Celebrating Our 2025 Employee of the Year Stars
Congratulations to Our Winners!
It’s time to celebrate! Our 2025 Employees of the Year have truly gone above and beyond this past year, and we couldn’t be more excited to honor them. Nominated by their peers for their compassion, dedication, and outstanding service, these team members are the heart of our organization.
Throughout January, we’ll be recognizing all the staff who got nominated for these awards, so watch our website for these announcements.
Direct Support Professionals of the Year:
1.) A’Zirah Odell - Carver House
"A’Zirah Odell has been a dedicated and valued Direct Support Professional with our organization for a little over a year. In that time, she has consistently demonstrated compassion, reliability, and an unwavering commitment to the individuals she supports. A’Zirah is being nominated for DSP of the Year because she embodies strength, resilience, and exceptional dedication. Despite experiencing profound personal loss this past May—including the passing of her mother and the transition of Laurel to hospice—A’Zirah returned to work with grace, courage, and a positive spirit. Her ability to remain present, supportive, and uplifting during such a challenging time is a true testament to her character and professionalism.
"Every day, A’Zirah brings positivity and genuine engagement to the individuals she supports. She is interactive, attentive, and intentional in her work, ensuring each person feels valued and cared for. Her person-centered approach shines through in her patience, compassion, and consistency, creating a meaningful and supportive environment for those in her care. A’Zirah demonstrates initiative by stepping in wherever she is needed, often anticipating needs before being asked. She approaches challenges with a thoughtful mindset and uses her creativity to keep individuals engaged, supported, and encouraged. " 
2.) Ronique Taylor - Centerville & Ludden Houses
"Ronique exemplifies strong leadership. She is dependable, independent, outgoing, and takes great pride in her work. Ronique deserves this recognition because she consistently demonstrates leadership through her actions and attitude. She can be trusted to handle her responsibilities without supervision, and she always goes above and beyond what is expected. Her positive energy and strong work ethic uplift the team, and she takes pride in providing quality care and support. Ronique is such a valuable asset to the workplace. Ronique consistently delivers outstanding service by approaching every task with dedication, professionalism, and attention to detail. She stays focused, even during challenging situations, and ensures that each person she supports receives the highest quality of care."
3.) Philomena Itoka - Lydia House
"She's very hard-working and she goes above and beyond her job duties. She picks up everybody’s slack. She takes time out to make sure the residents are heard and get the things they want and need. She is also very organized and very detailed when it comes to how the house is operating. She always trains new staff in very well. She makes every holiday or event special for the residents; she comes in, decorates, and cooks. She can work any shift with anyone, is very skilled in training and problem solving. She helps the organization by covering shifts at various houses and putting the clients as priority. We call her Marcus Jr. because of all she does."
Manager of the Year:
Tanazia Morehead – Clinton House
"Tanazia is a manager for Clinton House. I am unaware of how long she has been here. We would like to highlight the significant growth that Tanazia has shown in this position. Kim P stated, 'During my audits for Clinton House, I observed her meticulous compliance with all documentation requirements.' Kim G stated, 'the increase in the outings has been really impressive.' Since multiple staff do not drive, this takes a lot of planning and coordination. She knows their medical needs and communicates them well. She represents the folks with Bluestone well and professionally. She communicates changes to the nursing team and follows through with orders. Tanazia focuses on what her folks want. One of her ladies needed a new winter coat. This person enjoys online shopping and packages arriving for her. Tanazia sat at the computer with her trying to find a coat that she likes."
To read all of Tanazia's nominations, click here.
Support Staff of the Year:
Sarah Hansen – Human Resources
"Sarah Hansen is the HR Generalist at Phoenix and has been employed since August of 2020. Sarah completes all initial interviews with applicants and provides HR-related orientation to new employees. Sarah is the type of person who just digs in and does her job. We have filled so many positions this year, to the point where we need to tell current employees to add open hours to their existing positions or there won't be any hours left!"
Sarah is the face of Phoenix — from the first interview to the first day of orientation. She represents Phoenix with professionalism and displays person-centered services by meeting the employee where they are at. We all know that sometimes we as employees get frustrated, but guess what? Does Sarah ever get frustrated? Maybe, but does she ever show exasperation? Does she raise her voice? No, Sarah is calm, professional and caring. Her sense of humor probably helps too for some of the responses she gets from applicants, but that's a story for another day.
To read all of Sarah's nominations, click here.
Health Team Member of the Year:
Nick LeBrun – Appointment Coordinator
"Nick is an Appointment Coordinator for Phoenix and has been for a couple of years. Within his role as an Appointment Coordinator, Nick's priority is to know the individuals he is advocating for. He takes time to spend time with each of them, even outside of those appointments, so that he can get to know them and the things they are facing. Not only does this give him a better idea of how to advocate for them, but it helps them to be more comfortable with him when he does take them to appointments."
To read all of Nick's nominations, click here.
Phoenix Service Corporation (our sister company):
Yvette Huff – Housing Specialist
"I nominate Yvette Huff as Employee of the Year for many reasons. Yvette has been with Phoenix for about two as a Housing Specialist. In the short amount of time that I have been with Phoenix, I have seen Yvette, show nothing short of true professionalism in the way she represents Phoenix. Also, her level of empathy, care, and support go above and beyond levels of work for Phoenix and her clients. It has been wonderful to see and be a part of.
Yvette (or as I like to call her Detective Huff), is so in tune with her work and clients that she can almost predict exactly what's going on with her clients. Her instincts are usually spot on. She always carries a positive attitude, even when positivity is hard to find in the moment. She continues to work through whatever barriers are in her or her client's way of being successful. I hope this gives enough for her to win as I truly believe she deserves it on every level."
To read all of Yvette's nomination, click here.
Taylor Ipsen – PSC Case Manager
"I would like to nominate Taylor Ipsen for PSC Case Manager of the Year. Taylor is a great co-supervisor; she keeps things organized, updated, and she is very supportive of the people she serves, supervises, and shares responsibilities with in Ramsey County. Taylor is always willing to take on new projects, update guides, and offer training. She often creates a guide or spreadsheet to make case management easier and more organized.
Taylor is a great mentor to her co-workers and co-supervisors, and is always willing to go above and beyond for them. She has created some training PowerPoint presentations and updated and created guides. Taylor is a great team worker. She is great at collaboration, easy to approach with issues or concerns, and she is a wonderful mentor."