February Champion of the Month, Janis Hooker, is a 29-year veteran Direct Support Professional. Before joining the Rise team, she worked in manufacturing until a company move led her to a two-year college retraining program. There, she completed an internship in Rise’s Community Integrated Placement (CIP) program and went on to join us full time. “I didn’t really choose Rise,” Janis shares. “I feel Rise chose me. I like making a difference in people’s lives.”

Janis’s role as a production DSP is both challenging and rewarding. Her day-to-day involves any number of duties, from transporting persons served in Rise vehicles to supervising a crew on the work floor at one of our community worksites. “It makes me feel good when I teach a person served something, and they can put that information to use,” she says.

Colleagues describe her Janis as involved, reliable, and flexible. “Janis has a very caring heart and is always looking for positive solutions on how to make the workload manageable for the people we support,” a coworker shares. “She does not leave anyone behind – when times are tough, she manages and helps everyone with a positive disposition.” Janis’s exemplary work is crucial to the success of our community employment programs at partner organizations such as nVent.

In her free time, you can find Janis enjoying bingo, playing guitar, and planning her next trip to Phoenix, where she visits twice a year to see family and go to a NASCAR race.