1st Quarter Spotlight Award Winner - 2022
Barbara DeJarnett
Employment Specialist, The ARC of Evansville
We are proud to announce Barbara DeJarnett as the recipient of our 1st Quarter Spotlight Award.
This award honors an employment support staff who goes above and beyond for individuals every day!
According to Jack Maxwell, who nominated our winner, one of Barbara’s strengths is that despite her own disabilities she spends her time helping others to achieve community employment. This strength along with Barbara’s dedication to the person centered approach is what stood out to us when choosing her for our 1st Quarter Spotlight Award.
“The most rewarding part of my job is finding employment for individuals in a job they love and will excel in. ”
Here at Indiana-APSE, we also look at specific techniques that individuals use to communicate with an employer when making outstanding job matches. For Barbara, she takes the time to get to know each individual on a personal level. Long before the person centered approach was the ‘norm’ Barbara was displaying this approach by taking her time with participants to find the right match for them as individuals. Barbara is also known as a strong advocate for her participants and has no problem standing up for what’s right for them. Barbara frequently goes above and beyond the call of duty, when one of her participants was hospitalized with COVID, the hospital was going to provide palliative care. However, Barbara was instrumental in advocating for restorative care and the consumer made a full recovery and obtained employment after recovering.
The best piece of advice Barbara would give to someone seeking employment is to be yourself. Don’t choose just any job, but choose one you love and have a passion for that will make you excited to go to work in the morning.
Want to nominate an Employment Specialist for our Spotlight Awards? Check out our Awards page to nominate an amazing person supporting the employment of people with disabilities.