Tiffany Jones - December DSP Award Recipient
The Portage County Board of Developmental Disabilities is proud to recognize a direct support professional who is an employee of Leeda Northest, Inc. as the Portage DD Direct Support Professional (DSP) Award Recipient for December. The recipient is Tiffany Jones.
Tiffany, who works at the It’s All Fine day program operated by Leeda Northeast, Inc., was nominated by Portage DD SSAs Deb Gordon and Chrissy West. Here is what they had to say about Tiffany:
Consistency, and quality life opportunities; an approach that LEEDA’s Vocational Habilitation Program provides many people and Portage County. Outlining expectations while allowing personal flair and development of ones’ rhythm of life has proven a respectful and successful quality in providing meaningful services.
Teaching someone how to distinguish when and how to present themselves for day to day work vs a meeting- using modalities familiar to the person beyond “staffing”: like social media familiar to that person to practice different hairstyles and make-up applications, pros and cons of setting up a PayPal account if the person elects to begin selling their creations online. These creations are also a product of LEEDA’s exploration of a person’s talent and possibility. Knitting items for dogs has gone beyond vocational habilitations 6.25 hours, Leeda shopped and dropped off yarn early on during the pandemic to the person’s home so that they could continue to dabble and have something to sell to potentially earn money, as well as had something meaningful in which to engage.
This same person was also offered the experience of being part of a community-wide project of developing beds of food and flowers for anyone to enjoy. In the sweltering heat, they assisted this person to identify how to ensure self-care through regular use of sunscreen and proper hydration, while educating on community gardening. They maintain plots throughout town through a network called Green Eats Ravenna. This opportunity has lent itself to people trying new veggies themselves at home, sharing with neighbors- thus making connections on their own, as well as a sense of pride for learning something new and improving where they live.
It does not stop there. They also offer opportunities for people to set up, decorate, provide customer service, handle money, problem solve and socialize while tending to a regularly scheduled farm market. Flexibility. They agreed to aid a person who wanted to make and sell candy and buckeyes. After traveling to a professional kitchen, and purchasing pretty packaging, they made that dream a reality. They took orders and sold their goodies at “pop-up markets”.
Motivational Mondays offers a variety of skill-building. For example, research for something positive, inspirational, mindful. Learning to utilize social media platforms to then share their important messages. They took it even further by working with someone to use an IPAD to take photos of people doing great things and then posting that to a social media feed. These things are just some of the things LEEDA has been offering, all while also teaching people if they choose, to run a cash register, clean, organize, display, price, provide customer service, create art to sell in their store attached to the day program called It’s All Fine.
They assist and accompany people every year to actively be part of the Synergy Conference, all Advocacy meetings around the region and now virtually, connect to local businesses such as Moksha Yoga classes, Ravenna Chamber of Commerce events, Portage Animal Welfare League, The Encore Fashion Show, and many more. LEEDA Northeast Vocational Habilitation Program, managed by Tiffany Jones has been a consistent means of meaningful opportunities and experiences and is an asset to people individually and the community as a whole.
The Direct Support Professional (DSP) of the Month Award is for those staff who provide direct support or direct services for individuals served throughout Portage County.
This award is an opportunity to nominate someone who has gone above and beyond to improve the lives of individuals with developmental disabilities, while also promoting independence and inclusion.
Individual award recipients will receive public recognition from Portage DD and will be promoted on our social media channels. Award recipients will also later be considered for Direct Support Professional of the Year.
All nominations will be kept on file for review and consideration for a period of 12 months after initial submission.