Posted on September 15, 2026
How my years as a Direct Support Professional shaped the way I lead today.
National Direct Support Professional (DSP) Recognition Week (September 13-19, 2026) is a national observance celebrating the essential contributions of more than 1.3 million DSPs who support millions of people with disabilities nationwide. It’s an opportunity to recognize the dedication of DSPs and raise awareness of the essential work they do.
My wife, Terri, and I were DSPs in the 1980s, and it was the most important experience I’ve ever had.
In college, I knew I wanted to pursue a profession where I could be of service to people. I just didn’t know what form it would take.
Before our first job, Terri and I spent time with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Terri volunteered with Special Olympics, and I had always loved visiting two of my cousins who had disabilities. We had no fear when we started working professionally with the disability population because we just assumed we would find these same positive experiences elsewhere. And we did.
In the spring of my senior year, my family neighbor, Dr. Donald Rabush of McDaniel College, told us about a partnership with Target Community & Educational Services providing community-based services for children who were living in state institutions. Married only a year, we accepted his offer to move into a new Target home in Carroll, pursue our master’s degree, and support three boys with significant disabilities.
One of these boys was Michael James Pitts who would later move into a Penn-Mar home in 2009. I could not have known then how our paths would remain connected. In 2016, his parents, Kay and Jim, established an endowment in his name for the Advancement of Direct Support Professionals. Through it, Penn-Mar created its successful Career Ladders Program, a recruitment and retention strategy that enables DSPs to earn national credentials and commensurate wage enhancements while directly impacting the lives of those we support.
Our work in the Target home gave us an instant family and immersed us in a field that was just beginning to develop. Today, I tell Penn-Mar team members that their role is not to parent the adults they support because they are not working with children. Back then, our situation was different: we supported children with loving parents but also assumed some parental duties, including working with the school systems and making trips to the emergency room for stitches and seizures.
It was a time in our lives when we learned the most about ourselves. The work was demanding, but we considered it an honor. Being DSPs gave Terri and me the chance to reflect on who we were and how we could help others. That experience made me want to lead others in this work and began to shape a bigger question for me: How could I help make this kind of difference for thousands more? I could never have become CEO of Penn-Mar without that experience.
I still miss the hands-on, day-to-day work and problem solving through tears, laughter and everything in between. Those years gave me lasting empathy for our team members. I know how difficult it is when someone calls out and you have to work an extra shift. I understand the job’s many challenges.
While I am proud of what we have built during my tenure as Penn-Mar’s CEO, I am most proud when I see the people we support building lives they have chosen for themselves. Our mission is not measured by the number of houses we operate, or the money raised for our foundation. It’s about helping transform the lives of the people we support.
I will always consider myself a fellow DSP. I understand what this work asks of you, and what it can give back.
During DSP Recognition Week, I hope every DSP at Penn-Mar knows how deeply I respect the work you do. Decades after Terri and I first stepped into that home in Carroll County, I still believe what I learned there: being a DSP is one of the most important jobs anyone can have.