Archive for ‘Voices Institute’

Introducing Voices Institute Trainer and DCW Brenda Nachtway

Posted by on September 8th, 2009 at 11:06 am | No Comments »
Brenda (L) with Jackie Merkel at the 2008 Voices Institute National Leadership Program

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. Continue reading »

Brenda Nachtway Video: Direct Care is a Profession

Posted by on August 10th, 2009 at 12:02 pm | 4 Comments »

In this video, nurse aide and DCA Direct Care Worker Specialist Brenda Nachtway discusses her years as professional direct care worker and her commitment to her profession. Please share this moving story with anyone who might benefit from hearing a direct care worker talk about her profession.

Members of 2009 Voices Institute Class Honored at Virginia CNA Celebration

Posted by on June 29th, 2009 at 4:13 pm | 1 Comment »

CNA Event June 16 098.smallNewly chosen members of the Voices Institute’s 2009 National Leadership Program were recognized at the 12th annual Celebrating Nursing Assistants event in Charlottesville, Virginia, on June 16.

Two hundred and thirty-seven CNAs from Central Virginia attended the event, which opened with a musical selection by the Charlottesville Threshold Choir. The choir sings at the bedsides of people who are ill or dying, for their caregivers, and for others in need of musical healing.

Following a buffet dinner and a talk by Dr. Wendi El-Amin, a family practitioner from the University of Virginia, certificates were awarded to Voices Institute inductees Geraldine (Liz) Rush and Robert Stevens and to Angel Saylor, who was on a waiting list at the time. Ms. Saylor has since been accepted.

Awards were then given in recognition of the CNAs with the most years of service and to the Nursing Assistant of the Year in each of five settings: hospital/acute care, community/home health, nursing home, assisted living, and companion/sitter.

Direct Care Worker Leaders Find Home in the 2009 Voices Institute Leadership Program

Posted by on June 24th, 2009 at 11:59 pm | 5 Comments »
Bridget Siljander

Bridget Siljander

A conference call isn’t usually an easy way to get to know someone, but there was a lot of laughter, sharing, and mutual support last week when the 2009 class of the Voices Institute National Leadership Program took part in a long-distance direct care worker exchange. 

I was excited about getting to know these impressive leaders, and it seems they were eager to meet each other too. The energy and sense of community I felt within our virtual gatherings, and the sense of easy familiarity that quickly built between us, were exhilarating. 

This was not the first time I have had this experience. The same positive spirit percolated in the first interactions of the 2008 inaugural class of the Voices Institute National Leadership Program. I will never forget how it captured my heart and my imagination. I’d found my way into my niche, into the group of people I most identified with. It was a profound connection: I was home. 

Last week, I heard the next class began to make that same connection.

There’s something special in direct care workers that we respond to when we meet, an element that I both witness and dance with. It is beautiful, and it reflects our inner strength.

Continue reading »

Direct Support Professional Takes Top Job at Voices Institute

Posted by on June 5th, 2009 at 2:16 pm | 10 Comments »
If you want something done, they say, give it to someone who’s already busy. And if you want someone to run a leadership program for direct care workers, who better than a busy direct care worker?

The Direct Care Alliance got the right person for the job this week when direct support professional Bridget Siljander moved into the newly created position of Coordinator of the Voices Institute.

A graduate of the Voices Institute National Leadership Program’s first class, Bridget has provided care and supports to elders and people with disabilities for the past 12 years. She has worked in hospitals, group homes, and nursing homes, but most of her work has been in home care. For the past nine years, she was the primary aide for one home care client.

In addition, she chairs the Direct Support Professional Association of Minnesota and writes curriculum for the National College of Direct Support. She is also a member of the National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals board of directors’ Advocacy and Legislation Committee. On top of that, she is a member of the Alliance for Full Participation – and, until she moved into her new position, she worked half-time as a direct care worker specialist for the DCA.

“Bridget’s proven leadership abilities, professionalism, commitment to excellence and personal knowledge of the direct care workforce made her an ideal choice to lead our signature program,” says DCA Executive Director Leonila Vega. “Her addition to the DCA staff marks a historic expansion and validation of our nationwide leadership development initiative. With her leadership, we will achieve our goal of expanding our state and regional Voices Institute leadership programs.”

Continue reading »

Direct Care Workers Help Get 37 Congressional Signatures on Letter to Labor Secretary Solis

Posted by on May 26th, 2009 at 8:50 pm | 1 Comment »
Jenn Craigue
Jenn Craigue

Last month I visited Washington, DC, along with other members of the Direct Care Alliance board, graduates of the DCA’s first Voices Institute class, and  other DCA staff and allies. We introduced ourselves to legislators and their staff and to asked for two things– and one of them has already happened.

One of our two main “asks” was that the legislators sign a Dear Colleague letter. The DCA worked with the House Labor and Working Families Caucus to circulate the letter, which asked U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis to change the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to include home care workers.

The Dear Colleague letter was sponsored by the three co-chairs of the Caucus: Representatives Linda Sánchez, Michael Michaud, and Stephen Lynch. They sent it to their colleagues in the House just before we got there, asking them to sign it. In our visits, we also urged members of Congress to sign. The final letter (PDF) went to Secretary Solis last week.

Continue reading »

DCW Helps Fight Proposed Cuts to Critical Disability and Aging Services in Minnesota

Posted by on May 11th, 2009 at 11:05 pm | 2 Comments »
Bridget Siljander

Bridget Siljander

“Bridget Siljander calls them the ‘invisible workforce.’ Without them, though, the fallout will be starkly clear,” begins a story that ran last week in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune,  one of the biggest papers in my state.

The advocacy work that led to my being quoted was fueled by my participation in the Voices Institute National Leadership Program, so it seemed appropriate that I was en route to New York City to meet with the rest of the program’s training team when I received a call from the Star Tribune’s Gail Rosenblum. She was writing a story about the personal care attendance program, and when she told two of Minnesota’s strongest advocates for people with disabilities – Anne Henry of the Minnesota Disability Law Center and Anni Simons of The Arc of Minnesota — that she wanted to talk to a personal care attendant, they sent her to me.

I was more than happy to share the positive side of personal care work, a profession that has been denigrated in recent months in my state of Minnesota. I told Gail that the contribution of personal care attendants to society is tremendous, and she clearly understood what I and the others she had talked to were saying. Her article provided a balance to very negative press for personal care attendants that has run rampant this year.

Continue reading »

My Trip to DC with the DCA: A Home Care Worker’s Report

Posted by on May 4th, 2009 at 6:06 pm | 3 Comments »
L to R: DCA board member Dennis Fitzgibbons, Helen Hanson, Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, Julie Moulton

L to R: DCA board member Dennis Fitzgibbons, Helen Hanson, Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, Julie Moulton

I just got back from a trip to DC with the Direct Care Alliance. It was a great start to achieving the FLSA rule change and to achieving health care reform that keeps direct care workers in the conversation. I think we started something that will just get bigger and keep raising awareness.

What is unique is that the Direct Care Alliance is having us workers talk to members of Congress. They need to hear from us – not the policy experts or service providers, but the hands on, day-to-day workers. I never would have thought a couple of years ago that I’d be on Capitol Hill, talking with my congressional delegation about my job and the tough work issues I and my fellow workers face every day. The DCA has made that possible for me.

I got the opportunity to personally thank Congresswoman Linda Sanchez and Congressman Mike Michaud for sponsoring our “Dear Colleague” letter to Secretary of Labor Solis. I am so honored that I got the chance to do that.

But the highlight of the visit for me was getting to talk with Congresswoman Chellie Pingree herself. Congresswoman Pingree was very supportive of the workforce and agreed direct care workers need to be included in health care reform. She also wanted to know more about the FLSA. She sounded as if she’ll probably sign the letter. We encouraged her to talk to her congressional colleagues about the FLSA, and we’ll do some follow-up with her.

Continue reading »

Voices Institute National Leadership Program Extends Deadline

Posted by on April 30th, 2009 at 4:44 pm | No Comments »
Bridget (L) and Renee Tillman at the 2008 Voices Institute

Bridget (L) and Renee Tillman at the 2008 Voices Institute

Learn more about the Voices Institute, download an application, or apply online
A few of the employers and associations who expressed interest in this year’s Voices Institute National Leadership Program have asked for more time to nominate workers.

It is important to us to hear from every direct care worker who wants to grow as a leader by participating, so we extended our application deadline – and we want to offer the same opportunity to anyone else who wants to apply or nominate somebody.

The new application deadline is May 22. We’ll be in touch with every applicant early next month to let them know if they were accepted.

Bridget Siljander
Direct Care Worker Specialist
Direct Care Alliance

An Inside Look at the Voices Institute National Training

Posted by on April 14th, 2009 at 9:45 am | 1 Comment »
We're working on personal empowerment. That's me standing in the background.

We're working on personal empowerment. That's me standing in the background.

Hello, fellow direct care workers.

Helping to plan the DCA’s Voices Institute National Leadership Training this year is making me think about last year’s training. I want to tell you what that was like, in case you’re thinking of joining us this year.

Last year’s training was at the Dekoven Center in Racine, Wisconsin – the same place where it will be this year. The Dekoven Center is on a 20-acre, wooded campus on the shore of Lake Michigan between Milwaukee and Chicago. It’s a beautiful place, but there wasn’t much time to enjoy the scenery. A few of us took walks every morning at 6, and we had a few classes outside, but that was about it.

They said it would be a retreat. When I think of a retreat, I think of relaxation and kicking back. Boy, was I wrong about this one! We started classes every day at 9 and finished at 5 or later. Some nights, we didn’t get done till 7. It was really worthwhile – it’s a good training – but it was intense. You’re there to learn.

Continue reading »

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »