Our DSP for this week is Julia. She works at our Poppler house in Eagan and is one of 16 student staff that joined the crew there over the years. She fell in love with the mission almost immediately and was so inspired by the work that even she decided to go into Occupational Therapy.
Alex Buslee, Program Manager, says, “Julia walks into a room and you can’t help but smile. Her illuminating personality is contagious and so pleasant to be around. Aside from the fact that she can start up a conversation with just about any human on the planet, she listens and absorbs at the same time. She believes in the true abilities of people and does all she can to give them every opportunity to experience life. Besides all the beauty she brings to Poppler—she makes a mean banana bread.”
Julia, we are so glad you took a chance and applied and are even more excited that you have chosen a career supporting others because of your time with us. Thank you for making room for caregiving as you work towards your occupational therapy degree.
ABOUT JULIA
Number of years/months with Living Well: 2 years 1 month
Hobbies/Interests: Hiking, painting, thrifting, and watching basketball
Education: University of Minnesota, studying Human Physiology with minors in Art and Spanish
Job Experience/History: I worked at Starbucks for three years before starting work at Living Well
Favorite part of the job: Spending time and developing relationships with the people supported, and also bringing them to fun places!
Favorite or craziest work story: One of my favorite memories from work is being able to bring some people served to Valleyfair for the day. They had the best time on the rides and in the waterpark!
What is your motivation for coming to work: Being able to help people in an impactful way, while also getting to spend time with some incredible people all day!
What made you apply: One of the program managers that I have known for years recommended that I come work with Living Well.
What makes you stay: I absolutely adore the people that support, and also have made strong bonds with coworkers, they both make the job so enjoyable and easy to show up to.
What would you tell people interested in joining the team: This job will make a much larger impact on your life than you could imagine. Working this job has not only brought me such close relationships, and helped allow me to grow as a person, but also has completely altered my career path and inspired me to go into Occupational Therapy!
When not at work what do you like to do for fun: Spending time with my roommates, listening to music, and being outdoors.
Want to nominate a DSP? Please email jessica.maurer@livingwell.org to nominate a Living Well DSP. Special thanks to Miles and Cheri Cohen for their support of DSP of Week. Want to join them in underwriting our DSP Shoutout Program? Please contact Jamee.Yung@livingwell.org for sponsorship opportunities.