Employee of the Year

Susan Saulsbury 2007 Employee of the Year Susan Saulsbury is Dare County’s 2007 Employee of the Year. Susan was honored at the January 7, 2008 Dare County Board of Commissioners meeting with many of her family members and coworkers present.

Susan moved here from Baltimore and joined the Dare County Department of Social Services in February 1989. She has held several positions with the department in her 18 years of service. Her starting position was as an Emergency Services Intake Social Worker. After five years in that position she became an In-Home Services Social Worker. She held this position until 2003. She is currently working as an Adult Protective Social Worker.

As an Adult Protective Social Worker, Susan performs several important functions, some of which include receiving, investigating, and evaluating reports of adult abuse, neglect, and exploitation. She also counsels clients and their families who are in need of assistance with financial, medical, social and psychological problems.

Outside of work, Susan has been a licensed foster parent, serves as a board member of the Community Development Corporation, is an active member of Mighty Wind United Methodist Church, and participates and raises money for the March of Dimes, Relay for Life, and Crop Walk.

Teresa Edwards, Social Worker Supervisor III, presented Susan with the award, and described Susan as a caring person who is an example for her co-workers.

“At Social Services, we know how [Susan] leaves work at the end of the day only to pick up someone’s medicine at the drug store and take it to them, or help with some other essential need or to visit them at the hospital,” said Edwards. “She spends not only her work hours, but every hour of every day trying to help others.”

Edwards, when presenting Susan with the Employee of the Month award in December, described an article she had read regarding common characteristics among those who excel at social work.

“The one quality that was almost universally shared was a deep and abiding belief that all human life is valuable,” said Edwards. “I can’t think of anyone who has made that belief more a part of their life than Susan.”

Susan was quick to point out that it was not an individual effort, and that those beliefs were held by all of her co-workers.

“It’s just so good to be a part of an agency that has those beliefs,” Susan said. “It is a privilege to work for Dare County. I love living in Dare County. I love my work, and I love my coworkers.”