Celebrating the every day difference-makers for children and adults with disabilities

This paid piece is sponsored by LifeScape.

Across the country this week, a celebration is underway. It’s Direct Support Professional Recognition Week, and here in Sioux Falls, LifeScape direct care employees are sharing why they do what they do.

From direct support professionals to teaching assistants to behavior support technicians, all the people you’re about to meet dedicate their time to caring for children and adults with developmental disabilities.

“I get to be around people that I see every day and grow relationships,” explained Laura Cabrera, a lead direct support professional in the adult residential program.

Cabrera moved to Sioux Falls a few years ago, and thanks to her experience in working with adults, she was excited to become a DSP.

However, that wasn’t the only reason.

“When I moved to town, we were driving by and saw the LifeScape logo on the Children’s Campus building on 26th Street,” she said. “I told my husband, ‘Look! Look at the house of heart.’ And I looked at the heart, the logo; the logo got me, and I was like, I want to work there one day. And here I am,” she said.

Building connections. It’s what direct care workers do best, and for Tina Delorenzo, a lead DSP in LifeScape’s Day Services program, that’s what made her a boomerang employee.

“It’s a place where I get that human interaction, to have friends and have fun. The people here are great,” Delorenzo said.

She has a combined 35 years of working with people supported at LifeScape. With that experience comes a few decades of creating meaningful relationships.

“You know what is interesting is that people will tell me that I must be a special person to work where I do, and that really isn’t it at all,” she said. “I don’t think that way. I enjoy my job. It’s fun. You get hugs, you get to sit down and talk, you get to have lunch with people. There’s hard moments too, but there are so many more good ones.”

When you hear “direct care worker,” it’s not just DSPs that fit into that category. In LifeScape’s Children’s Residential program, behavior support technicians and lead BSTs like these four women — Bailey Parsons, Gracie Bucher, Georgia Hirschey and Nyajouk Lam — provide daily support to children with disabilities.

For Parsons, working in direct care is about becoming an advocate for the children she supports.

“It’s really empowering and exciting to be able to work with children supported on their best days, hardest days and every day in between,” she said.

“We get to help them through some of the more challenging parts in life, which I think is something that can make a positive impact on not only their lives but ours too. I don’t think they’ll ever understand the gravity of the impact they make on our lives.”

Both Parsons and Lam have seen that impact; it’s why Lam also came back to work at LifeScape.

“I ultimately just love interacting with the kids and interacting with the staff. I like the fact that I can go into any hall and there’s somebody there who’s excited to see me. It feels like my second home just coming here and is probably why I’m here as much as I am,” she said.

Many of the direct care staff not only at LifeScape but also all over the country will tell you they have a personal reason for doing what they do.

For some, it might be they have a loved one with a disability. For others, it’s a calling in their heart to work with this vulnerable population. One thing you’ll hear over and over again is this: “I love my job.”

Just ask Hirschey.

“This is probably the best job I’ve ever had, but it’s not just about the flexibility that comes with it or being able to pick my own shifts, but the kids themselves. They each have their own personality that you get to know and build those relationships with,” she said.

Many of LifeScape’s behavioral staff like Bucher have gone to school for psychology or sociology.

“I would say working here has been eye-opening but like an unforgettable experience, and I’ve learned so much. I want to be part of breaking that stigma that comes with people who have disabilities, and I feel working here will help me do that,” she said.

Not all LifeScape careers begin in the classroom; for some, their journey began through volunteering. Wendy Klein has been working as a lead teaching assistant at LifeScape for nearly 10 years after first helping as a volunteer.

“You know, it was just a fun place to work, and I like the kids. I love seeing everyone so happy about coming to school, and that’s what I look forward to,” Klein said.

However, it’s not just about seeing students at LifeScape’s Specialty School have fun, it’s also the excitement in seeing them learn.

“Every day, we’re working on goals and protocols, and it’s so much fun when the kids get it. You can be working on a specific goal for weeks and sometimes a couple of months, and then all of a sudden it just clicks, and they get it, and you’re like, wow, that’s so awesome,” Klein said.

The little progressions, the everyday wins. It’s what teaching assistant Ashlee Lokken finds rewarding as well.

“It’s one of the big reasons why I’ve stayed here for over five years,” she said. “It’s not a job for me, not even a career. It’s just something I’m really passionate about. It’s something that I’m more than happy to wake up and do. Obviously, you have those hard days where at the end of the day you’re like, oh, you know, that day was difficult. But that doesn’t stop me from coming again because every day is different and you know you’re going to see the progression every day, even if it’s the little ones; you’re going to witness something new every day, and being able to be part of that to me is worth it.”

What started as an internship has blossomed into something that’s more than a job for Lokken.

“These kids need someone who believes in them, and I’m so happy to be able to be one of those people here at LifeScape that do that,” she said.

Making a difference every day with their unwavering commitment: From teaching assistants to behavior support technicians to direct support professionals, no matter the title, being a direct care worker is being the heart and soul for children and adults with disabilities.