M THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN- FLINT

FLINT, MICHIGAN 48502-2186

FLIN
T DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY
411 Murchie Science Building
Phone: (810) 762-3424
Fax: (810) 762-3687
e-mail: HFRANK@UMICH.EDU

September 11, 2010

Mental Health Systems, Inc

Case Management North
550 W. Vista Way
Vista, CA 92083

Dear Mrs. Fahimeh Peifer:

I am writing to support the application of Maria Christina Nielsen for the position
of Case Manager.

I have known Chris for 15 years and, since she is married to my old college
roommate, have followed her professional career with some interest.

I have read hundreds of letters of recommendation. They take on a mind-dulling

sameness. The most common adjectives are bright, hard-working, and responsible—
qualities that if present should be plainly evident in the candidate’s documentation.
Accordingly, you can judge these qualities from her transcripts and work history, so I
won’t belabor the obvious.

It is far more difficult to document a candidate’s clinical intuition and dedication

to the welfare of his or her clients, and this is where Chris is truly a stellar candidate.
What I would regard as above and beyond the call of duty, Chris considers part of the job
—whether it is driving hundreds of miles a day in behalf of a client who has no
transportation, organizing friends and family to help a client move, going-head-to-head
with an arcane and Byzantine human services bureaucracy (in a state that could teach the
14th century Medici court something about convoluted politics), or compelling an
intransigent county medical system to meet its legal obligations. Furthermore, she seems
to manage this combination of clinician/medical ombudsman/advocate/community
organizer while maintaining an unfailing ability to keep her personal and professional
lives completely distinct.
 I have rather concluded that this is not so much what she as who she is—not a job,
but something fundamental to her character. When she and her husband began their
decade tenure as coffee farmers in Hawaii, they quickly learned that the conditions under
which field workers live were simply abhorrent. Though it was in no way relevant to her
work and although it incensed their coffee-grower peers, Chris immediately launched a
personal campaign to improve matters. Her husband, Eli, brought his own construction
experience to bear installing and upgrading housing, utilities, and sanitation, and Chris
became a formidable voice for workers’ rights. Keep in mind that these activities were
not in their own conventional self-interest. Every success cut into their own profits. This
was never even a passing consideration. Eli—the epitome of a heard-headed
businessman—scoffed when I brought it up: “A healthy, happy worker is a productive
worker!” was his reply.

Chris’s motivation was more fundamental: “It’s the right thing to do.”

Very truly yours,

Harry Frank, PhD

Professor Emeritus