Striving for independence

Direct support professionals work with individuals with disabilities to help them lead more independent lives. In Washington County, several support professionals perform these services with WCDC.

Next week is National Direct Support Professionals Week, honoring those, like the people at WCDC – formerly the Washington County Development Center – who help people with disabilities achieve more independence.

Coordinator Liz Van Dyk said that WCDS's mission statement is to 'promote and support individual independence in life choices.”

She listed several of the services that WCDC provides, including work service, adult day habilitation (day-hab) and residential services.

'We pretty much can assist in any aspect an individual is interested in participating in,” Van Dyk said. 'We have people who live at home with their parents still, but most of the individuals live in residential sites. They come here for the day.

'They participate in work activities for part of the day, then come to adult day-hab in the afternoon.”

She explained that day-hab involves community activities.

'We try to get out every day,” she said. 'We have outings scheduled. Of course with COVID, we're doing a lot of picnics in the park trying to keep everybody safe.”

The support professionals at WCDC work with clients to help them develop their skills.

'We help them with their life skills, like socialization and activities of daily life, like cooking,” Van Dyk said. 'We let the clients choose what activities they want to participate in by what their interests are. We're really client driven. They get to make the choices of what they want to do when they're here for the day.”

Stacy Klinzman has been a direct support professional with WCDC for about 20 years and works in the production area of the main facility on West Fifth Street in Washington.

'We focus on gaining the basic skills so they can go get that job in the community,” Klinzman said. 'Once we figure out what their skills are, then we'll help them find a job. Something as simple as hand-eye coordination could be something they need to work on.”

Christian Thomas works with day-hab clients at the main campus.

'As a team, we really try to get their minds going through various activities, crafts and puzzles,” Thomas said. 'We also do a lot of community-based group activities. When we can, we try to get them out into the community, so they can be an active part of where they live.”

Thomas said his goal is to do as little work as possible.

'The less I do, the more the clients are doing, which gets their brains and bodies on a more active and involved level,” he said. 'I come here each day to help them develop to reach their full potential, productivity and cognizance.”

Melanie Mejia-Bonilla works in WCDC's Advance Employment Services office.

'We do more to help individuals in the home to be more self-supportive and be able to live on their own as independently as possible,” Mejia-Bonilla said. 'We do some job searching as well. We have individuals who have jobs out in the community.

'It's just amazing to see them do things that they didn't think they could ever do.”

The common thread among the support professionals is the rewarding feeling they get when they see their clients' progress.

'It's amazing to see someone grow and achieve their dreams as they grow,” Klinzman said. 'I get up every morning, and I know I'm going to come to work and something amazing is going to happen in my job. It's rewarding.

'It's so neat to help people grow and develop because what they would like to do and see their hopes and dreams come true.”

Thomas added, 'It's an amazing experience to see somebody develop and watch them get to the goals that they wanted and even further. It's a very unique, mind-opening experience coming to work here each day.”

Mejia-Bonilla said she knows she is doing what she is meant to do.

'I've tried other jobs, but I always came back to the field of helping,” she said. 'I just enjoy helping. I love it, I really do.”

Klinzman echoed the sentiment.

'I've worked in one other place, and I came right back here after a year or so,” she said. 'This is where I need to be.”