As the year comes closer to an end, open enrollment becomes critical for our employees. The San Antonio Housing Authority (SAHA) is pleased to offer a program of comprehensive health benefits, including medical, dental and vision coverage for you and your family. Life and disability coverage is also available to protect you and your family in the event of a family loss or an inability to work. In doing so, it is imperative that all employees make the right choices and fill out the correct forms for open enrollment.
SAHA continues to strive for the open enrollment opportunities that provide its employees with high-quality benefits at reasonable premium rates. To address the 2008 health care offerings and relevant plan changes, as well as to give employees a chance to have their questions answered, SAHA will sponsor a series of beneficiary meetings. In addition, Pete Mayberry will attend the meetings to address any questions about enrollment in the ICMA 457 Retirement Plan. These meetings, which will take place during open enrollment, will be mandatory, yet easily accessible, for all employees. Time is moving rapidly, so make your way to these meetings before it’s too late and ensure that you get the benefits you deserve.
Spotlight: George Guerra
The PC support specialist earns his second degree
Graduation is drawing closer for George Guerra, the SAHA PC support manager who is scheduled to graduate from UTSA with an MS in Applied Industrial Mathematics this December.
“It hasn’t hit me yet,” said Guerra. “I’m extremely proud. For one, I’m the only one in my family to even reach this high. I’m the only one who even has a Bachelor’s degree in my family.”
Guerra received his Bachelor’s degree in Math from Our Lady of the Lake University in December 1996. In addition to his mathematical studies, he minored in Computer Information Systems.
Shortly after receiving his Bachelor’s degree, Guerra came to work at SAHA in the Information Technology department. He has worked in both programming and PC support for 10 years.
Apart from his academic success, Guerra has a fulfilling personal life, as well. He has four children named Lauren Alexandria, 16, George Alexander, 14, Joshua, 6, and Jeremy Dominic, 7 ½ months, as well as a wife of over seven years, Sandra Guerra, who works in child development at Great Beginnings: St. Andrews Methodist Church.
Guerra is also “an exercise nut” who not only regularly pumped iron and ran the treadmills at the gym, but also spent 14 years studying different types of karate. He has a black belt in
Chuan Shu, a mixture of
Kenpo and
Kung Fu that was devised by his instructor,and a yellow belt in
Wing Chun. He has competed in and won awards at martial arts tournaments as far away as Mexico City. At the tournament in Mexico City, Guerra took home second prize.
However, Guerra quit karate 2003 because “I don’t have any spare time between graduate school and my newborn. I would’ve continued [karate], but I had more responsibilities.”
Guerra feels balance is not only the key to success, but also the most difficult part of achieving success.
“Trying to balance my studies and my personal life as a husband and father while working full-time has been difficult, especially for the past year because of our newborn,” he said. “But at the same time, when you get and maintain that balance, it’s very fulfilling.
”In the future, the San Antonio native wants to pursue a second Master’s degree in Management of Technology, which is “like an MBA, but more technologically specialized.” Guerra would also like to resume his regular karate classes because “I want to go back and study what I don’t know. If I have time, I would love to get back to karate and back to the gym."
Suited for the challenge
Taking training to the end zone
In many organizations across America, training is a term that gets tossed around like a fumbled football that is waiting for someone to grab it and claim it as a prize possession. The San Antonio Housing Authority (SAHA) has the training ball in hand and is heading for its goal.
The recently hired Property Management trainees (PMTs) are putting on all the right gear for managing our properties. The intense training program designed by the SAHA Training department includes classroom instruction coupled with on-the-job training from some of our elite property managers. The PMTs have been assigned a number of property management tasks to assess their skills while training on our properties. They are receiving high marks for their attention to detail, as well as for their extraordinary leadership and management abilities.
Other departments within SAHA have now come off the sideline and are sending their own players into the training game. Management Apprentice Program (MAPs) participants, Maintenance trainees and Housing Choice Voucher trainees are now part of this training and development program. Our trainers are doing a great job moving these programs toward the goals set by our organization, and they are also suited for the challenge of reaching the end zone.
Working for the benefit of our fellow citizens is one of the chief goals of the San Antonio Housing Authority (SAHA). Each year, SAHA sponsors as many events as possible that benefit organizations, such as the San Antonio Food Bank, which feeds the hungry of San Antonio, and the Education Investment Foundation, which provides scholarships and awards for students. In the past couple of months alone, SAHA has hosted a number of events that have benefited the entire San Antonio community. 
It’s important for you to know as much as you can about the drugs you’re taking. This knowledge helps you get the most benefit from your medications and avoid medical errors.Your medication listTo reduce your risk of medication problems, put together a complete list of:
The SAHA first annual House of Jazz festival is just around the corner! From 11 a.m. until 6 p.m. on Oct. 6, 2007, the smooth melodies and catchy beats of San Antonio’s finest jazz musicians, including Henry Brun & The Latin Playerz, will fill the air at the SAHA park grounds.
On October 31, children across the nation will celebrate Halloween by donning the garb of everything from zombies and fairies to pirates and chickens. They will sling their sacks and buckets across their arms, ring a few bells and collect treats enough to keep them munching for months to come.