Direct Support Professional Appreciation Awards!

Direct Support Professional (DSP) Appreciation week is September 11-17, 2022. We appreciate everything that DSP’s do every single day to improve the lives of people with developmental disabilities in our community.

We are excited to announce the winners of our annual Direct Support Professional Appreciation Awards for 2022. Each year we recognize at least three DSP’s right here in Coshocton County for their hard work, dedication and determination to make the world a better place for everyone. We give out awards in three categories; the “WOW! Award,” which is a person that is warm, outstanding, wonderful and who has a way of making lives better for everyone they meet. Our “Rockstar Rookie Award” is a DSP that has been working in that position for less than a year, has gone above and beyond and has made a positive difference. Our “Calm in the Eye of the Storm” award goes to a person who remains calm when things get dicey and always has a way of diffusing the chaos that can sometimes happen.

Our WOW! Award winner for 2022 is going to two DSP’s; Megan McCoy and Derek Pennybaker. Derek works for Horizon’s working in several homes. He was nominated several times and one of his nominators said, “Derek has worked for Horizons since 2020. He is currently working as a DSP and Home Manager in one of our individuals’ homes. He has exceptional attendance which is very much appreciated. He is organized and keeps up on paperwork which makes everyone's job easier. He interacts well with his individual. His individuals’ parents always have great things to say about him. He is so kind to his individual and to the family. He takes him outside for walks and does everything he can to make sure he has a great day. He takes the initiative to create solutions to problems that arise and is very good at keeping updated on what is going on.” Megan is an Independent Provider who has been working with several people in our program. One of her nominators said, “Megan deserves this award for so many

reasons. She is devoted to her job as an independent provider and will do whatever it takes to make the individual she supports feel safe, loved and cared for. Megan has done things leaps and bounds outside of the realm of her job. The individual that Megan cares for had a dream and Megan took it upon herself to assist him in calling me so that he could tell me that he wanted to live on his own, he was ready to have his own home. Megan never stopped since that day she did everything in her power to aide in the process, including taking many phone calls when she wasn’t even on shift. She was willing to step into whatever role she needed to make this process happen so that her individual could follow his dreams. Megan encourages him to use his own voice, to say what he wants instead of having others make decisions for him. “

Our Rockstar Rookie award for 2022 is Elizabeth Wilcox. Elizabeth works for Horizon’s and has made a such a great impact on the people she supports. Her nominator said, “Elizabeth is new to Horizon’s, but you couldn't tell it by her performance. She takes her client on rides, on walks, and to special events going on in the community. She is very creative which makes it easy for her to come up with fun things for her client to do at home. Elizabeth has never called off and is never late for her shift. Her documentation is excellent. She truly is able to paint a picture with words when she writes her notes. She is med certified and meticulous when it comes to administering and documenting medications. She will certainly move up in the company as she continues to excel at what she does.”

Our Calm in the Eye of the Storm award winner for 2022 is Ed Ramey. Ed is an Independent Provider who has worked with many people in our program over the years. He was also nominated several times, and one of his nominators said, “Ed has been in this field for many years and has brought light to many folks we serve. No one ever has anything but kind things to say about Ed, and he works hard to make sure our individuals have everything they need. Ed has gone out of his way to make sure others had enough groceries when they had nothing to eat, and he always speaks with kindness. Ed is one in a million! “