Posted by Elise Nakhnikian on January 15th, 2010 at 7:30 pm | 2 Comments »
Theresa Laws
“I have recommended this field to others and will continue to do so. I feel as though this can be a very rewarding field — as long as you measure it by the happiness of the people you serve,” says Theresa Laws.
Laws is the latest direct support professional to be profiled by the College of Direct Support in its DSP Chronicles. (PDF)
A Health Support Specialist/Direct Support Professional for the Rensselaer County ARC in Troy, New York, where she helps support six women in a group home, she is also an advocate for her professional. Law is a founding member of the Direct Support Professional Alliance of New York State, and she has testified before the New York State Senate Finance and Assembly Ways and Means Committee about te need for better DSP benefits and salaries.
“It was exhilarating and a little nerve-wracking to say the least to testify but I was honored to be asked to do it and it’s such an important set of issues for DSPs, for those we support and for their families,” she says.
Posted by Leonila Vega on January 15th, 2010 at 5:12 pm | 4 Comments »
Bob Hudek
I am delighted to announce that Bob Hudek has joined our staff as director of the DCA’s Voices Institute.
Bob is highly experienced at both grassroots organizing and training. He has developed and conducted training programs for unions and citizen organizations on effective organizing, building grass roots power, leadership development and coalition-building.
I met Bob when he was running Citizen Action of Wisconsin, which he revitalized through coalition building and grass roots organizing. He has also served as executive director of the Coalition for Consumer Rights and as national field director of Citizen Action and the Citizen/Labor Energy Coalition.
For the past several years, Bob has also been essential to our Voices Institute, which he was instrumental in developing. Continue reading »
Posted by Elise Nakhnikian on January 15th, 2010 at 1:27 pm | No Comments »
Lori Michael
In another call for putting direct care on the nation’s job creation agenda, a Pennsylvania home care provider appealed to laid-off workers in a January 12 editorial in the Pottsville, Pennsylvania Republican Herald.
Lori Michael, the founder and chair of the Schuylkill County Direct Care Workers Association and owner of Lori’s Angels, a home care agency, urges displaced workers with “patience and understanding” to consider a career in direct care.
Michael describes direct care as “recession-proof” work that can last a lifetime and allow you to “really make a difference in the life of another person.” She also notes that it is one of the fastest-growing job categories in the nation, “playing a vital role in job creation and economic growth.”
Posted by Helen Hanson on January 15th, 2010 at 12:12 pm | No Comments »
A planning session with (L to R) Vicki Purgavie of Home Care & Hospice Alliance, Diana Scully and Doreen McDaniel from DHHS, me, Leo Delicata of Legal Services for the Elderly, and Louise Olsen from the University of Southern Maine, Muskie School
As I explained in an earlier blog post, Maine is putting four pieces of legislation that would affect the home- and community-based part of Maine’s long-term care system — including its direct care workers – through a LEAN process. The aim of the process is to make service delivery more efficient, address inequalities in the services provided, and hopefully gain some cost savings, which can be passed on to workers in the form of livable wages and benefits such as paid time off and health care coverage. We’ve made a lot of progress toward that goal in the last few weeks.
Two direct care workers, Julie Moulton and I, were appointed to the core team that will lead the process of coming up with a plan for a streamlined system. Another direct care worker, Cathy Bouchard, became an alternate, stepping up when Julie was unable to stay on the team. I am also part of a Direct Care Workers’ Task Force that was put together to recommend changes for the issues directly affecting home care workers. This is the first time workers have been involved at this high a level of working on system change in Maine. Continue reading »
Posted by Tracy Dudzinski on January 14th, 2010 at 10:40 am | 5 Comments »
Tracy Dudzinski
Embarrassed. Less than. Not worthy. Angry. Unimportant.
These are a few of the words that describe how I feel about having to rely on a state-sponsored health insurance plan for my family’s insurance coverage, though I work full time for a home care agency. I just can’t afford my employer’s health insurance plan on a direct care worker’s wages.
If I am helping care for our nation’s most vulnerable, why can’t I afford to buy into my employer’s health insurance plan for my family?
Don’t get me wrong – I’m very grateful for the state-sponsored insurance. I have three insulin-dependent diabetics in my family, so without the help of Wisconsin’s Medicaid plan, we’d have to choose between medication and food or gas. And who knows how we’d pay for doctor visits and hospital stays?
We pay a monthly premium and have co-pays for services, but I can afford BadgerCare’s rates. I just can’t afford my employer’s. That means I’m stuck in a vicious cycle: I can’t afford to get much of a raise, because if I made a little more than I’m making now, we wouldn’t qualify for the state health care plan. I’d have to buy into my employer’s plan, but a few dollars more a week wouldn’t be enough to make it affordable. So I’d be stuck with that awful choice — medicine or food? I might even have to join the millions of people who have gone bankrupt because of high medical bills. Continue reading »
Posted by Tracy Dudzinski on January 7th, 2010 at 3:58 pm | No Comments »
Application form and details
This spring, the DCA’s Voices Institute will introduce a state-level training program for people who want to improve the lives of direct support workers and the people they support. If you’re a direct support worker or a long-term care recipient in Wisconsin who has a passion for that cause, we’d love to see you there!
Advocacy Voices Together is sponsored by the Direct Care Alliance, the Wisconsin Board for People with Developmental Disabilities (WBPDD), and the Wisconsin Direct Caregiver Alliance (WIDCA). The program teams direct support workers with people who receive long-term care services. Together, they will learn how to build support for better direct care worker wages, benefits and working conditions. Continue reading »
Posted by Helen Hanson on December 30th, 2009 at 9:47 pm | 4 Comments »
Helen Hanson (L) at her graduation with instructor Ida Hall
I gave this speech on December 21 to the other students in my CNA certification class. After years as a home care worker, I got my CNA certification so I’d be eligible for a wider range of direct care jobs. Our instructor asked the group to pick someone to make a speech when we graduated. The class nominated me, and I figured it would help with my public speaking skills. But speaking in front of a group is getting better for me, I must say. I wasn’t at all nervous – it actually felt good!
I want to thank the Veteran’s Administration-Togus and Augusta Adult Education for making this CNA course available. It was a grueling course of 200 hours – 50 hours more than the current state requirement. I’m grateful for the opportunity and challenge this course offered.
I want to thank Lisa Theriault and Ida Hall, our instructors, for their patience, knowledge, and expertise in the field of nursing that they have imparted upon us. Personally, I enjoyed Ida’s “old school” teaching methods and her high expectations of us. One of my high school teachers was the same way, and she’s the one that inspired me to push myself beyond my comfort zones and to do the best that I can with the knowledge I have. She’s the teacher I remember from my high school years – twenty-five-some-odd years ago.
With our graduation this evening, we now have the skills and knowledge to work as CNAs. Through this work, we all have the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of those in our care. Continue reading »
Posted by Elise Nakhnikian 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.
Posted by Lindsay Short 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 »
