2023 Outstanding DSP Award
Direct Support Professionals are at the heart of all we do. It has never been more abundantly clear how much DSPs sacrifice to ensure the individuals they support can live their best lives – especially during a severe workforce crisis.
For the fifth year, MediSked is honoring Outstanding DSPs through our annual Award Program!
2023 Winners
Matthew Gibbons
Pennyroyal Center/LifeSkills
Matt recently learned that one of the individuals he works with was experiencing a housing crisis which led to him not being allowed to the things that he enjoys, so Matt started picking him up on Saturdays and taking him for the entire day to do things that he enjoys. When the day program supervisor learned about this situation, she and Matt put their heads together and found adequate housing for him and his mother. Matt even offered to help them move. Matt has become known in the community as the guy who brings his friends to volunteer at the local food bank. He takes one or two of his participants to volunteer each week. The staff at the food bank have gotten to know Matt and his participants and look forward to them coming. This has given his participants a sense of community inclusion that they would not have had otherwise. His participants love him and when they see him driving in, it sets off a wave of “Matt’s here, Matt’s here!” throughout the building. If you go to the day training you will find about six individuals at a table with Matt playing board games or card games and you will hear a lot of laughter. Matt goes above and beyond the scope of DSP. If you asked Matt if he likes his job, he would probably tell you that it’s only a job if you don’t love what you do!
Christine McCartney
Trinity Services Inc.
Christine has worked worked with Trinity Services for 17 years. She has made a difference in the life of a particular individual by expanding his ability to access his community. For many years this individual would either refuse to go to events such as carnivals or out to eat. After several years and patience he will now go to carnivals which is something he loves and just last month he went out to eat with other individuals in a group. This is the first time in 15 years that he has gone anywhere with others. This is a direct result of her relationship with him and the way she has slowly given him the confidence to know that he can do these things. She has enhanced his life and helped achieve outcomes.
Jeffery Peck
Catholic Charities (FI)
Together, Jeff and the individual he supports are an outstanding example of the potential of Self-Direction. Jeff is calm, kind, reliable, creative and capable. He accepts, respects and meets the individual where he’s at but always encourages him to try something new. As the family who hired Jeff has observed him working over the past six years, they’ve noted that they are now more likely to focus on hiring staff who have the ability to truly connect with their son rather than having a specific skill set. The individual’s family has seen remarkable changes since working with Jeff. According to the individual’s sister, “He is now clear that it’s his life and he gets to ‘call the shots’. Jeff has helped to create an environment where this is now possible.”
