Lisa Johnson has worked for Cedar lake Residence (CLR) in LaGrange for more than two years.  She gives support to three participants, mostly helping them with meal planning, personal hygiene, budgeting their money, and home maintenance.  Prior to working at CLR, Lisa worked for eight years helping a lady who had Alzheimer’s disease.  Lisa has enjoyed helping others, whether it be a family member, a neighbor, or a friend, for as long as she can remember. 

   "I came into this work through a friend who worked for CLR.  She told me about an opening it had, and I thought it sounded interesting, and so I decided to apply.  I am so glad that I applied because I love this work so much.  I’ve never had a job that caused me to laugh so much.  I truly love the work that I do."

    "There are definitely things about being a DSP that cause stress.  Any given day, one thing can happen that throws off all the plans that I had, and I've had to learn how to roll with all the punches.  Also, there is a lot of paperwork, and more and more, we need to have pretty good computer skills, and sometimes its hard to keep up with everything we need to document.  I am so thankful that I work with a great team of professionals, and that we're all willing to pitch in and help out.  I can’t overstate how much stress that relieves for me.  My supervisor and my co-workers are great.  The support that I receive from other staff enable me to make it through the bad days.  Actually, the smiles that I receive from the participants also help me press through the hard times.  When they smile, it reminds of the real reason I'm doing this work."
     "It is not the dollar signs that keep me, or anyone for that matter, in this field.  The main thing that keeps me here is that I know I'm helping someone else everyday, and that is something I want to leave behind for my children.  I want them to grow up and think about helping others and not just think about making a lot of money.  I'm so blessed to have a husband and children who hold the same values as I do.  My husband spends a lot of his own time doing things with the men who receive care from CLR.  He comes up and watches movies with them, or he'll take them out in the community to do something, and he's just very thoughtful.  Two of my children have worked for Cedar Lake in the past, and I feel like I’m a very blessed mother to have such a good family.  It's very encouraging to think that my whole family is devoted to caring for these people, and we love it."

What family and co-workers say about Lisa:
"Lisa is very conscientious, very honest, and very hardworking.  She also is very good with all of the residents."  Amy Nelson

"Lisa is wonderful.  She’s always there for both staff and residents.  Lisa is a good friend, a good worker, and an overall wonderful person." Katie Miller

"She is marvelous. Lisa is very in-tuned with emotional and physical needs of the participants. She is determined to do things right and to keep the participants happy. We think she’s top, absolutely top." Becky Beck

"Lisa is a great worker, being a new DSP I have had a lot of questions and Lisa has always been very patient and willing to stop what she is doing to help me. She’s great with the participants, she gives 100% every day. She is terrific to work with." Nancy Dwenger