Page 8 - Retiree News Fall 2019

Join us!
Retiree spouses and domestic partners and retired CSEA staff can now join a CSEA Retiree Local! To learn more or join, visit cseany.org/csea-retiree-members to download a membership application or call CSEA Headquarters at (800) 342-4146.
From left, Syracuse Area Retirees Local 913 members Diane Quinn-Miller, Jeanne Sullivan, Zona Pospesel and Bruno Cafolla at a local membership meeting.
Thomas honored for her Outreach work
When Suffolk Area Retirees Local 920 Treasurer Ruby Thomas retired from her state job at Pilgrim Psychiatric Center in 2003, she was just getting started at serving others.
She was recently named a 2019 Code of Conduct
Winner by the
Justice Center for the
Protection of People with Special Needs. She was honored at
an Albany-area event along with several other service providers across the state.
Thomas received
the award for her work
with Outreach Recovery Center,
a nonprofit organization with locations on Long Island and New York City that provides substance abuse treatment and evidence- based behavioral health services and training.
After retiring, Thomas received a Master’s in Social Work with a
specialty in chemical dependency at Stony Brook University.
At Outreach, Thomas is playing a key role in helping people
in her community get back on track. Specifically, she works
with individuals who are facing
significant mental illness and substance use disorders, many of whom have also had legal histories.
Through her
work, Thomas brings compassion and care
to people who are often marginalized.
She has been active with numerous efforts
to enhance life for Outreach’s clients, including holiday toy drives through her local and the Long Island Region Women’s Committee.
She has also organized voter registration drives, with an emphasis on educating individuals with criminal records about their
In photo, from left, Eddie Cal Thomas, Ruby Thomas’ son; CSEA Local 920 Treasurer and honoree Ruby Thomas; Krista Whitman, senior director, Outreach Recovery Center and Rutha Bush, CSEA Local 920 activist and Ruby Thomas’ sister, at the awards ceremony.
“I want to thank the clients who help motivate me and teach me new things every day.”
voting privileges, along with school supply drives.
Thomas is most focused on helping her clients.
“I want to thank the clients who help motivate me and teach me new things every day,” Thomas said. “I thank them for allowing me to get to know them better
and help them reach their full potential. I admire the diligence and the ambition that they have to make it to treatment and focus on reaching their goals regardless of how hard it may sound or how difficult their mornings or nights may have been.”
etiree NEWS is published to share information and generate
ideas on subjects important to retirees.
Published by CSEA
143 Washington Ave., Albany, N.Y. 12210
(518) 257-1000
(800) 342-4146 cseany.org
Danny Donohue, President
CSEA
Local 1000 AFSCME AFL-CIO
R