I began working with people with developmental disabilities 15 years ago. I started as a maintenance person in a residence and I fell in love with the guys and tried to help out with them. The staff who worked there advocated for me to become a direct support professional instead of a maintenance man.
In the residence where I work now, the oldest individual is 81; the youngest is 31. Two have cerebral palsy, two are blind, one uses a walker. Most are nonverbal. All of them need visual supervision–we need to see them at all times to keep them safe. They need one-on-one assistance with basically everything. Our goal is to try to teach them as much as we can to do things on their own, but we all know they are going to need help with everything. For example, they have showering goals and we try to teach them, but yes, we do most of the task for them.
What makes me come to work every day is the teaching. You see how the guys develop and grow and you see the difference you make in people’s lives. One of my guys, Alberto, passed away six years ago. Alberto was a person who didn’t like to be around people, but before he passed away he was able to go to the mall, have lunch with his mom, go to the auto show, and be around people without getting upset. What helped him accomplish this was that the same staff people worked with him every day, not giving up, always being there. He got used to us and was happy with us. He trusted us.
During my time here I have experienced miracles, you could say. When Charlie was transferred to us from a nursing home, the doctors said he wouldn’t live past two weeks. Even his mom was told that. When he arrived at our residence, we all got together as a team and began to work with him. Within a few months Charlie gained weight and also began to live again. When we took him to see his mom, she cried and was just amazed that her son was happy and gaining his weight back. She thanked our team for taking such good care of him. Charlie has been with us about five months now, and they didn’t think he’d live that long. That’s why we wake up every day and make it to work: because every day is something new. Every day we make a difference in our guys’ lives.
Direct support professionals are required to have a lot of training. For example, we need to learn techniques to help the individuals when they are having a behavioral outburst so that they don’t hurt themselves or others. We get trained on how to give medications–that takes five days. We have to get recertified every year in both these trainings. We also get training about the specific individuals we serve, like if they have any medical issues or other special issues. Every day is a training day for us because whatever you did for an individual today, maybe he won’t like it tomorrow, and then he ends up doing something different, so you have to adapt to that.
I’m not here for the money. If I was, I wouldn’t be here. The salaries of direct support professionals are low. We don’t get paid enough to afford all our expenses. Nowhere near that. Our last pay raise was four years ago. I have two kids, so I do additional work. I have to. It’s exhausting. I feel tired a lot of the time. And I wish I had more time to spend with my kids, but I don’t. Most of the other staff also have two jobs.
It’s because of the individuals that I haven’t quit. I have close relationships with my guys and with the parents. With Alberto, any time that he ended up in the hospital and I was at home with my kids and my wife, the residence would call me. I knew Alberto was scared, so I would just get up at 2:00 in the morning and run to the hospital and be there with him because I knew that with me there, he would let the doctors treat him. I was always able to be there with him. When Alberto passed away, I made his mom a tape so that she would know he had a good life. I tape-recorded all the vacations we went on. His mom loved that tape because it showed that when Alberto lived with us he was happy. She still keeps in contact with me, even though Alberto passed away.
If I left, my guys would feel a big loss, a big gap to fill my position—not my duties because anybody could do that, but I go beyond my duties in what I do for my guys. Like when the hurricane came by: I stayed at the residence and worked from Sunday to Thursday without going home because my guys needed me. I left my own kids with my mom; my daughter told me to stay at work and help the guys who can’t help themselves because she would be ok without me. I go beyond my duties but I love what I do.
Even with the low pay, I don’t want to leave. But I understand why other people do. We need a bigger increase in our salaries so that staff will stay. I’ve seen staff come and go. Good staff. I recommended for them to stay but they have other priorities. When staff leave, we have to do their work as well as our own. We have to do double work. And when new staff are hired, we have to train them, which takes time away from the guys.
I would like the legislators to support us and give us the salary increases that we need in order to get good staff and keep them. When staff leave, it is the guys who suffer. We need to continue our work and maintain the same staff. We want to keep our guys safe and healthy. But we also want to give them a life, like ours. We are their family.
Thank you.