With initiative, persistence and patience… dreams come true
November 2015, I walked away from the recruiting world and did not want to look back. I wanted to pivot to a career in the Kansas Disability community, what that looked liked and where it would be at that point I did not know. I just knew the desire and the passion I had was to help Kansas families. Being a single mom I know how hard it is to take the time to try to understand and navigate the support systems we have here in Kansas that are not always family friendly.
In Spring and Summer of 2016, I sent out resumes and feelers on positions but would be turned away, because of my “recruiting” resume no one really saw that I actually had 20 plus years of hands on experience of raising and advocating for Matthew John. I had resigned myself that if in September I didn’t have a job I would go back to recruiting.
Then came August and an appointment one afternoon with Matthew John’s doctor, as we were discussing what I had been doing advocating for him he asked me “Why aren’t you doing this for other families?” I laughed and said I would love to but no one will look outside of my experience and see everything I have done for Matthew (and my volunteer experience). He asked me to get him my resume and advocacy background and he would take it to the Center for Child Health and Development (CCHD) and KU Medical Center and we would just “see what happens”.
I went home that afternoon and put together the information that led me to the KU LEND (Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities) trainee opportunity two weeks later, LEND is a federally funded program under the Autism Collaboration, Accountability, Research, Education, and Support (CARES) Act and administer through Maternal and Child and Health Bureau (MCHB) and the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD). I spent the academic year in leadership training with other disciplinary trainees learning to work as a team and more from a clinical and research perspective while sharing from the family perspective.
All of that has led me to the perfect career; I will be the next Family Support Coordinator at the CCHD. For those of you familiar with the Kansas Disability Community, I have some big shoes to fill when Phyllis Young retires in a few weeks, but I am very excited about this opportunity and how I can make an impact and help other Kansas families.
I was absolutely blessed to be able to afford to take my time over the last two years to learn, volunteer, network and immerse myself in to the Kansas Disability Community to really decide if this was somewhere I wanted to be… ultimately and thankfully the answer… was YES!