What You Don’t See: The Everyday Impact of Mainstay’s Direct Support Professionals
By Jerry Valenti and Dr. Crystal Waits
Some of the most important work happening at Mainstay will never appear in a report, spreadsheet, or performance measure. It happens in kitchens and living rooms. In cars on the way to appointments. At grocery stores, restaurants, workplaces, community events, and doctor’s offices. It happens early in the morning, late at night, on weekends and holidays, and during the ordinary moments that make up everyday life.
And behind so many of those moments is a Direct Support Professional.
September is a special opportunity for us to recognize and celebrate our DSPs during Direct Support Professional Recognition Week. While one week could never fully capture the value of the work our DSPs do, it gives us an opportunity to shine a light on something that deserves recognition every day.
When we talk about the role of a DSP, it’s easy to create a list of responsibilities: supporting daily living activities, administering medications, providing transportation, completing documentation, assisting with appointments, and helping people participate in their communities.
But a list like that doesn’t come close to describing what direct support really looks like.
- It’s knowing someone’s routine so well that you recognize when something isn’t quite right.
- It’s remembering how someone likes their morning coffee.
- It’s encouraging someone to try something new when they’re nervous and celebrating alongside them when they succeed.
- It’s listening when someone has had a difficult day.
- It’s helping someone prepare for a job interview, choose what they want for dinner, plan a vacation, decorate their home, reconnect with someone they love, or accomplish a goal they’ve been working toward for months.
- It’s advocating for someone’s choices when their voice needs to be heard.
These moments may seem small from the outside, but they aren’t small at all. They are the moments that create trust, independence, dignity, belonging, and a meaningful life.
To Our Mainstay DSPs:
During Direct Support Professional Recognition Week, we want our DSPs to know that we see you.
We see the flexibility you demonstrate when plans suddenly change.
We see the patience you bring to difficult days.
We see the relationships you’ve built with the people you support.
Most importantly, we see the difference you make.
The quality of our services begins with the relationships between the people we support and the people who show up for them every day. Policies, procedures, plans, and programs are important, but ultimately, our mission comes to life through people.
You are those people.
Thank you for showing up. Thank you for advocating. Thank you for finding possibilities where others might see limitations. Thank you for celebrating progress, including the progress that no one else may ever see.
During DSP Recognition Week, and throughout the entire year, we hope you know how deeply your work matters.
Happy Direct Support Professional Recognition Week to the incredible DSPs of Mainstay Life Services. Thank you for everything you do.