We recognize the hard work that goes into being a Direct Support Professional (DSP). But it's a great career for those who have compassion and want to improve the lives of others. We just celebrated DSP Appreciation Week and Janet Griffiths nominated her daughter's DSP, Marquita, to be recognized for the 20 years she's helped Lori and their family. And Jayme Jurkovac joins host Scott Light to share some of the great benefits DSPs get if they choose to work at Boundless and we are hiring.
We recognize the hard work that goes into being a Direct Support Professional (DSP). But it's a great career for those who have compassion and want to improve the lives of others. We just celebrated DSP Appreciation Week and Janet Griffiths nominated her daughter's DSP, Marquita, to be recognized for the 20 years she's helped Lori and their family. And Jayme Jurkovac joins host Scott Light to share some of the great benefits DSPs get if they choose to work at Boundless and we are hiring.
Welcome everyone to Well-Being a podcast brought to you by Boundless. Boundless is a nonprofit that provides residential support, autism services, primary health care, day programs, counseling and a whole lot more to children and adults. Our mission is to build a world that realizes the boundless potential of all people. I'm your host, Scott Light. So there is a week, every September that is designated nationally as Direct Support Professional Appreciation Week. And we are joining in that recognition and celebration for this very episode. DSPs are the heart and soul of supports for people with disabilities. Let's bring in two people who know this firsthand. Janet Griffiths is a mom, and her daughter Lori lives in a Boundless residential home. She's joining us on Zoom. And Jamie Jurkovac is the generalist for people and culture here at Boundless, and she's with me here in our studio on the campus. Welcome to you both.
Janet Griffiths:Thank you.
Jamie Jurkovac:Thank you.
Scott Light:Janet, I'd love to start with you. Would you tell our listeners about the DSP, her name is Marquita, who helps take care of your daughter, Lori?
Janet Griffiths:Yes, Marquita is a very special person. She's very hard working. And she cares about the girls a lot, which really helps. And she'd been with her for 20, over 20 years now. Lori comes home from work, and she gives me a call every day, and Marquita is there to get her all ready for the next day. And she gets her supper for her, and she's a very good cook. So that's always good. And she tries to get Lori to do as much as she can on her own. But if she needs extra help, she's there to provide it. Like doing laundry. Lori's pretty much can do that on her own now, except she has trouble hanging things up and folding things. So Maquita will give her help there. It's just kind of like a member of the family really, because she's been with us so long.
Scott Light:Jamie, let me come to you. DSPs, as you well know, they are many things; caregivers, teachers, mentors, confidants and so much more. Tell us about their roles here at Boundless.
Jamie Jurkovac:Yeah, so we have a couple different roles for DSPs. We have supported living facilities, we have group homes, we have day programs and stuff like that. So, our Direct Support Professionals really help with the day to day well-being of the individuals that we serve. Anywhere from helping, you know, to take them grocery shopping, cooking those meals, helping with cleaning, helping them get ready for the day, bringing them to and from work or to and from school. And also fun things too. Taking them to the zoo, taking them to movies, going out to dinner, going out for coffee.
Scott Light:Let's expand on that a little bit, because DSPs truly bring that Boundless mission to light, that is building a world that realizes the boundless potential of all people. So they do enable independence, teaching new skills and encouraging that full community participation, right? Can you talk about that a little bit more?
Jamie Jurkovac:All of our individuals that we serve have the right to make their own decisions, they can decide what they want to eat, what they want to do, how they want to spend their money. So with the Direct Support Professionals, they're there to help enable them to make those decisions and do the things that they want to do. Whether that is going to the zoo or going to a football game or going out to the park. They're really there to help support our individuals.
Scott Light:And Janet, can you pick up on that a little bit about that independence, and tell us how Marquita tries to bring those skills into Lori's day to day, into her world?
Janet Griffiths:Well, Lori needs a lot of prompting to get motivated to do anything. And Marquita is there to do that. And she's got her pretty independent for bathing and stuff. She needs help washing her hair and stuff like that. But things like that she never could do before that she can now, so. Also, Marquita makes sure she always looks nice. She gets her hair cut and gets new clothes when she needs them, things like that.
Scott Light:What other challenges may come to mind Janet, that Marquita has helped Lori with. You were talking about hanging up the clothes and things like that. And it doesn't necessarily have to be maybe on the daily living side but maybe some things that have taken months or maybe even years maybe some of those longer range goals.
Janet Griffiths:Well, one of the biggest problems, Laurie says she doesn't like to ask for help. So getting her to ask for help has been a big thing. And of course Marquita is always there to lend a hand and keeps her entertained but one of the biggest challenges was during the pandemic when she couldn't come home. Like every other weekend she comes home and holidays. She's here on holidays and just keeping her busy during that time was a real challenge, and she did a great job.
Scott Light:Janet, are there some other longer range goals that Marquita works with, with Laurie?
Janet Griffiths:Well, just getting to do more for herself all the time. Doing laundry, it's a big thing. She takes the sheets off her bed and gets the laundry started and all that. She needs help getting them back on, but. And she's not real good at cooking and things like that, she has trouble with her coordination and stuff.
Scott Light:Let me do this. I want to bring another voice into our conversation here because Boundless' own Hope Johnson. Hope was recognized as DSP of the year for Ohio by ANCOR. So Hope got to travel to a big celebration banquet. I mean, the whole nine yards. And in one of our previous episodes, she talked about that recognition. But most importantly, she talked about her passion for this job.
Hope Johnson:It's very humbling. That is the word, everyone's asked, you know,"What's this feel like? What's it feel like?" It's humbling. I don't do this for the recognition. I don't do this for the honor. You know, the awards. So to be picked among, I think it was over 300 people, was a pretty big deal for me. And it was amazing. I, we went to Chicago. It was humbling. I was one of the first, I think I was the fourth person to accept my award. So I got to sit and listen to everybody else's stories. And everyone's, you know, what they do and how much they affect everyone's lives. And I cried. I cried so much. And everyone kept saying, Wow, you're, you're crying. I was like, yes, because this is so, it's so humbling. It was, I took a step back. And it also gave me the fire again to keep going, so.
Scott Light:That's great.
Hope Johnson:Yeah.
Scott Light:Congratulations again.
Hope Johnson:Thank you.
Scott Light:So I was sitting right beside Hope, right here in our studio that day. In sitting beside her I just came away with how fulfilled she is in working in this field and working here. So Jamie, can you talk broadly about that, that fulfillment, that satisfaction and having a career for DSPs? That where they really make a difference in people's lives.
Jamie Jurkovac:Yeah, I think that's one thing that's really important about this industry is the fact that you are doing work to help better other people's lives. So when you go in and you clock in, it's not so much just clocking in for a mundane day at the office, you're clocking in knowing that what you're doing is for the better of someone else. So it is extremely fulfilling, and it's very rewarding. The work that you're doing I've never met such empathetic, caring, genuine people than I have here talking to some of the DSPs that work for us.
Scott Light:To that end, Boundless is hiring DSPs and other frontline caregivers. How can our listeners find out more details? We have a link on our website that offers all of our job postings. We also are on Indeed and LinkedIn. We are hosting bi-weekly hiring events at our Checkrein office that are open to the public. You can find a listing of all of our jobs at iamboundless.org/jobs, or you can email us at HR@iamboundless.org. You know what, Jamie? Since we're talking about jobs, what are the benefits?
Jamie Jurkovac:Yeah, so at Boundless we have extensive paid time off, six paid holidays a year, flexible schedules. We have full-time, part-time, weekend only shifts. We have wages at the top of the industry, tuition assistance, competitive scholarships, dental and vision are both paid for by Boundless. We have 401K options, Group Term life Insurance, paid trainings, a proactive learning environment.
Scott Light:And Jamie not just a great benefits package, DSPs really move up here at Boundless, don't they?
Jamie Jurkovac:Yes, yes. So we have a lot of what we call lifers. People who work at Boundless who started off as DSPs working in the supported living homes or group homes. Our director, actually, of people and culture started off as a DSP and has been with us for over 20 years. So, there are a lot of different roles and a lot of opportunities for growth here at Boundless.
Scott Light:Jamie, let me follow up with this as well. Last year, Ohio's Department of Developmental Disabilities released a report and it was titled, Technology First and DSP Workforce Crisis. It actually laid out what it called "severe workforce shortages", tied to things like retention and pay and not leveraging technology enough. And again, this is a statewide report. Are we still in crisis in terms of workforce recruitment across the state?
Jamie Jurkovac:Yeah, I think that's one thing that's really important about this industry is the fact that you are doing work to help better other people's lives. So when you go in and you clock in, it's not so much just clocking in for a mundane day at the office, you're clocking in knowing that what you're doing is for the better of someone else. So it is extremely fulfilling, and it's very rewarding. The work that you're doing I've never met such empathetic, caring, genuine people than I have here talking to some of the DSPs that work for us. I would say yes, I would say everyone, especially the healthcare industry is feeling those post COVID effects when it comes to finding employees and I think what we're doing as the people and culture team, my amazing boss Victoria has come up with a lot of really awesome strategies to help, just introduce more people to this field. So, I know we plan on going to a lot of colleges, doing some volunteer work at high schools just to educate the community that this Direct Support Professional position is something that's out there, and it's something that's an option for people. Since, I don't think too many people know about it.
Scott Light:Janet, as we're wrapping up our conversation here, let me come back to you and Lori with this question, What would her life be like if it weren't for Boundless? And if it weren't for people like Marquita?
Janet Griffiths:Well, I think she would be a very bored individual. Because, I mean, her parents are getting old, and we don't do a whole lot of stuff. So if she was here, she'd just be sitting around most of the time. And with Marquita, they're always out doing something. And she's got a future to look forward to.
Scott Light:A future to look forward to, that's what we all want, right?
Janet Griffiths:Yes. And it's nice to know that she's with such a caring person most of the time. Like I said, she's like a member of the family, almost. Yeah, I wish, like I said before, I wish we could clone Marquita so she was around all the time because she's so great.
Scott Light:Janet, thank you for joining us. And from all of us here at Boundless tell Lori we said hello. Okay.
Janet Griffiths:I will do that.
Scott Light:Jamie, thank you for joining us too.
Jamie Jurkovac:Thank you for having me.
Scott Light:To our listeners. Thank you as well and we certainly want to say to all the Direct Support Professionals out there, not only just here at Boundless, across Ohio, across the country, thank you for all that you do you are truly amazing. And again to our listeners you can be part of episodes to come email us your questions or comments at podcast@iamboundless.org. This is the Well-Being podcast brought to you by Boundless.