Monthly Updates

September 2008 Contents:

1. U.S. Senate Declares National Direct Support Professionals Recognition Week
2. DSP-TV Online Video Contest Winners Announced
3. September 9 is Super Tuesday!
4. DSPs To DC 2007 – A Year in Review

U.S. Senate Declares National Direct Support Professionals Recognition Week

During a visit with Senator Brown (D-OH), Champaign Residential Services Inc. asks for co-sponsorship of Senate Resolution 613 designating National Direct Support Professionals Recognition Week. Left to Right: Kathy Rader, CRSI consumer advocacy director; Urbana Mayor Ruth Zerkle; Urbana Councilman Marty Hess; John Hannah, CRSI consumer advocate; Terri Thompson, CRSI promotional coordinator; Urbana Councilman Bill Bean; and Senator Brown.

In a show of bipartisan support, the U.S. Senate unanimously approved Senate Resolution 613, designating the week of September 8th as “National Direct Support Professionals Recognition Week.” Sponsored by Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE), the resolution recognizes the invaluable supports Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) provide and the difference this workforce makes in the lives of Americans with disabilities.

“Millions of Americans receive direct supports from DSPs every day,” said Renee Pietrangelo, CEO of ANCOR. These are the people working as direct care workers, in-home support workers, personal assistants and attendants. Without the work of DSPs, the lives of millions of individuals and countless families would be disrupted.

“The DSP workforce is often overlooked,” stated Peter Kowalski, executive director of John F. Murphy Homes in Auburn, Maine and president of ANCOR. “People with disabilities are able to live more independently because of the work done by DSPs.”

The recognition of DSPs by the Senate is significant victory in the fight by ANCOR’s National Advocacy Campaign (NAC) to improve DSP wages and enhance the quality of services individuals receive.

As part of the NAC, ANCOR worked with Senator Nelson and key ANCOR members on the resolution to coincide with the annual Governmental Activities Seminar and the DSPs to DC event taking place September 7-9 in Washington, D.C.

National Direct Support Professionals (DSP) Recognition Week recognizes the invaluable supports of DSPs, such as Saundra McKnight (pictured on the right) of Intervals and ANCOR’s DSP of the Year for the State of Maryland, in the lives of Americans with disabilities.

“The resolution is a tremendous achievement and will be a terrific way to honor dedicated DSPs around the country, many of whom will join us in Washington for the Seminar and DSPs to DC events,” said Pietrangelo. The resolution received considerable attention and support in the Senate and gained 10 co-sponsors including, Senator Susan Collins (R-ME), Senator Max Baucus (D-MT), Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR), Senator John Kerry (D-MA), Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS), Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT), Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Senator Jim Bunning (R-KY) and Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM).

For information about Senate Resolution 613 and a list of ANCOR members who rose to the challenge of enlisting their senators as original co-sponsors of the resolution, visit the ANCOR website at http://www.ancor.org/issues/shortage/index.html. To find out more information about the NAC, go to http://www.youneedtoknowme.org. ■

DSP-TV Online Video Contest Winners Announced

And the Oscar goes to...six very talented Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) who submitted compelling and creative entries for the DSP-TV Online Video Contest sponsored by ANCOR in partnership with Therap Services LLC.

A part of ANCOR's National Advocacy Campaign (NAC), the DSPTV Online Video Contest was created to give DSPs, families and consumers a platform to educate the public about the critical role they play in the lives of people with disabilities. Contest participants were encouraged to tell in their own words why the DSP workforce is so important, why DSPs are DSP-TV Online Video Contest Winners Announced National Advocacy deserving of additional compensation and how DSPs are making a difference.

“This is truly reality TV,” said Renee Pietrangelo, CEO of ANCOR. "DSP-TV Online is a great way to showcase the many talents of America's DSPs and draw attention to the growing workforce wage crisis.”

Six winners were selected from more than 30 video entries. “Each winning video differed in creativity and style,” said contest initiator Richard Robbins, chairman and CEO of Therap Services LLC. “Yet, all carried the unquestionable message that DSPs are indispensable in our communities and the supports they provide make a difference in the lives of people with disabilities everyday.”

The contest was broken into five categories to encourage compelling videos that cast a spotlight on who DSPs are, what they do and why their work is important. The contest’s grand prize winner, Ben Leadbetter for his video titled, “We Put the ‘P’ in DSP,” has been awarded $1,000 and paid hotel and airfare to ANCOR’s September DSPs to DC event (see page 10 for details).The top winner in each category has been awarded $500.

The winning videos can be accessed through ANCOR's NAC website at www.youneedtoknowme.org.

Category: Grand Prize
Title: “We Put the 'P' in DSP”
By: Ben Leadbetter
Agency: RHD-RI Pawtucket, RI

Category: Healthy Living
Title: “Eugene”
By: Eugene Miller
Agency: Teri, Inc. Oceanside, CA

Category: Self Advocate
Title: “Maroon and Gold”
By: Greg Devorce
Agency: AZ Foundation for the Handicapped Phoenix, AZ

Category: Music & Comedy
Title: “Open Your Eyes”
By: Sean Delaney
Agency: Special Needs Programs Ghent, NY

Category: Reality
Title: “Hear Us Out”
By: Chad Ek
Agency: REM ND Grafton, ND

Category: Honorable Mention
Title: “Thank You”
By: Andrea McMurray
Agency: Cottonwood Inc. Lawrence, KS ■

DSPs To DC 2007 – A Year in Review

By Bonnie-Jean Brooks, CEO, OHI

In March 2007, during the ANCOR Management Practices Conference and Trade Show, ANCOR began to highlight the first-ever DSPs to DC event. It was announced that the event would be held in the Fall of 2007 during the Governmental Activities Seminar in Washington, D.C. and a sign-up sheet was made available to interested participants. Being a former ANCOR president and role model, I remember my excitement as I rushed to the front of the room and was the first to sign-up my agency and pledged to bring five Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) to this momentous event.

At that moment, I realized that I didn’t have the faintest notion about how my agency could afford to attend the event, as well as face a variety of other challenges that might thwart my efforts to help showcase DSPs in D.C. But, what I was sure of was that I am profoundly hell-bent on promoting the DSP workforce every chance that I can get. These professionals are the wind beneath the wings of our organization and its mission. And because at OHI our agency philosophy is “Everything is Possible,” I knew we would find a way to overcome whatever challenges may come in our path. Without looking back, we made plans that it would be “DSPs and Emerging Leaders to D.C. or Bust!!!”

We stuck to our goal and on September 7, 2007, 12 women headed for Washington. During our road trip, we talked the entire way – planning rest stops, food breaks, fighting over directions and even handling a serious accident that occurred with one of our staff members and a volunteer back home. The shortcut through New York City over the George Washington Memorial Bridge nearly proved to be our undoing. It took us 7 hours to crawl 5 miles on a Friday at rush hour!! DSPs To DC 2007 – A Year in Review We met new friends in stalled traffic and sang to them. We held up signs we quickly made for impolite drivers and others we considered unprofessional while at the same time one OHI van would block traffic so the other van could cut in. Twenty hours later we pulled into D.C. Twelve very best friends in such a state of laughter and hysteria that we couldn’t even roll out of the vans. The rest is history!!

Tess Collins attended her first ANCOR Board of Representatives meeting with us as her fan section when her name was called. After all, she is the very first DSP to ever sit on an ANCOR board! On the day of the march to Capitol Hill and the rally, imagine how proud we were when our own Tess was on the podium speaking as one of the dignitaries right on the lawn of the Capitol!! Imagine how we felt when Jen Adams, another one of our DSPs, told Maine’s Congressman Michaud in eloquent terms what it means to love the work she does but that she has to have two jobs to make ends meet and that she is on certain welfare programs! Tears flowed on Capitol Hill.

What a year’s journey since that time! Jen was elected to the Board of Directors of the National Alliance of Direct Support Professionals (and a DSP) and subsequently elected its secretary and one of two representatives to ANCOR’s National Advocacy Campaign. She has also started a Maine Chapter of NADSP and spoke at the Annual Conference of DSPs sponsored by the state.

Tess has gone back to school to become a psychologist while continuing to work fulltime as a DSP. Jessica Hayes was elected vice president of the Maine Association of Group Care Providers and was recently nominated as president. DSP, Linda Docekal, was promoted to a management position and is seen as an emerging leader. Emerging leader, Melissa Darby, who originally started as a DSP, was promoted from a midlevel manager to a team coordinator and is seen as a rising star. Twila was promoted into a newly created position of employee benefits and wellness coordinator/ development manager.

While all of these team members have been on a journey of professional development, there is no question that the ANCOR experience last fall was the spark that ignited a fire within each of these people! The impact that this event has had on twelve people as individuals and on our entire organizational culture is truly amazing!! This is witnessed by the fact that there has been an overwhelming interest at all levels of OHI in making the journey to Washington this year.

OHI invested in workforce and leadership development in a time when money is scarce. The investment has paid off in immeasurable ways. We believe that, in the end, we have gained far more than we spent. We encourage all ANCOR members to consider investing in the future of their organizations and their valued team members. They will be the legacy of the today’s top leaders. ■