Archive for ‘awards and recognition’

I Don’t Do this Job to Win an Award – But It Sure Feels Good to Get One

Posted by on January 19th, 2010 at 2:28 pm | 10 Comments »

Timothy Doe

You must first be a believer if you would be an achiever.

Late last year, something happened that humbled me more than anything else in the five years that I’ve worked at the Catholic Community Services (CCS) Community Living Program in Tucson: I was chosen as our 2009-2010 Employee of the Year.

I have been assisting people with disabilities since I was in high school. I do this work because I love it, to accomplish goals, and to feel that I am contributing to something. I usually don’t feel as if anyone other than the person I am assisting is aware of what I do. If you’d asked me about that, I would have said it didn’t matter, but this award has made me realize how good it feels to have your work acknowledged.

It has also made me think about the road that led me to this profession that I love. Continue reading »

DSP Advocate of the Year Siljander Urges Others to Join the Cause

Posted by on January 15th, 2010 at 6:32 pm | 7 Comments »

Bridget Siljander

The DCA’s own Bridget Siljander was named DSP Advocate of the Year by the Metropolitan Center for Independent Living (MCIL) in St. Paul, Minnesota.

A recent issue of MCIL’s newsletter (PDF) features an interview with Siljander, in which she talks about how the direct support field has evolved in the dozen years she has been in it, why her fellow direct support professionals should join her in advocating for better working conditions, and more.

“I would challenge everyone who wants better working conditions to do something about it,” she says. “It is very liberating to speak up and to share your experiences – good and bad. There are not enough DSPs doing that and it gives the impression that we are fine with the status quo.”

Nursing Assistant in the U.S., King in Uganda

Posted by on December 21st, 2009 at 10:33 pm | No Comments »

Charles Wesley Mumbere

A political refugee from Uganda who worked for years as a nursing assistant in Maryland and Pennsylvania has gone back home to take his place as king of the Rwenzururu Kingdom. According to an Associated Press article about Charles Wesley Mumbere, “The new King of Uganda’s Mountains of the Moon has undergone many transformations — from teenage leader of a rebel force to impoverished student to a nursing home assistant working two jobs in the U.S., where he lived for nearly 25 years.”

Mumbere grew up in the bush with a rebel group led by his father, a deposed king who was leading his Bakonzo people in protest against their oppression by the Toro Kingdom. After his father’s death, Mumbere came to the United States to study, gained political asylum, and trained as a nurse’s aide.

He chose the work, he told the paper, because it was reliable. “Other jobs you can be laid off easily.” But surviving on a nursing assistant’s salary wasn’t easy. “Sometimes you have two jobs,” he said. “You go to college in the morning, between 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. Then you go prepare to go to work at 3 p.m. and then return at 11 p.m.”

Under a new arrangement with the Ugandan government, the exiled king was reinstated. He has no executive power, but he may determine cultural and social issues affecting his people.

Book Award Unearths Retired CNA’s Past as Civil Rights Hero

Posted by on December 21st, 2009 at 10:12 pm | 1 Comment »

Claudette Colvin last month (L) and in 1953

A National Book Award awarded last month for a young adult book has given its subject, a retired nursing assistant, a taste of long-overdue fame for a brave act in her youth.
Claudette Colvin, a civil rights pioneer who refused to give up her seat to a white woman in Montgomery months before Rosa Parks walked into history books by doing the same, recently retired after 35 years as a nursing assistant in a New York City nursing home.

The civil rights leaders planning to fight segregation laws in court decided not to use Colvin’s arrest as their test case, the author of the book told the New York Times. “They worried they couldn’t win with her. Words like ‘mouthy,’ ‘emotional’ and ‘feisty’ were used to describe her.” 

In the Times article, Colvin said even her own mother told her it was best to cede the spotlight to Parks. “My mother told me to be quiet about what I did,” she recalled. “She told me: ‘Let Rosa be the one. White people aren’t going to bother Rosa — her skin is lighter than yours and they like her.’ ”

Elise Nakhnikian
Communications Director
Direct Care Alliance

DSPAM’s New President Plans to Build on Past Success

Posted by on December 21st, 2009 at 9:20 pm | No Comments »

Lindsay Short

I am honored to have been elected president of the Direct Support Professional Association of Minnesota as of next year.

Being a part of DSPAM over the last two years has been an eye-opening, life-changing experience. I’ve had the opportunity to work with amazing people on the DSPAM board of directors, and I’ve watched DSPAM turn into an amazing organization, overcoming many milestones and accomplishing many of its goals.

Continue reading »

Pennsylania Seeking Nominations for Direct Care Worker of the Year

Posted by on November 25th, 2009 at 4:34 am | No Comments »

If you know an outstanding home care worker in Pennsylvania, you may want to nominate him or her for the state’s second annual Direct Care Worker of the Year Award.

The Pennsylvania Department of Aging is currently accepting nominations for the award. Contact Rocco Claroni at 717-772-2932 or rclaroni@state.pa.us for more information.

Direct Care Workers in the News

Posted by on October 27th, 2009 at 1:58 pm | No Comments »
Daniel Escojido

Daniel Escojido

DSP Chronicles Profiles Daniel Escojido

Daniel Escojido, a 26-year-old direct support professional who is the house manager for a group home is Ponca City, Oklahoma, is profiled in the October issue of The DSP Chronicles. “Is he mature beyond his 26 years? For sure!” says his supervisor in Tom King’s article. “Some people in this field have got it, and some don’t have it. Daniel’s got it.”
He was inspired to join the field by his mother, Maria, who provided in-home supports for the elderly. “I saw and watched and heard how she talked with them, the difference she made in their lives and how she loved them and they loved her and I’ve never forgotten that,” he told the publication.

 

Boston Globe Honors Evelyn Coke, Calls for “Decent Pay” for Home Care Workers

An editorial in Sunday’s Boston Globe pays tribute to Evelyn Coke and warns that “many thousands of Evelyn Cokes” will soon be added to the workforce — and they must be paid “a decent wage.” Continue reading »

Voices Institute NLP Graduates New Crop of Direct Care Worker Leaders

Posted by on October 15th, 2009 at 9:05 am | 3 Comments »
DCA board chair Vera Salter teaching members of the 2009 class

DCA board chair Vera Salter teaching members of the 2009 class

“Let the root thrive” was the birthing motto of the Voices Institute inaugural class, inspired by the lakeside location of the DeKoven Center in Wisconsin, where the first graduates launched DCA’s signature National Leadership Program (NLP) to turbo-charge direct care worker leadership and activism.

When I wrote, after the first class graduated, that the inaugural program was one “historic and successful step forward for the movement to empower direct care workers and to fix our broken long-term care system,” I was dreaming of the possibilities. From September 27 through October 3 of this year, direct care workers once again proved their capacity to make the seemingly impossible happen, and to claim the respect they deserve as professionals. The roots are thriving at the state and national level, and the new class of graduates have a place from where to build national policy success. Continue reading »

My Voices Institute Experience in a Word: TEAMWORK

Posted by on October 15th, 2009 at 8:36 am | 3 Comments »
D. Alex Chuang

D. Alex Chuang

T – It’s about tolerance and inclusion
E – It’s about effectiveness with less efficiency
A – It’s about Acts of Congress and the legislature
M – It’s about message crafting and staying on point
W — It’s about wages and top-line revenue
O – It’s about opening minds and wallets
R – It’s about respect with results
K – It’s about kinships and the human kindred spirit

D. Alex Chuang
Voices Institute NLP Class of 2009

My Voices Institute Experience in a Word: AWESOME

Posted by on October 13th, 2009 at 3:18 pm | 1 Comment »
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

A is for the award-winning experience
W is for a wonderful, worthy cause
E is for exposure to new ideas
S is for soothing smiles and soul
O is for the overwhelming openness of my newfound friends
M is for meaningful memories
E is for everlasting

 

Brenda Nachtway
DCA Direct Care Worker Specialist and graduate of the 2008 class of the Voices Institute National Leadership Program

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