Meet Melanie Freiermuth, DSP of the Year Nominee, Opportunity Partners

Melanie crafts curriculum and lesson plans that support people with a range of needs to become better integrated into their community and help support skills needed to maintain community employment. Melanie teaches classes focused on helping foster growth in social skills, independence and helping individuals learn how to navigate the world of work. Melanie genuinely cares about the people she serves and wants to help them be successful individuals. She promotes independence by encouraging and helping the people she serves to complete as many of their work tasks as possible.

Meet Shane Ausprey, DSP of the Year Nominee, Opportunity Partners

Shane is an amazingly valuable person for the field of human services to have on our side. He strives every day to help the people he supports increase their independence by challenging them to try new things and to push them to reach their goals. In March of this year, Shane was given a very unique challenge: develop a program to support a gentleman with one-to-one, 24-hour-a-day support needs. The person displays many unique and challenging behaviors, and thus, the traditional housing options did not fit his needs. Shane has excelled at providing high-quality services for this person. He has developed a strong team of staff who support this person.

Meet Laurel Kaercher, DSP of the Year Award Winner, Aspen Employment Partners

Laurel has been a DSP for over ten years. She supports individuals with developmental disabilities to lead independent, productive lives where their contributions are valued.  Laurel is currently using her talents to develop a supported employment program at Aspen Employment Partners. She is conscientious and committed to the individuals she supports. Laurel worked for one and a half years with a woman with dementia. Laurel was a blessing to the family and the individual as the disease progressed and presented new daily challenges. Laurel’s advocacy for the individual was extraordinary and meant the difference between leading an unassuming life to living life fully.

Meet Mike Maxson, DSP of the Year Award Winner, Rural Living Environments

Mike has done an outstanding job building a rapport with a very challenged young man with autism. Because of Mike’s commitment to his work, the young man has grown beyond everyone’s dreams. Mike is a natural leader and teacher who lives and breathes the National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals Code of Ethics. Mike’s interactions are an example of excellence. His coworkers and the individuals he supports adore Mike. He is calm, instills trust, and truly loves others. This comes through in everything he does. Mike is person centered and always individualizes his supports. Mike is respectful and advocates for the individuals he supports. Mike has made visits with families occur that would be impossible if not for his skilled supports. Mike practices justice, fairness, and equity in his interactions with others.

Meet Lisa Evenson, DSP of the Year Award Winner, Lutheran Social Service of 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.

Meet Alicia Munson, DSP Advocate of the Year Nominee, Opportunity Partners

Alicia has two equally important parts of her job, both of which she excels at greatly. For half of her work week, Alicia teaches community-based classes to eight people with developmental disabilities. Alicia is thoughtful in her planning and execution of her classes, putting the choice and decision-making for classes at the heart of her teaching methods. In her second capacity as Policy and Advocacy Team Lead, Alicia has worked to develop and maintain an Opportunity Partners presence with several area advocacy groups, including the Minnesota Consortium for Citizens with disabilities (MCCD), the Minnesota Habilitation Coalition (MHC) the Association for Residential Resources in Minnesota (ARRM), along with developing a strong group of self-advocates through Opportunity Partners’ Committee on Advocacy and leadership (COAL) group.

Meet Galen Smith, DSP Advocate of the Year Award Winner, Opportunity Partners

Galen is a fierce advocate for the people he supports. He has participated in Opportunity Partners (OP) government affairs committee in order to fight for disability service issues. He has advocated at the state and national level in a variety of ways. Galen also understands the importance of involving the people he supports in standing up for what is important to them. Galen has been an integral part of getting the Coalition on Advocacy and Leadership (COAL) group up and running. This a group led by the people OP supports. It is a place for them to learn about how to advocate for themselves and to learn about advocacy issues. Galen facilitated presentations on the rights and responsibilities of romance and how to vote. He facilitated elections so that the people involved in the group could truly run the group and make decisions on how the group would function.