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Meet Linda, an Employment Consultant at Humanim\u2019s Gerwig location. Since the summer of 2024, Linda has worked to assist individuals with disabilities in getting jobs and becoming more independent in their communities.<\/p>\n
Linda\u2019s journey to her current role was a winding one. Her background is in the medical field, starting with a job at the Kennedy Krieger Institute, which led to a position at Johns Hopkins Hospital. There she worked on the med-surg floor and the liver and kidney transplant floor, got her certified nursing assistant certificate, became a patient med tech, and worked in the operating room.<\/p>\n
Linda received multiple awards for the care she provided her patients. She approached that job the same way she approaches her current position: \u201cI always made myself be in that person\u2019s shoes and treated them how I wanted them to treat me,\u201d she says. While working, Linda fulfilled a bucket list item by returning to school and getting her high school diploma at 50.<\/p>\n
When Linda started at Humanim, she was a direct support professional (DSP) for about a year and a half. Supervisors noted her excellent work and encouraged her to move to her current role, but she was unsure whether she was the right fit. \u201cI knew I could do these things,\u201d she says, but the stress of the position concerned her. When supervisors offered her the job a second time, she talked it over with her family and accepted. Now, she loves it. \u201cI\u2019m up for the challenge!\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
As an Employment Consultant, Linda learns in depth about each of the individuals she works with. They spend time together figuring out the person\u2019s goals and dreams, putting together a resume, choosing jobs to apply for, going for interviews, and following up with potential employers. She says, \u201cI\u2019m getting to know them so I can place them in a job they\u2019re going to enjoy and want to stay at, so they can do not what somebody wants them to do, but what they want to do.\u201d Linda also supports people once they\u2019re in the job. She helps them figure out coping strategies for rough moments at work and advocates for them to their employers, if needed.<\/p>\n
For Linda, this kind of deep connection work is a joy, and it\u2019s also personal because she has a grandchild with cerebral palsy. \u201cI want to stay in this field, to really constantly fight for people with disabilities and their rights, and be able to help them go out in the community,\u201d she says. “I want to be a person that they can call up and say, how can I do this, how can I get some assistance, and [I can] put them on the right path of someone who\u2019s really going to help them. It\u2019s a big part of my heart.\u201d<\/p>\n
Outside of work, Linda loves cooking and spending time with her family and in her community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Meet Linda, an Employment Consultant at Humanim\u2019s Gerwig location. Since the summer of 2024, Linda has worked to assist individuals with disabilities in getting jobs and becoming more independent in their communities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":28863,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[62,61,34,19],"class_list":["post-28862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-humansofhumanim","tag-teamhumanim","tag-developmental-disabilities","tag-workforce-development"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n