Canopy Welcomes New Director of HR

Canopy Children’s Solutions (Canopy) welcomes Jynger N. Morris, SHRM-CP, as its new Director of Human Resources. Morris brings more than 12 years of experience in human resource management and employee benefits to Canopy. In her role, Morris will oversee aspects of the employee experience (recruiting, onboarding, retention, etc.), as well as employee relations, work force development, employee performance and benefits.

“I believe the role of human resources is to serve employees to the best of our ability so they can best serve our clients,” said Morris. “You have to have a heart for service and want to ‘love on’ people so they get the best out of their working experience. We need to ask the hard questions and continually evaluate how we can better serve our team.”

Prior to joining Canopy, Morris was the Human Resources Manager at Horne, LLP and helped to manage benefits, employee experience, compliance and employee relations for a staff of over 500 spread throughout the Southeast and Mid-Western United States. Morris also spent time at the University of Mississippi Medical Center heading up employee benefits for one of the state’s largest employers.

Morris attended Millsaps College before relocating to North Carolina. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from Appalachian State University and later earned master’s degrees in Human Relations and International Relations from the University of Oklahoma.

Morris is a native of Rankin County but has spent time living in a variety of locations throughout her life and is the youngest of six children. She is highly involved in her children’s activities and in the educational community for Madison Station Elementary. She and her husband, Isaac, currently reside in Madison, Mississippi, and are the proud parents to four children.

ABOUT CANOPY

Canopy Children’s Solutions is Mississippi’s largest and most comprehensive non-profit provider of children’s behavioral health, educational and social service solutions. The organization, founded in 1912, offers a variety of solutions all across the state, including specialized education programs, Autism therapy, intensive psychiatric treatment, outpatient counseling, drug and alcohol intervention, crisis shelters, family preservation programs, therapeutic foster care and adoption. Canopy serves more than 5,000 children each year.

Canopy Takes to the Country

Imagine the joy to be able to leave your worries behind and escape to a different world, even for a day. Thanks to a generous donor, Canopy’s youth were able to experience a day of fun in the country.

While the day was hot, a nice breeze blew across the open fields in Flora. The fishing poles were prepared with bait and hooks, the horses were saddled, jump houses inflated and there was an endless supply of funnel cakes and snow cone waiting to be enjoyed. Under a white tent, a collection of animals including a camel, kangaroo, goats, and an alpaca were waiting to be loved. The stage was set for the kids to arrive.

More than 60 youth and chaperones loaded charter buses in the parking lot of Broadmoor Baptist church in Madison. (This experience alone was exciting as very few of the kids, if any, had seen a bus with bath facilities onboard.) The buses weaved through the countryside passing open fields, rolling hills and beautiful remote houses scattering the distance. When the buses turned into the farm where the event was held, the kids could barely hold in their excitement.

As the kids exited the buses, they were greeted by a special guest—Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant, who was later joined by his wife, First Lady Deborah Bryant.

Planned activities for the day included a dunking booth, craft station, petting zoo, fishing, horseback riding, jump houses, karaoke, and a photo booth. The kids, which included children from CARES Center as well as children involved in Canopy’s Therapeutic Foster Care Program, spent time with volunteers taking in each activity with joy and excitement.

“Many of these activities are a first for our kids,” said John D. Damon, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer for Canopy Children’s Solutions. “These experiences create powerful memories and elicit strong emotions in our kids. What is the most powerful is that the kids realize this is something put together by volunteers—people they’ve never met before—just for them. While it looks like fun, it is also very therapeutic and we are grateful to the organizers who made this possible for our kids. It is an experience they won’t forget.”

The kids also enjoyed a catered meal of fried catfish, chicken, and the all the fixings. During the lunch break, several of the youth entertained the crowd singing their favorite songs.

As the day wound to a close, the kids gathered under the large tent with snow cones and funnel cakes to watch a magic show..

“What a great experience!” said Caitlin Mudd, program director for CARES Center. “The kids have enjoyed their custom t-shirts and hats they were given and have asked several times when they could go back.”

Canopy is grateful to the donors and volunteers who helped make this event happen. Powerful partnerships with individuals and organizations give us the tools and opportunities to help children thrive.

2018 Wine Tasting and Silent Auction

The Auxiliary of Canopy Children’s Solutions is preparing for our annual Wine Tasting and Silent Auction. This year’s event is being hosted at the home of Kerk and Elizabeth Mehrle, on April 21, from 7:00 to 9:30 p.m. The evening will showcase fine wine and gourmet food pairings from some of the area’s top restaurants as well as a premier silent auction and live entertainment. The VIP hour exclusively for event sponsors will feature artisan wines from Krutz Family Cellars and gourmet demonstration hosted by The Gathering at Livingston.

This event directly supports the efforts of Canopy Children’s Solutions, formerly Mississippi Children’s Home Services, which has served the greatest needs of children and families since 1912.

To learn more about the 2018 Wine Tasting and Silent Auction or to become an event sponsor, please visit our Wine Tasting page by clicking here.

Microsoft names Canopy Children’s Solutions as the Charity of Choice for MS Rocks Concert

Empowering every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more is no small feat, yet Microsoft boldly advances their mission yet again by advancing the mission of others. Microsoft has selected Mississippi-based Canopy Children’s Solutions as the Charity of Choice for 2018 Microsoft Rocks (MS Rocks). This benefit concert will be held at 7 p.m. on March 14, 2018, at the Breakers Sky Lounge in Herndon, VA. Proceeds raised by the event will support the advancement of the Canopy Autism Center of Excellence, which is dedicated to helping children on the Autism spectrum and their families to overcome extraordinary challenges.

The MS Rocks opportunity emerged through collaboration of a Canopy-led global volunteer initiative around Digital Transformation for Autism (#DT4A), which is currently working to advance Autism sentiment tools. Many of the volunteers supporting #DT4A came to Canopy through the philanthropic Microsoft Employee Giving Campaign program which encourages Microsoft employees to give generously of their time, talent and resources to a wide range of societal issues.

“Relationships matter. Carefully aligned relationships are transformational. A unique and powerful collaboration has developed between the global mission of Microsoft and the mission of Canopy Children’s Solutions to empower every person with autism to achieve more. Together, we are re-imagining what is possible for these amazing children and families. We are deeply humbled to be selected by Microsoft Corporation as its charity of choice for the MS Rocks event to support the development of our autism center of excellence,” said John Damon, Ph. D., Canopy’s Chief Executive Officer.

“Over 30 volunteers from nine countries around the world have volunteered their time and talents to innovate customized, cutting-edge solutions for children with autism,” Damon continued. “Most importantly, this effort has been led by volunteers who know first-hand the importance of this revolutionary work, which holds endless application possibilities for our children who have so much to offer this world. I am immeasurably grateful for Microsoft and the volunteers for empowering Canopy and our children to achieve so much more!”

To purchase tickets to the Washington, DC, MS Rocks event and learn more about how you and your organization can ensure #AllPuzzlesCanBeSolved for #DT4A, please visit MicrosoftRocksCanopy.com.

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