By Erin Jerome
When Mildred Alexander slipped on ice and broke her wrist, Monique St. Clair was there to help her schedule medical appointments, attend those appointments and stick to a plan of recovery.
St. Clair also looked out for Alexander’s finances. She signed her up for tax-advantaged savings account for individuals with disabilities and advised her on how to maintain her benefits.
Through these significant moments and everyday tasks, St. Clair supported Alexander as her Direct Support Professional (DSP) at Community Access Unlimited (CAU) for nearly a decade.
“Monique is a good person, she listens to what you have to say,” Alexander said at a recent visit. “If she can solve a problem she’ll solve it for you and she tries to help you.”
Known to dozens of CAU members and staff as a problem solver and enthusiastic supporter, St. Clair was formally recognized in April as the 2023 National Direct Support Professional of the Year by ANCOR, the leading national association representing providers of community-based services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
St. Clair is one of more than 30,000 people across New Jersey who are employed as a DSP, supporting people with disabilities in daily activities ranging from personal care to developing relationships in the community.
St. Clair has worked for 11 years as a DSP and is also an Education Specialist at CAU’s Academy of Continuing Education (ACE) in Roselle, where she teaches reading, math, history, personal finance, visual art, self-help and science.
She has supported people with a wide range of needs, including those who are nonverbal, blind, deaf, or have behavioral challenges. No matter their situation, she dedicates herself to developing strong relationships with each person to help them reach their potential.
“I talk to every person on my caseload to get a feeling of what they want for themselves,” St. Clair said. “What do you want for yourself, what do you want to do in life?”
For Alexander, now 75, maintaining her freedom has been a priority since she first took a chance to move out of an institution and work toward living as independently as possible. She was one of the first members to join CAU in 1979, which started with a single grant to move 20 people with developmental disabilities from state institutions to homes in the community.
Monique St. Clair (left) and Mildred Alexander at Alexander’s home in Elizabeth. Alexander keeps a photo display of their best memories, including a visit to the Reeves-Reed Arboretum in Summit, her first trip to a botanical garden where they enjoyed the springtime foliage.
Alexander said with assistance from St. Clair she has been able to manage her benefits and finances and be active in the community doing things like voting, shopping, swimming and attending cultural events.
“We did a lot of exciting things together,” she said. “One of my goals was also to lose weight, so we worked out together.”
Their favorite workout was a cowboy-themed dance video that they would do at home. They also celebrated holidays, baked cakes and sometimes dressed up in matching outfits for Halloween or St. Patrick’s Day.
The national-level ANCOR award recognition has been a significant moment for St. Clair in a career that is generally overlooked. The award celebrates the important role a DSP plays and raises awareness about inadequate investments in this essential workforce which was depleted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
St. Clair may also be the first DSP to ever be recognized by the state with a Joint Legislative Resolution, an accolade she received this month from New Jersey’s Senate and General Assembly.
“All of New Jersey is proud of Monique St. Clair for her outstanding achievement and recognition,” said Senator Joe Cryan. “Her work with Community Access Unlimited is extremely valuable to our community, and we are happy to see her receive much-deserved accolades.”
He continued, “It is important that we acknowledge and appreciate the hard work and effort made by those in this field, as they provide individuals with disabilities the tools and support they need in order to thrive in their day-to-day lives.”
St. Clair is college-educated and has career options but her calling is to help people learn, achieve their goals and most importantly live well.
“The fact that I enjoy what I do working with people, the enjoyment is what keeps me in the field,” she said. “I have my teaching degree and I have thought about going to a district to get a job, but I just don’t see myself enjoying it as much as I enjoy this. I smile a lot because I’m happy and happiness means a lot to me.”
Erin Jerome is the Marketing and Communications manager at Community Access Unlimited.
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