WILLMAR — Belquis "Bel" Cellini recently received the District E Caregiver of the Year award from LeadingAge Minnesota, according to a news release from the association of organizations serving older adults.
Cellini is a personal care assistant and community caregiver at Bethesda Sunrise Village Assisted Living in Willmar.
The District Caregiver of the Year award honors individuals in older adult services who demonstrate exceptional commitment to older adults as well as enhance and enrich the quality of life of those in their care.
Cellini was one of six caregivers selected for the regional award out of a field of 60,000 professional caregivers throughout the state.
According to the nomination letter from Bethesda leadership, Cellini has been at Sunrise Village for four years and is a great resource for other staff. The organization credits her for its development of a peer mentoring program.
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Cellini also suggested establishing a welcoming committee for new residents to ease the transition of moving to a new place.
“Bel is the kind of person that you would hire a million times over again if you could,” Bethesda President and CEO Michelle Haefner said in the news release. “ ... Bel often takes the extra time to ensure that residents have their hair neatly combed or brushed just the way they like it, tucks in shirts, fixes collars, and cleans up their room so that when family comes to visit everything is neat and and in order.”
LeadingAge Minnesota honored Cellini and other Caregivers of the Year at its Institute and Expo aging services conference. Nearly 3,000 professionals in all aspects of older adult services attend the annual three-day event to learn about new programs, share best practices and network with their peers.
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