State employee receives award
As Annette Payne performs her daily tasks as an institutional parole assistant at SCI Fayette, she may appear to be a typical prison employee. But living with Crohn’s Disease, a digestive disorder, gives her a lot of challenges to overcome. Payne was recently recognized for courageously facing those challenges. Payne was invited to an awards ceremony in Harrisburg on Nov. 3, where she received the Governor’s Committee on Employment of People With Disabilities state employee of the year award. She said her supervisor, and her old supervisor nominated her for the award because they thought she handled her job professionally, even living with the disorder.
“It was really great,” said Payne, recalling how she felt when she received the award. “To be the state employee of the year with a disability, out of all the other state employees. That was pretty darn good.”
Unfortunately, Payne said that living with Crohn’s Disease, not every day is a good one. She said she experiences symptoms of “severe stomach cramps,” for which she has been on medication for years.
“When I have a flare up, they will put me on steroids,” said Payne. “That is what they have to do to combat the symptoms.”
Payne said that her symptoms are sometimes brought on by stress, which can make her job difficult since a prison is usually a stressful environment.
“There is a lot of stress running the office and it’s not only stressful at work, but sometimes at home,” said Payne, explaining that her daughter and 2 1/2-year-old granddaughter live with her at her Lemont Furnace home.
“I help take care of my granddaughter, and that can be stressful sometimes,” said Payne, laughing as she recalled the two of them going with her to Harrisburg for the awards ceremony.
“It wasn’t a very good trip back,” she said. “My granddaughter fussed the whole way home.”
Even though she experiences pain and stress at times, Payne doesn’t let that slow her down.
“I just got a promotion,” she said. “It’s not always easy working (with this condition) but I just try to laugh a lot and get through the day.”