Thursday, June 20, 2024

News and Updates

Lighten Up Winners

The Wellness Department would like to congratulate the members of Slim Gyms for losing the most weight overall during the 2024 Lighten Up Challenge! Together, they lost 83.6 pounds total. Way to go!

Pictured (left to right): Juan Castillo, Carson Stanton, Norma Figueroa, John Freeland, Zach Veltheim and Andrew Persons.

Mural Painting Continues

Thank you to everyone who came to the mural painting station at the Community Builder Gathering! We still have several blank spots that could use some paint. Feel free to stop by the Communications Office (211 NE First St., Suite 20) anytime this week and next week to help finish it up!

New Assistant Wellness Coordinator, Abby Eberhard

The Wellness Department welcomes its new Assistant Wellness Coordinator, Abby Eberhard!

Abby is originally from Virginia Beach, VA. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in sport and exercise psychology from West Virginia University and a Master of Science degree in exercise, sport and movement sciences with a concentration in biomechanics from the University of Memphis. Abby is also a Certified Personal Trainer. She enjoys working out, playing tennis, reading and traveling. Abby is excited to be with the City of Gainesville and looks forward to helping community builders live healthier lifestyles!

Crisis Intervention and De-Escalation Training for Community Builders

Many of our community builders are interacting with multiple neighbors every day, whether it be services at a front desk, answering a main phone line, hosting education sessions or something else. In this work, we may encounter people who are struggling with mental health or substance use related challenges, or may be in crisis. To equip everyone to best support our neighbors, Gainesville Fire Rescue (GFR) is partnering with the Alachua County Crisis Center to bring crisis intervention and de-escalation training opportunities to front-line staff. 

This is a two-hour training that defines what a crisis is and how it may affect a person, debunks common myths about crisis, presents key principles of crisis intervention and provides an overview of de-escalation and intervention skills that people can use to support a person in crisis.

GFR and the Alachua County Crisis Center will be offering two training opportunities over the summer, with a maximum capacity of 30 people each. If these sessions reach capacity, additional dates may be added. Interested staff can sign up using this form and will receive a confirmation email approximately one week before training. Trainings will be held in person at the City Hall Complex – specific room will be determined based on class size.

• Tuesday June 25 from 3-5 p.m. (full)
• Tuesday July 9 from 3-5 p.m.

Benefits Education Session

A number of pension and retirement education meetings have been put on the schedule, and the first has already taken place. It focused on the general pension plan. For those who’d like more information, the session is saved in the Community Builder Hub. The next meeting will look at the Consolidated Pension for Police Officers. Any law enforcement officers, please join us to learn about your retirement with the city:

When and where:

Friday, June 28 at 10 a.m. via Zoom:

The upcoming sessions will be on:

• Consolidated Firefighters Pension Plan 7/12/24
• Retirement savings plans (Mission Square) 7/15/24
• Buy-Back Service Time 8/5/24

Please be on the lookout for the date and times of each meeting as they are subject to change. These will be recorded and saved in the Community Builder Hub.

Workday Thursday Tips & Tricks

Workday Available in Teams!

Introducing "Workday Everywhere" tools to assist our productivity and save you time.  

City of Gainesville employees can now access helpful Workday tools to assist with everyday tasks and access timely and useful information. The Workday app for your Microsoft Teams environment will allow you to access Workday data and self-service tasks (such as requesting vacation time, viewing your pay and more) without having to leave Teams. You will see the Workday application on the left hand-side on Teams starting today!

For all Workday inquiries, please submit a ticket.

Meet with the City Manager - Updated dates

City Manager Cynthia W. Curry is hosting listening sessions with city staff and would like to hear from you about any concerns or recommendations you can provide her. City Manager Curry will be in Room 105 of Thomas Center on the following remaining dates:

• Monday, July 15 from 3-5 p.m.

If you wish to meet with City Manager Curry for a 30-minute session, please contact Alison Novack at novackal@gainesvillefl.gov or 352-393-8679 to schedule a time.

No specifics are required for meeting content. City Manager Curry looks forward to your feedback and meeting with you.

Timekeepers: Please print and post this notice in a common area for those community builders who do not have regular computer access.