Brenda (L) with Jackie Merkel at the 2008 Voices Institute National Leadership Program
In a few short weeks, the direct care worker movement will grow stronger and more unified when direct care workers come together in Racine, Wisconsin for the Voices Institute‘s second National Leadership Program (NLP).
The workers in this year’s class will share their stories and learn from one another. They will also learn from a training team that includes graduates of last year’s Voices Institute NLP. I’d like to introduce you to one of them, my treasured colleague Brenda Nachtway.
Brenda will be one of the first people that the class members will meet. She will welcome the class as they arrive on Sunday evening and get settled in and coordinate an evening program where the class will get personally acquainted, after long-distance exchanges on web seminars and orientation and community-building conference calls. Since she is one of the most joyful, humorous, and warm people you will ever meet, it is safe to say that the class will find a week-long home away from home in Brenda’s company.
Brenda will be the co-trainer on a number of sessions, starting with a series that will lead the class through a discovery of their own personal power. She will also put some of her extensive lobbying experience to use in a session that will prepare the class for making legislative visits.
A DCA direct care worker specialist, Brenda has been a direct care worker for over 25 years, including 22 years at the hospice program where she works now. She is a shining example of the largely untapped potential that lies within the three-million-strong direct care workforce.
I can say that with confidence because I’m a direct care worker, too.
Bridget Siljander
Direct Care Alliance
Voices Institute Coordinator
