Our DSP for the first week of 2025 is Lola. She works at our Carmen home and has been working with us for seven months but had nine months of volunteering with Living Well prior to joining the team. She is energetic, enthusiastic, and unless you are competitive, you shouldn’t play a game with her, because this Lacrosse player is going to try to win whenever possible. Lola considers everyone at the house her friends and makes having fun a priority.
Alexis Santana, Program Manager, says, “Lola is truly a rockstar. Whether she is crushing it by leading the afternoon shift or working a different shift, she is a star anytime that she works. She has such a positive energy and when she comes in, she is ready to work and get things done. Along with her strong work ethic and being such a fun coworker to be with, she connects and bonds with the people at Carmen so well. I am truly so lucky to have her on our Carmen Crew, thank you for everything you do Lola!!”
Lola, we appreciate your kind heart and are so glad you joined the team at Carmen. We wish you an incredible New Year. Congrats on being nominated as the first DSP of 2025!!
ABOUT LOLA
Number of years/months with Living Well: 7 months (plus 9 months of volunteering)
Hobbies/Interests: I play Lacrosse at Hamline University, it is the main thing I do outside of work. I also enjoy being with family and playing games. A favorite is Monopoly, but my parents don’t love playing it with me because I am so competitive.
Education: I am studying biochemistry with a premed concentration at Hamline where I am a Sophomore.
Job Experience/History: I nannied for a family for two summers and worked at Punch Pizza for two years during High School.
Favorite part of the job: I like building relationships with people. Hearing about their days is probably my favorite part of the job.
Favorite or craziest work story: I work with one of my best friends, and we have known each other since we were two years old. One day she was frying fish, and the second she put the fish on the stove there was a lot of smoke. I pulled out the “what to do book,” which was super helpful, and we worked together to fix the problem and get the smoke to clear. You just never know what can happen, and it taught me to be ready for anything.
What is your motivation for coming to work: Knowing that I get to work with people that I care about motivates me. I like the people who live here and my coworkers, it is always a fun time.
What made you apply: When I was volunteering, I had a senior service project and volunteered at the house. The Program Manager at the time, Jenni, would try to get me to apply, but I never had the time. My advisor at school then recommended I get a care job as it would be helpful with my major at college. So I texted Jenni, and here I am.
What makes you stay: I like working here, it is fun, and my coworkers are my friends. This job has taught me a lot of patience, and I like learning something new every day, like how to problem solve, and how to build connections.
When not at work what do you like to do for fun: I like to do competitive things with my friends. We play pickle ball, mini golf, table tennis, pool … anything I can beat them at.
Do you volunteer in your community or school: For Lacross we do a lot of volunteering on campus. We volunteered during the election to get people to vote, that kind of stuff. Also, for Christmas for the Angel Tree Project we went and got gifts for local kids who might not have had gifts otherwise.
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 for sponsorship opportunities.