Ida’s Heart
Several members of my immediate family have various visible (and not so visible) disabilities – cognitive and physical – and I have seen both acceptance and, unfortunately judgment and rejection, of these beautifully gifted individuals. Loving one another seems like such a simple task. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be a part of a movement to assist the world in this awakening? To help provide those affected by economic disadvantage or disability with a loving relationship seems like so little to ask. It costs little and the reward is great!
Let’s join together to help change our lives – and those impacted by disability – through offering opportunities for housing, employment, transportation, medical services, education and true community for those affected by poverty and disability. I invite you to join with us and others in this spiritual journey to wholeness – not to cure – but to heal each of us.
Ida’s Bio
Ida brings her background and skills to Uniquely the Same where she is one of three founding board members. Ida is a married mother of three sons who has spent most of her extensive professional career working in the faith-based not-for-profit health care industry in Illinois. There, she has held a variety of progressive management roles for the past 20+ years – most recently as Director of Case Management at St. John’s Hospital (an affiliate of Hospital Sisters Health System).
Through focused team-building and development, she has successfully improved revenues and increased patient/colleague satisfaction scores for the organization. More than that, though, she has developed relationships with her colleagues and peers that demonstrate her love not only for her work – but for those with whom (and for whom) she works.
As part of the recruitment process, Ida explains to applicants that work is a high priority in her life – and she expects it to be a
high priority in their lives, as well. However, she goes on to explain that if work is one’s highest priority – something is inherently
missing from one’s life! She encourages them to name their top priority (at least to themselves) and offers to do what she can to assist them in supporting that priority. Establishing a work/life balance, she believes, is vital to success of any organization – or individual. And, in building a team, one must have excellent active listening skills. To be able to identify one’s core values in order to ensure alignment with the organization is pivotal.
Disability Perspective
Ida has been a facilitator and strong advocate of RISEN (Reinvesting Spirituality and Ethics in Our Networks) for the past eleven years.
RISEN is a nationally-recognized program of applied spirituality for health care organizations.
The overall objective of the RISEN program is to enable participants to become more conscious and committed to their own spiritual growth in order to facilitate the healing process in others. Basically, participants are encouraged to take time to focus on their
own spiritual journey – and to acknowledge that each person’s journey is different; that we are all God’s creatures, inherently good (“Original Blessing”), created in His image. That is, each of us is “uniquely the same”: beautiful in our uniqueness yet all created in His image – whether rich, poor, disabled, typical, short, tall, etc.