The Direct Support Professional Association of Minnesota (DSPAM) recently held board elections. Here is our board of directors, as of January 1, 2013:
Bridget Siljander, chair: A career direct support professional (DSP), Bridget has been involved with DSPAM since 2007, and was chair from 2007 to 2009. She is very passionate about DSPs gaining the recognition, support, and respect that they deserve, as well as earning a living wage and having access to affordable health care. She will be working hard during her term to engage more DSPs and nurture DSP leadership, and promote public policy activities. She is the parent of a teenager with cerebral palsy. She has supported a person experiencing quadriplegia due to multiple sclerosis for almost thirteen years, and has worked in virtually every care/support setting since 1997, including home care, hospitals, group homes, and nursing homes. And, she has been very active statewide, and nationally, on workforce issues, and has testified at the State Capitol numerous times. She was involved with the reform of the Personal Care Assistant (PCA) Program, and was video-recorded by the Department of Health and Human Services, discussing the need for professional associations and the importance of self-care, for a required statewide online PCA training. During her first term as president, she worked with the board of directors to position DSPAM as the primary voice for DSPs, by collaborating across stakeholders. She has worked as a program coordinator for the Direct Care Alliance, as a curriculum author for the College of Direct Support at the University of Minnesota, and founded The Youth Legacy Foundation.
Jennifer Walton, vice-chair: Jennifer has been working in the Human Services field for over fifteen years. Throughout high school and college, she worked in nursing homes—as a dietary aide and a Certified Nursing Assistant. She worked as a PCA and also gained some basic experience doing administrative support. In 2000, she took her first position as a job coach. After a short time, she began working in the behavioral department and went to work with a small group of consumers at their job in the community. In the course of her work at the Day Program, she became familiar with the residential side of Human Services. She took a position as a live-in and soon after accepted a position supervising a group home. For the next ten years, she worked for the residential side, supervising a home of two gentlemen with significant behavioral support needs. During this time, she continued working direct care for other homes and filled in as a supervisor for emergency needs within the company. She learned a great deal about dedication, flexibility, problem solving, and time management. Throughout that time, she made connections with various other providers and in 2010, she took a job in management with Midway Training Services. In her current role, she has become increasingly aware of the need for competent, enthusiastic, well-trained and well supported staff members. The roles we each play are remarkable—and the support and training required to sustain a high level of care are of utmost importance. It is imperative to provide the best, most well equipped workforce as we look to support the needs of others.
Donald Krutsinger, past president: Donald grew up with a brother who experiences developmental disabilities. He earned a B. A., Master’s in Divinity, and Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work. Over the past 23 years, he has worked in a variety of settings as a DSP (e.g. group residential, individual in-home, special education, and day programs plus targeted case management). For the last 7 years, he has been working as a residential program coordinator and regional floating DSP with REM Minnesota plus a DSP with Phoenix Residence, Fraser, Metropolitan Center for Independent Living (MCIL), and Accurate Home Care. While he was chair over the past two years, he sought to
organize our Policy Committee to advocate for DSP issues, set-up resources on Facebook and Linkedin, raise awareness for DSP issues through our e-newsletter, and promote DSPAM through local conferences.
Mike Harrison, treasurer: Mike found direct care work after being displaced from his job as a factory worker. He has served on the DSPAM board for four years, and for the last year as treasurer. He works as a direct support professional full-time. He is also a graduate of the Direct Care Alliance’s 2009 Voices Institute National Leadership Program.
Idelle Longman, director: Idelle has served on the DSPAM board for two years. She earned her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Minnesota where she majored in anthropology and minored in psychology. She has served on the Hennepin County Local Advisory Council and the governor-appointed Special Education Advisory Council. She has also served as the chair of the mayor-appointed Edina Public Health Committee and as the vice chair of the Edina Human Rights and Relations Committee. To enhance her work in public service, Idelle has attended many state and national conferences and seminars on mental health and is a graduate of Leaders of Today and Tomorrow and Partners in Policymaking. She was recently appointed by Governor Mark Dayton to the Statewide Independent Living Council.
Ruka Oba, director: Ruka has served on the DSPAM board for three years. She is a career direct support professional who works with Hammer Residences. Ruka has also been involved with Advocating Change Together (ACT), and is a remarkable leader who supports self-advocacy. Ruka goes out of her way to engage self-advocates and demonstrates that DSPs and self-advocates are important allies. She is a leader who is welcoming to everyone, and who puts people at ease.
Theo Nah, director: Theo is a career direct support professional who works for Hammer Residences. He is an excellent role model for other DSPs, and exemplifies professionalism and ethics in all he does. Theo’s diplomatic style and enthusiasm are highly valued by his colleagues. He demonstrates that interpersonal skills are an important part of leadership.
Catherine (Kat) Gordon, director: Kat works as the PAS Services Coordinator at the Metropolitan Center for Independent Living. She has worked there for 5.5 years – 3 years as a DSP, and 2.5 years in the office. Along with payroll and requesting assessments for consumers, and working with service agreements, Kat also works closely with DSPs to assist them in meeting the changing needs of their consumers, both through organizing formal trainings, as well as working with consumers and DSPs individually in day to day problem solving. Through her many years of working with the activist communities in Chicago and Minneapolis, Kat has a strong background of community collaborations and organizing, working for labor rights, and collective organizing, which is an asset to DSPAM. The rights of workers, and the rights of those in the disability community are deep passions of hers, as is making the tools for empowerment available to individuals to create social and governmental changes that benefit the working class. Kat’s work with youth and young moms has given her the necessary experience working with socially, economically, and racially diverse populations to be able to communicate and organize with DSPs and consumers. Kat’s experiences in organizing and well as her experiences working as both a DSP and in an agency’s office gives her a unique perspective, as well as the knowledge to help organize a worker base and create change within individual agencies that will help forward the important work DSPAM does for the communities of DSPs.
Jim Lovold, director: Jim is a 50 year-old individual with Spina Bifida, who has depended on the services of other people to help him with his personal cares, etc., for almost 30 years now. He thought that serving on the DSPAM board would be a great way to get involved in something that he deals with on a daily basis – DSPs. It’s always good to have a voice from someone who has experienced and lived through it. He feels that he could be of great help in offering his personal experiences with DSPs throughout the years. He thinks having someone hands-on on the board would be a great thing for all involved. He has also served 13 years on the board of the Spina Bifida Association of MN. He also help set up events and other fundraisers. He feels that he brings a lot of experience in the disability community to the group.
Lisa Evenson, director: Is from Lutheran Social Service of Adams, Minnesota. Lisa believes that the most powerful tool she has is her voice. For 10 years, she has used her voice and dedicated herself to advocating for the rights and freedoms of people with disabilities as a Direct Support Professional (DSP) for Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota. Through Lutheran Social Service, Evenson has served as a mentor, guiding individuals she supports in the southern Minnesota community of Adams as they learn to advocate for themselves at the state capitol. She works hard to help people adapt successfully to new environments and is a strong encourager of people with disabilities—offering words of support to help them reach their personal goals in life, including graduating high school and attending college.
DSPAM 