Chartiers Center’s Shining Stars
Chartiers is proud to recognize and thank Melissa Zirwas and Joe Pizzuto for working hard to support the mission of Chartiers Center. Shining Stars are awarded to employees who go above and beyond the daily responsibilities of their job.
Melissa Zirwas, is an Administrative Service Coordinator, and has also spear headed the agency support groups and taken the lead trainer role for mental health first aid training. To serve as a mental health first aid trainer, Melissa attended a 1 (one) week training and then was required to follow a timeline in order to maintain her certification. Since they train in teams, and the agency only has one trainer, Melissa has had to network with other providers and build relationships with other trainers. To date she has facilitated 4 (four) MHFA trainings and worked with 3 different trainers. This exposure has helped her develop a strong script. That coupled with her own shared experiences make Melissa a very effective, relatable trainer. We are happy to acknowledge her work on behalf of the agency and award her a shining star!
Joe Pizzuto works in Accounts Payable and is the Payroll Accountant. He has been with the agency for over 25 years and in all of these years, Joe has only missed one payroll. One payroll! That’s one payroll out of the approximately 650 he has been responsible for over the years. This is not Joe’s only responsibility – we also know him as the Accounts Payable…the man who processes our check requests so our vendors get paid and our programs get the supplies they need. However, there is a particular instance where Joe went over and above his normal duties to ensure that the State of PA paid the agency back payroll taxes that were incorrectly paid to it. Joe worked with ADP and the State to make this happen, but months and months went by, only to hear that it had not yet been processed. Finally, Joe was tired of waiting for the returned money, and he decided to take the matter to his local State Representative. This representative listened to Joe’s story, took the information he needed and worked to get Chartiers Center back the money it was owed. Joe could have accepted the State’s answer that it was working to return the taxes, but after waiting long enough Joe decided that answer was no longer acceptable, and he found a way to make it happen.
It is through the efforts of Melissa and Joe that we are able to successfully work towards the Agency’s overall vision of serving the needs of all of our clients. Congratulations to both of you on a job well done!
