. So let’s get her adopted!

You can see Sadie at the Department of Animal Services’ shelter in Carlsbad or visit sddac.com to give another animal their furever home.

Update Your Mailing Address

It’s time to get ready for tax time by reviewing your personal information in PeopleSoft and make updates before 2019 Form W-2s are mailed to employees. The deadline to make changes to your mailing address and nine-digit ZIP code is Jan. 9, 2020.

While you’re logged into PeopleSoft Employee Self Service, it’s also a good time to review your emergency contact information to make sure it’s current.

Logging into Employee Self Service is easy:

Your login is your six-digit employee ID number. Be sure to include all six numbers, and don’t include the letter “E” (that’s for Kronos!). You must also enter your Self Service password. If you don’t remember your password, you can use PeopleSoft Self Service to reset it or contact the Help Desk:

• Sheriff Department 858-256-2100

• District Attorney 619-531-4104

• All other County employees 888-298-1222 

If you don’t have a County computer, contact your departmental human resources officer to request an address update.

Friday Photo: Santa Surprise

Santa Claus took time from his busy schedule to visit County employees this holiday season. The jolly guest stopped by libraries, parks and even the Sheriff’s Communications Center.

Share your fabulous photos! If you see a coworker getting the job done, a beautiful sunset over your office or wonderful County program being offered—snap a pic and submit it. Be sure to include information about the photo and your name. One image will be posted to InSite every Friday.

See the Friday Photo gallery.