2024 "We Are Worth It." Direct Support Professional Award WinnersEvery fall at PAR's Solutions Conference, we celebrate the "We Are Worth It." award winners. These awards honor outstanding individuals who have demonstrated extraordinary and innovative support and action that lead people with intellectual disability and/or autism to live meaningful and inclusive lives. These winners are honored for transforming lives by supporting people to achieve their personal outcomes while actively engaging in their communities.
Peter Horton Peter was brought on to our InVision team in 2017 as a referral from the family of the person he supports. Having had an existing relationship with the family who have grown to rely on him, Peter is seen as trustworthy, and has the exact skill and dedication the family believes is needed to support their son. This specific family has been through a variety of past experiences that lead them to be extremely selective regarding whom they trust to support their son. The family trusts Peter to be this person, as they feel he understands, values, and respects their son, as well as respecting their role as family members. Over the course of the last seven years, there has been a lot to navigate with changes at work for the person supported, family milestones Peter help assist with, and the realignment of all services during the pandemic. Additionally, social and family components have changed for the person supported, as he has recently become an uncle. Peter has diligently helped this person in understanding his role as brother and now uncle. These changes created some challenging family dynamics, as the person supported and his sister who got married and subsequently had a baby are very close in age. Peter played an integral role in helping the family understand the impact these events had on the person supported. Peter and the family worked together in a manner that was inclusive in helping this young man understand these new roles as an uncle. Peter has also been instrumental in assisting the person supported and his family in looking at independent living options, planning nutrition, attending social functions and classes, volunteering in the community, and working competitively. Regardless of the task or situation occurring, Peter ensures that the family is informed and up-to-date, and that the person supported has the tools and support necessary to be successful.
Henry Ssemanda Henry is an incredible example of an extraordinary staff that dedicated decades to helping enrich the lives of the individuals we support. Henry has spent years helping to transform the lives of many different gentlemen supported. Henry’s dedication and advocacy has positively impacted the lives of so many. Henry has spent the last 38 years mentoring and role modeling the gentleman he has worked closely with. And the team has had the pleasure of watching his efforts come full circle in many cases. Henry continues to incorporate the individuals into his family and neighborhood gatherings. The fact that Henry has done this for literally several decades has had a profound positive effect on each of the individuals and fostered greater understanding and acceptance of people with disabilities in the community. One of the individuals collects any branches and twigs that fall in his yard. Henry will plan to bring his pickup truck to work when the individual asks and transports the yard waste to burn in his firepit. The individual finds satisfaction that his efforts result in a warm fire when the weather gets cool. Henry continues to bring an individual to weekly church services as often as he can. The individual attended weekly services with family members who have passed on. Henry's efforts provide comfort and continuity to the individual who misses his family. Henry shared a story with me about one of the individuals supported. Someone he worked with for over 10 years who struggled for social relationships and experiences. A gentleman that would barley hold a conversation, was completely unwilling to be flexible, unable to demonstrate any compassion for others or engage in meaningful activities. Henry got to take this gentleman to his bowling banquet and watch him laughing and dancing amongst his friends. Henry voiced that moments like that were what made him feel blessed to have been part of the bigger picture and process. I personally met Henry over 27 years ago when I was first starting my career in Human Services, Henry was always a wealth of knowledge and supportive as I grew as a manager. Henry has mentored and taught many staff throughout the years. His patience and ability to manage crisis with ease continue to be an asset to his team and BARC. This year Henry retired from his fulltime job as a middle school history teacher and is looking forward to traveling and enjoying retirement. When Henry was asked why he continued to work a full- time position with BARC in addition to teaching middle school all these years. He responded that in addition to the relationship he has formed with the individuals, he has a sense of duty and gratitude to BARC for hiring him when he was a newly arrived college student.
Kathleen Laverty Supportive Behavioral Resources, Inc. is honored to nominate Kathleen Laverty as Direct Support Professional Advocate of the Year. Kathleen is a family hire who supported Allie, Harry, and her brother Chris, as a DSP. Kathleen took on this role after completing her BA in Social Work and fighting a courageous battle with Breast Cancer. Kathleen utilizes her education, courage and creativity to fiercely advocate for everyone she supports. Kathleen was instrumental in advocating for Allie to achieve a higher level of independence in early adulthood. Allie felt she was at odds with her family and they were hindering her independence. Kathleen sought out the help of a Family Advocate to assist Allie and her family with navigating Allie’s desire for more independence. Kathleen helped Allie work toward her dreams. They engaged in independence- building skills such as money management and healthy meal planning. Kathleen also supports her brother, Chris. She chose to support Chris when she realized Chris was not engaged in his day program. He was not participating in the available programming and began to display behaviors towards staff at the facility. Kathleen concluded her brother was unhappy. She advocated for Chris to switch services to In Home and Community Supports and Kathleen would work full-time as Chris’ DSP, through SBR’s family hire program. During this time, Kathleen also supported Harry with Chris in group activities. Harry was not a good match for Chris, due to varying levels of independence. Kathleen advocated to SBR management so Harry could receive needed support and work on furthering his capabilities in a group setting. They met with Harry, Harry’s DSP and SBR management to come up with a plan. Kathleen’s commitment and dedication are admired by the individuals, staff and families that we serve. Our DSPs seek out her guidance and appreciate her candor. Kathleen is willing to share her experience and as a Charting the Life Course Ambassador, freely shares her story and the benefits of being a family hire with others. Kathleen’s commitment to the field and the individuals she serves makes her a deserving candidate for this award
Chrystal Wheat Chrystal began working for our CPS program on July 24, 2023, after deciding to pursue a career change, and our field has been blessed by her choice. She is a pleasure to be around, always kind and caring, while providing challenges and structure to facilitate growth. She is dependable and hard-working and always willing to help – a true team player. While she has done wonderful things with our participants in the last year, a recent example demonstrates why she is the epitome of an Emerging DSP. Chrystal is passionate about horses and wanted to find a way to share this love with our participants. Independently, she developed the idea of a community focus group and got to work. Over months, the group worked on a series of goals that Chrystal paired with community visits. These included visiting a racetrack to watch a race, walk the track, and meet racers to learn about the history of racehorses, visiting a Saddlery, visiting the Maryland Horse Library and Education center, learning about feeding, bedding, and wound care, etc. The group also spent time at Chrystal’s farm working and getting comfortable with the horses and then planned and created a circuit course. They built all course components themselves and invited other participants of the CPS program to the farm for a presentation. The individuals in the focus group led this presentation and helped other participants experience leading a horse through the course and taught them some of the grooming and wound care skills they learned. Not only did the individuals in her group learn a ton and have an amazing experience, but she allowed them to demonstrate their skills and give other individuals a wonderful learning opportunity. Chrystal’s imagination and creativity in creating this group to share her passion and all of her hard work and countless hours spent bringing this vision to life, truly make her stand out in the world of DSPs. She is such an asset to our team and I know she will continue to demonstrate this high level of dedication as she continues on her path as a DSP.
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