Employment Highlights

Mary Windey
Nominated by:Laura Swedzinski and the Van Buren T

An active community member is something we all strive to become. Mary Windey has ensured that the individuals she supports are a vital part of the community. Mary has been supporting the same four ladies, Charliene, Gloria, Heidi, and Courtney for the past eight years. When she began she noticed how much the ladies enjoyed getting out of the house. Mary immediately started to track and watch for community events they could attend. They have gone to everything from local dance performances, donkey basketball, visiting local parks, and attending local sporting events. Mary is very active in her community too, and knows being part of the community is not only important to the individuals but their families as well. Mary is known for calling way in advance for tickets and making sure the staff are lined up to take them to an event. If she is not the one taking them, she will even call and remind the staff who are so the ladies don’t miss out. She also makes sure holidays are extra special. There is one individual that doesn’t have any close family. Mary wants the holidays to be special to her too so she makes sure she gets out of the house for the day by taking her to her families holiday celebrations. Every year at holiday time, Mary sets up Secret Santa for the ladies so the natural momentum for the holidays begins. The ladies look forward to seeing Mary. One of the individuals, Charliene, once called for help with a task. Another staff came to help her and Charliene said, “Is Mary here?” They said “Yes” and Charliene responded with a huge smile, “Oh I like Mary so much.” Mary also enjoys her time with the ladies, and thinks about them often when she is not there. When Mary went to Africa for a month she would call to check in and make sure the ladies where doing ok. They knew Mary was thinking about them many miles away. All of her coworkers look to her as their role model. Her entire team stated “Not only do the individuals know why she is here, but so do we as her coworkers.” She is a great DSP and gives everyone at the home she supports such great guidance. The team lead at the home went on maternity leave this past year and everyone, including the families and case managers, turned to Mary for guidance. Courtney sums up what Mary has done for these four ladies nicely. “I know she cares for me. She helps me out in hard times and makes sure I get through them. She can make me laugh too!”