February DSP Award Recipient - Nicole Hopkins

The Portage County Board of Developmental Disabilities is proud to recognize Nicole Hopkins as the Portage DD Direct Support Professional (DSP) Award Recipient for the month of February.  Nicole is an Independent Provider and was nominated by  Portage DD SSA, Robinette McCormick.

Here is what she had to say about Nicole: 

Nicole is consistently putting the best interest of each client she is working with first and foremost. For example, our team had several barriers in setting waiver services up for an individual, as he resided in a remote area of the county. This presented our team with issues as we planned for services, and we found it difficult to locate HPC waiver providers, NMT/transportation providers or even employment options. Nicole was aware of this issue, and volunteered to make changes in her DODD certification in order to serve this individual. While these certification adjustments were being made, which took a significant amount of time, Nicole completed these services with this gentleman on her own time and was not paid. She did this, so that he could establish his friends and meet others within the county, begin his work assessment with his job coach and vocational services and establish his new life in Portage County. Her kindness, patience and dedication to her work was evident. This is only one example that I have seen, and it is sincerely felt that she is an asset to our county and the individuals that she serves. Nicole is also attentive to correspondence with the county board and always responds in a timely manner with updates to the team, which allows us to best serve our individuals and families.

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.