Impressions
Published: Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Jeff Leclair
Jeff lives in Milton with his wife Liz and Ron, a man he has supported and lives with for more than 17 years. During this time the two men became friends. They do everything together from going to sporting events, the movies, to restaurants and to see plays and musical shows.
Jeff wrote a letter to the NH Council on Developmental Disabilities after receiving the 2007 Direct Support Professional of the Year Award. The following is an excerpt of his letter which further illustrates why he is an excellent direct support professional.
“In 1970, half way through high school I was a starting player on the South Burlington, Vermont football and baseball teams. That summer my family moved to Durham, NH which had no football team and a very poor baseball team. The next two years South Burlington was state champion in both football and baseball and I’ve always wondered how my life would have been different if I had stayed in South Burlington and been a state champ. Now I know that if I hadn’t moved to New Hampshire I would never have known how it feels to be a champion in something vastly more important than football or baseball, the 2007 Direct Support Professional of the year.
After 17 years as an Enhanced Family Care Provider and over 20 years in the field this honor may be something of a lifetime achievement award. I am so fortunate to be able to say my enthusiasm for living and working with Ron has never been higher.”
Julie Patch
It’s obvious when talking to Julie Patch that she’d rather be working with her kids than talking about herself. A teacher of deaf and hard-of-hearing children for more than 30 years, Julia provides direct services to several New Hampshire children and also serves as a member on several consultant teams.
Julia’s commitment to her kids often has her traveling as many as 300 miles a day as she visits schools from Merrimack to Newmarket and Lyndeborough to Hillsboro.
Her passion for the work she does shows as she follows her kids out of the classroom and into their daily lives. She regularly attends audiological appointments with the families and is often there to cheer her kids on at musical performances and other special events.
Patch considers preparing her kids for an independent life an important part of the work she does. As her students get older, she teaches them the self-advocacy skills they will need as they enter their adult lives.