Employee of the Month Jan '24

Sara Reese, Nutrition Assistant III with the Health and Human Services Agency, has been named the Shasta County Employee of the Month for January 2024.

Sara Reese has been a Nutrition Assistant with Shasta County’s Health and Human Services Agency for twelve years. She is responsible for counseling high-risk Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) participants and averages a caseload of approximately 150 high-risk participants. She serves as a representative of the Shasta County WIC program for the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) WIC State Training Committee.

Sara has expertise in both nutrition and the WIC Web Information System Exchange (WISE) which allowed her to take on the role of lead trainer. Since taking on this new role, Sara has created and updated materials for new and current staff. She improved and streamlined the training process and created ways to track the progress of each new WIC employee.

Sara has also tackled therapeutic formula requests from providers for WIC participants efficiently and has committed herself to working with local pharmacies to cover the therapeutic formulas through Medi-Cal insurance. In only two months, Sara has worked on over sixty therapeutic formula requests.

Sara exhibits excellent customer service and professionalism, not only to clients but to health care providers and coworkers within HHSA. Sara is proactive about connecting with community health care providers and pharmacies. She aids her community by giving presentations to health care providers and educating staff on how to complete and process WIC forms more efficiently.

Sara goes above and beyond for her clients and always tries her hardest to make additional time for them. She does a wonderful job of making WIC participants feel welcome, respected, understood, and safe. The value that Sara provides in her commitment to her peers and clients is invaluable.