Chandra Boyer began her employment with Crisis Services as a HotlineCounselor in the Crisis Counseling Program. After 1 year there, she was hired as a Domestic Violence Case Manager in the Advocate Program, a role that she held for 3 years. While in her role as a Domestic Violence Case Manager, Chandra demonstrated an outstanding attitude towards team spirit, participating on several agency committees, including the Quality of Worklife and Volunteer Appreciation Committees, was a union steward, and spearheaded Domestic Violence Awareness month activities such as our Library event that was geared at teaching children healthy ways to discuss safe relationships in their homes.
For the last 3 years, Chandra has held the position of Elder Abuse Case Manager in the Advocate Program, expanding her expertise to increase the safety of the aging members of our community. In this role, she’s been an active member on the Council on Elder abuse, and a founding partner of the Elder Domestic Violence Shelter Network. As part of that network, she’s represented Crisis Services by speaking at a state conference about the work being done in Erie County to address the issue of elder abuse. Chandra has served as a Supervisor for our volunteer advocates, meeting, mentoring, supporting and encouraging their efforts to assist survivors of DV/SA in the ER.
Chandra has regularly contributed to the overall wellbeing of the agency by being the first to always volunteer to clean the kitchen, (and does an extraordinarily thorough job) She has consistently encouraged folks towards being green and recycling everything that is possible, often times pulling items out of the trash and replacing them in the recycle bins.
As a coworker, Chandra is the greatest of blessings! She is supportive and caring, often urging others to take better care of themselves.She has always been one of the go-to people when feeling stressed about something. She is so calm andsupportive; she makes you feel better and always asks great questions or shares insight from her experience that would answer questions or help re-frame your thinking to make things more clear. You can bounce any idea or struggle off her and be always inspired by her invaluable combination of professionalism and optimism.She is a very positive person and always looks for the good in every situation or person, which helps others to be less negative about things. She is typically quiet, but eventually learned when it was time to use her voice and be heard; to speak up for what was right or for a good idea. We very much look up to her for that. No one we’ve ever met looks on the bright side quite like Chandra,and weare better people for having been exposed to her way of thinking.
As an advocate, every client that had encountered her in some way (whether in the hospital, or as a case manager) had amazing things to say about her.Clients who worked with her benefitted from her patience, her exemplary listening skills and her unending support.She is so patient, warm, kind, and always willing to go above and beyond for her clients to make sure that they are safe and supported. Chandra is the embodiment of compassion. Everything about how Chandra did her job conveyed how much she wanted to make a difference in the lives of those she served, even on days that she was struggling.
Chandra might not see it herself, but she possesses an enormous capacity for a gentle style of leadership that is hard to find and even harder to develop. We’ve seen it in how she works with new staff and volunteers; how she teaches and guides them and makes them comfortable in the work they are about to do. She is an excellent teacher and does a really good job sharing information with one person or a room full of people. It was always a pleasure to co-teach with her and use her experience and insight to inspire others.
Throughout her many years at Crisis Services, we’ve watched Chandra grow as a professional, have seen her transition into vegetarianism, start a book club, marry and become a mommy, collect tea cups and transform her workspace into a zen garden. We are proud of the many years of service that Chandra has given to Crisis Services, we are lucky to have her as colleague and a friend.
In recognition of her many gifts, and for her outstanding contribution to the work, the clients and the staff of the Advocate Program at Crisis Services, and for the gentle spirit and kind wisdom similar to Mike, we nominate Chandra Boyer for the Michael Coppock award.