The 2021 Lt. Governor’s Challenge Award was presented virtually to BCCS CEO Lynn Morrison last year due to COVID restrictions.

As the Lt. Governor's Challenge Announces a May 31st "Last Call for Entries" Deadline, a Look Back at One of Last Year's Winners

WILMINGTON, DE, USA, May 25, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ -- What does it take to become a Lt. Governor’s Challenge honoree? Creativity, caring and data. Just ask Brandywine Counseling & Community Services (BCCS) CEO Dr. Lynn Morrison.

When COVID-19 was taking its toll on society at large, it was hitting extra hard for those in the business of helping others. At BCCS, it was clear the staff was straining under the pressure.

As lockdowns rippled across the nation and normally face-to-face businesses and agencies were forced to move to remote work, the staff at BCCS, which provides early intervention and treatment services for drug and alcohol addiction, showed “grit and determination in adapting themselves to the essential care of our clients,” said Morrison.

The team asked what they could do to help the staff stay healthy and whole during the crisis, and the answer was multifaceted.

A Winning Plan:
BCCS leadership began by hosting weekly virtual “check-in” meetings every other week to update team members on how the organization was managing during the pandemic.

“At their core, these were about self-care,” Morrison said. “We encouraged our team to share their struggles and frustrations about working from home or feeling isolated or not being able to visit friends or family. The meetings gave the team the opportunity to share these mental health challenges and discuss the strategies they used to cope and de-escalate their stress.

The results were positive in both the short and long term, Morrison said: employee engagement and satisfaction was up from previous years. Employees also appreciated the additional communication during COVID.

Honoring Healthy Living:
The mission of the Lt. Governor’s Challenge is to improve the quality of life of all Delawareans. It honors the individuals, organizations and institutions that inspire others by making healthy choices the easiest choices for their communities, ultimately helping elevate the well-being, productivity and prosperity of the First State. Morrison considered the BCCS program a perfect example of what the program was looking for – a wellness initiative that went above and beyond the agency’s normal parameters by approaching a specific problem with creative thinking and measurable results.

“The Lt. Governor's Challenge gave us the opportunity to highlight the importance of wellness in the workplace, our staff as far as all the good work they were doing and communicate with the community about the essential services BCCS staff provided during the pandemic,” Morrison said.

Nomination Deadline is Tuesday May 31st:
For those businesses or agencies considering submitting their own wellness programs for the 2022 Lt. Governor’s Challenge, nominations are now open until Tuesday, May 31st. The Challenge seeks programs that:
• Are local to Delaware
• Address physical and/or emotional health or well-being within Delaware
• Drive results through changes in policy, systems and/or the environment within an institution, business or community.

Nominees should demonstrate that their programs have gone above and beyond ordinary expectations or industry requirements, and have the data to back up how their program succeeded. For more information about submitting a nomination, the lieutenant governor has prepared a short video emphasizing these key criteria on the nominations page.

For information, visit our Frequently Asked Questions page https://ltgovernorschallenge.org/faq/ . Any additional questions that arise during the nomination process can be directed to info@ltgovernorschallenge.org.

Dr. Lynn Morrison
Brandywine Counseling & Community Services
+1 302-225-9269
lmorrison@brandywinecounseling.org