Team Heroes Award Recipient

Little Red Hen is extremely grateful to have been chosen as the first recipient of the Team Hero Award!  Thank you to the Far Northern Regional Center, the State Council of Developmental Disabilities, and our community for recognizing the hard work and dedication of our founder Teresa Wolk Hayes in her mission of inclusion for the disabled in our community.

“For 20 years, Teresa has always treated consumer employees with dignity and respect. She advocates for a full wage, as well as other benefits. The result is a work environment that promotes pride and self-worth. At the core, Little Red Hen, Teresa, and her dedicated staff have provided independence and Super Hero Inclusion for its consumer employees.” - Celebration of Heroes Committee

The Celebration of Heroes program is a newly started initiative, awarding organizations for outstanding work in embracing inclusion, disability opportunities, and inspiring others to do the same. The Team Hero award honors groups that inspire inclusion daily.

Far Northern Regional Center started this program for a “chance to celebrate those heroes we all know and will now get to know who make a positive difference across the entire North State.” Melissa Gruhler, Executive Director of Far Northern, explains that the winners of this round of awards goes to “individuals [who] have really gone above and beyond for others in their community.” 

We are so proud and thankful for this award!! We want to thank our employees, managers, instructors, developmentally disabled staff, and most importantly Teresa Wolk Hayes for creating and upholding this work environment of Super Hero Inclusion.