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-- Programs and Services -- Contact Information New Staff join Elder Services
Four new staff have joined Elder Services staff: Stephanie Michalak, Fiscal Clerk; AnnMarie Cripps, R.N., Home Care Registered Nurse; Kellie Koziaria, Protective Services Case Worker; and Kathleen Makofsky, Client Services Coordinator.
As Fiscal Clerk, Stephanie Michalak is responsible for assisting the other fiscal staff, including the bookkeeper, in maintaining client financial transaction records. Prior to coming to Elder Services, she was employed for four years in the accounts payable department by Country Curtains in Lee. Previous to that, Michalak was assistant head teller for Legacy Banks in Pittsfield.
AnneMarie Cripps’ responsibilities as a Home Care Registered Nurse include conducting in-home assessment of service needs for frail individuals, collaborating with area nursing facilities to plan the safe return of individuals to the community, and determining clinical eligibility for MassHealth-funded services. Cripps was previously employed as an R.N. in the Rehabilitation and Long Term Care Unit of Sweetbrook Care Center in WIlliamstown. A Pittsfield native, she graduated from Pittsfield High School and earned her Associates Degree in Nursing from Berkshire Community College.
Protective Services Case Worker Kellie Koziaria will receive and investigate reports of alleged elder abuse, neglect, self-neglect and exploitation. When reports are substantiated, she will take appropriate action to restore the elder’s safety and to rectify any situations enabling the abuse. Koziaria came to Elder Services from Greater Springfield Senior Services, where she was a Protective Case Work intern as part of her work towards bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice from Westfield College.
As Client Services Coordinator, Kathleen Makofsky will assess and coordinate the home care, housing, and nutrition service needs of elders, helping them to remain independent in their own homes with services such as Meals on Wheels, transportation, homemaking, bathing, dressing, and laundry service. She previously served for three years as a support worker at the Carson Center (for traumatic brain injuries) in Westfield, MA, and before that was a correctional officer at the Hampshire County Sheriff’s’ office. Makofsky has a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Baypath College.