Cooper earns PEF award By DEBORAH A. MILES If you want to know the recipe for winning a PEF Quality Service Award, have a chat with Edith Cooper. This long-standing PEF member has all the ingredients — dedication, compassion and consistency — for this honor. The Quality Service Awards are part of PEF’s Job Security Campaign, saluting members who have performed outstanding work on the job. Cooper was selected from Regions 10-12, and is the first of three recipients who will be chosen in 2001. She will receive her award at the March meeting of the PEF Executive Board. PEF Division 245 Council Leader Bernice Jones nominated Cooper, a supervising labor service representative at the state Labor Department. “I’ve known Edith for many years, and she is consistently one of the most dedicated individuals I’ve come to know,” Jones said. “She always gives 150 percent in everything she does. The way she works with her staff and other people is to be commended. She has an even temperament and is always willing to teach, and always willing to learn.” Cooper has worked nearly 30 years at DOL. After the terrorist attacks on September 11, she volunteered to supervise the Family Disaster Center, where her energy is still devoted to families struggling to deal with the World Trade Center tragedy. She helps them navigate the red tape of disaster and unemployment claims, unemployment insurance, job training and referrals. Cooper also oversees the operations of a welfare-to-work unit at the New York City Department of Social Services. “The primary responsibility there is to place welfare clients in jobs,” Cooper said. Among her proudest achievements was helping a particular client through the Work Experience Program (WEP), which arranges for welfare clients to work in state offices to begin earning a living. Cooper trained and mentored the individual, who passed the civil service exam, got off of public assistance, and is now a permanent state employee in a responsible position. According to PEF Vice President Pat Baker, who co-chairs PEF’s Job Security Committee, Cooper was selected not only for the high quality of her work, but also for her commitment to the community. “Edith volunteered at Pier 94 seven days a week after the World Trade Center attack,” Baker said. “That was a very difficult thing to do. Edith is a very upbeat, sweet and compassionate person. She puts people at ease and that was very beneficial for the families of the victims — to talk and work with someone of her caliber.” Cooper also devotes time to the young people at her church, supervising an ushers’ board and escorting youth groups to state and national conferences. She is assistant council leader and a steward in Division 245, and serves on several PEF committees. Know someone whose quality services deserve recognition? PEF is accepting nominees from Regions 1-6 until March 31. A member from Regions 7-9 will be honored later in the year. Send your nomination to PEF Vice President Pat Baker at 136 Church Street, 4th floor, NY, NY 10007-2259. All nominations must include four points: 1.Your nominee’s proudest achievement on the job; 2. Your nominee’s great work under difficult circumstances; 3. How your nominee’s job performance demonstrates that public employees do it better and that state jobs should remain in the public sector; and 4. What makes your nominee a “hometown hero.”

OTDA honors member’s heroism Member battles blizzard to save co-worker By DEBORAH A. MILES On a late November afternoon, a blizzard blasting Buffalo made the roads and highways impenetrable. Many workers left their jobs early, hoping to reach home safely, but were forced to abandon their vehicles in the snow-choked streets and highways and seek shelter. Nothing moved, only an unforgiving wind. The stage was set for a harrowing life-and-death struggle for an ailing PEF member and two other members who came to her aid. What would occur in the next 20 hours, would earn one of them high honors a year later. It was Chuck Francoforte’s first day back to his regular job as a disability analyst at the state Office of Temporary Disability Assistance (OTDA) in Buffalo. The assistant council leader of PEF Division 369 had just finished three months of service as a “loaned executive” to the State Employees Federated Appeal. His return was off to a rough start, because the blizzard left Francoforte and approximately 50 of his co-workers stranded in the building for the night. PEF member Jackie Howard, a disability examiner, said at first she was worried about her two dogs, then the whereabouts of her mother, and then herself. “Everything was going haywire,” she recalled later. “Jackie is diabetic and she was becoming quite ill,” Francoforte said. “Her breathing was very labored. She needed to get insulin, but it was at her home. And she was due for a kidney-dialysis treatment — a medical necessity while she awaits a kidney transplant.” No help in sight Francoforte called 911 to request an ambulance, but was told there were already 75 people on the waiting list. Even emergency vehicles were paralyzed. Francoforte tried to make Howard comfortable. He removed a sofa from the women’s lounge, hauled it through the building and put it behind her desk so she could lie down. The only restaurant in the building was running out of food, but Francoforte made sure Howard got the last order of chicken wings. At about 5 a.m., Francoforte was able to start his 4-wheel-drive truck. “Chuck said he would either get me home or to a hospital,” Howard said. PEF member Naomi Livingston, who lived near Howard, decided to go with them. “I was truly grateful, not only to Chuck, but to God that we were able to get as far as we did in his truck,” Livingston said. “We got stuck a couple of times. It was not an easy journey.” “We couldn’t drive on the streets, so I drove in areas where there were no roads,” Francoforte said. “We got part way to Jackie’s house, then we had to walk a couple of miles.” No turning back During the trek to her home, Howard fell four times in the snow. “I was using a cane for balance, and one of the times I fell, the cane flipped up and smacked Chuck in the head,” Howard recalled. “I felt so bad. Plus, he was so cold. He didn’t have a hat or scarf, and he was wearing cowboy boots. “It took us about four hours to reach my house on foot,” she said. “Chuck never complained. He gave me the strength to go on.” Sheer determination, prayers and resting in a vacated bus and a police station along the route were their only breaks from the freezing cold and exhaustion. “We were like the Three Musketeers,” Howard said. After they had passed the street where Livingston lived, she reluctantly left them at Howard’s insistence and went home. Francoforte and Howard trudged on. When they finally reached her house, he had nothing but his hands to scoop away the large snowdrift that blocked the front door. Just in time At last, they were inside. “It wasn’t a moment too soon,” Francoforte said. “Jackie took her insulin, we rested a bit, then called 911. This time, the police were able to respond and took her to the hospital for a dialysis treatment.” “Chuck was with me the entire way,” Howard said. Because of this commitment to his friend of 16 years, Francoforte was selected by Donald Hull, regional administrator of the Division of Disability Determinations, as an employee of the month. This January, Francoforte was honored along with 11 other outstanding OTDA employees of 2001 at an annual awards luncheon held in Albany. “I never expected recognition or an award, but I was honored,” Francoforte said. “It was a very harrowing experience. But while it was going on, I didn’t give it a second thought. I’m the type of person if someone needs help, I help them.”

Governor honors member for state, local leadership By DEBORAH A. MILES Blue-ribbon leadership and improving the quality of life in his community have earned Thurmon W. Myers the 2nd Annual Governor’s Award for African-American Leaders in State Service. Myers is a valued member of PEF Division 300, state Office for the Aging (SOFA), according to his council leader, Virginia Clark Plunkett. “He is genuinely liked and respected for his friendliness and abilities,” she said. SOFA Director Patricia P. Pine nominated Myers for the honor. “Thurmon has contributed greatly to our agency and its elder clients and families. He provides exemplary technical assistance and support to a multitude of counties and not-for-profit agencies,” Pine said. “On the community level, he has demonstrated leadership in helping those most in need in New York City and the Capital District through numerous social organizations,” she added. Myers was first involved with community work in 1968 when he was vice president of the Independent Black Organization at York College. Later, he became a leader in numerous service organizations in Albany and New York, including president of the Capital District Chapter of the National Association of Black Social Workers; secretary and then president of Black Dimensions in Art; and a board member of the Capital Region Chapter of Big Brothers/Big Sisters. Currently, Myers wears several prominent hats within the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Nu Tau chapter. “I felt flattered, honored and pleased that the director nominated me,” he said. “It is a salute to those things that are done in addition to the nine-to-five job.” “The sentiment was to give back to the community when I was in college,” Myers said. “People who went to school in the 1960s cut their teeth on this ideal — to give something back. Some of us really took that to heart. There’s a sense of responsibility that runs deep, to do something for the community where you live and work.” Myers’ work days involve reviewing applications for federal funding for nutritional programs and legal services for the elderly. Myers received his award in February during New York state’s annual African-American History Month celebration.