What is your job title?
Support Team Manager with Penn-Mar West in Westminster, MD

How long have you been with Penn-Mar?
I will be with the organization for 38 years in September 2026.

How did you get connected with Penn-Mar?
I began working with Change, Inc in 1988. In 2020, Change, Inc became a part of Penn-Mar. While working for Change, Inc in the early 90s, I collaborated with Penn-Mar on work contracts. 

What was your previous work experience prior to Penn-Mar and how did it prepare you for your current role?  
I have been supporting people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) since I was 12 years old. At that time, I worked summer camps for the Arc of Carroll County. I also babysat for a man who had a developmental disability. He is the main reason I decided to learn about the field. While attending college, I worked for the Arc in their residential program. All of these experiences in direct support gave me understanding how to best support Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) and manage caseload duties.

What does your work entail?
My work entails supporting people to live courageously in pursuit of their best life by meeting the expectation of Developmental Disabilities Administration (DDA) while still maintaining a community based person-centered program. I support DSPs to make sure they understand what a meaningful day should look like for the person they are supporting and ensure they have the resources they need to support a group of four individuals each day. One of those resources involves maintaining company vehicles by scheduling repairs and digging vehicles out of the snow. I make connections in the community to create volunteer opportunities, inclusion in community events, and environments to implement other meaningful activities. I develop and maintain relationships with families and other residential agencies. And so much more…

What’s an average day like for you?
I start my day early, reviewing my calendars. Those who know me, know that I use about three calendars. I just need to organize this way to keep from missing anything. I move to reading emails… I usually have emails to address from residential staff or families from the evening before. According to the day, I move on to the priority list. As I write this, today was approving timecards, filling in the comment section on those timecards, and completing billing which is approving daily logs. I like to make comments in the daily log to the DSPs on what they could add in future logs or share my appreciation for how support was provided. Today, I have a few 1:1 sessions. I do enjoy these sessions even when a DSP might not have much to share with me. This gives me opportunity to ask them questions to spark ideas they may want to implement with the people they support. Of course, there is a meeting or two (or three!) It is currently the season when many annual Person Centered Plannings (PCPs) are due for the caseload I support. I have two amazing Senior Direct Support Professionals (SDSPs) who help with this piece. It is in my role to support them to develop the skills needed to complete this task and prepare them for their next role hopefully within Penn-Mar.

What’s one thing you wish people realized about your job?
Managing a program that is 100 percent community-based requires you to be able to problem solve and pivot in the direction that the wind blows… sometimes literally. What do you do when you have a great day planned at the park and it rains? What do you do when the county buildings are closed for a holiday, but services continue? Managers who work in Community Development Services (CDS) full-time need to juggle many balls in the air. And we do it well!

In another life, your career path is….
In another life, I would like to increase my courage and be more like Olivia Benson from Law & Order. She is a character who supports the Special Victims Unit. She supports people with some unimaginable and horrifying situations. I would like to be as brave as she is to become someone’s shield and support system.

Why is Penn-Mar’s mission important to you?
I want to be a part of a team who supports people to live courageously in pursuit of their best life. The person with IDD that I babysat early in my life at one point moved to Virgina in mid 1980s. My parents took me to visit him, and we went to McDonald’s for lunch. One of the customers at McDonald’s asked my mother how she was allowed to bring him in the McDonald’s? She told my mother that she worked in a group home and they were not allowed to take the people with IDDs out in the community. This comment always stuck with me. I want to support people to experience as much as they can.

What is one thing you wished the general public knew about people with IDD?
People with IDD have a lot of interesting things to say. Be patient and listen.

What is your favorite quote or mantra?
“Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see” by St. Mother Teresa

Any hidden talents or fun facts someone wouldn’t know about you?  
Fun fact: One time in middle school, I snuck in the science lab and freed a live frog that was scheduled to be dissected by my class that afternoon.

If you could travel anywhere in the world, you’d visit…
I would love to see Itay. I have been invited a few times but unfortunately the timing wasn’t right.

In your spare time, you’ll be found…
Outside!!! Walking the reservoir by my home. Working in the flowerbeds, swinging on my bench swing.

A book, movie, TV show, sports team, etc you love:
When time allows, I do enjoy reading. I just finished an interesting book, Sociopath A memoir by Patric Gagne, PHD. I also enjoy watching the earlier seasons of The Walking Dead.

Something fun, interesting, or meaningful about yourself:
This question reminds me that I need to make time for some fun. My last big trip was to Costa Rica in 2023. Ten nights sleeping in eight different places. We only had reservations for a rental car and the first two nights of the trip. The rest was up to my boys to find an Airbnb… thank goodness they spoke Spanish. What a trip!!