"One of my biggest goals is to have a facility that people love to work at, the people love to live at, the families love to come visit. I think we built that at Crestwood
and now we're just moving forward and it's awesome."
My name is Justin Christian and I’m the program supervisor for Crestwood, a part of the REM Community Services at Sevita. I’ve worked here for a little more than three years now. Before that I worked in the mental health area for about six years. I was ready for a bigger challenge, and I’ve found it at Crestwood.
How did you get started in this work? Is there a personal connection?
I spent a lot of time as a young man in special education classes, and when I got out of high school I got right into the field as a DSP (Direct Support Professional). Then I took a break for a few years, but eventually came back to the field and I’ve been doing it ever since.
I spent a lot of time as a young man in special education classes, and when I got out of high school I got right into the field as a DSP (Direct Support Professional). Then I took a break for a few years, but eventually came back to the field and I’ve been doing it ever since.
"I love seeing my guys have those “breakthrough moments”, where they experience real independence and
they really feel like they're a valued member of the community and not just some disabled person.
The work and the impact I have really speaks to my heart."
they really feel like they're a valued member of the community and not just some disabled person.
The work and the impact I have really speaks to my heart."
I love taking care of the community's most vulnerable people and showing them how to live more independent lives.
How does Sevita's culture of trust create an environment where you're comfortable doing the things that are only "Justin things" that will leave a lasting imprint on the individuals you serve?
One of my guys is a traumatic brain injury patient and he’s just like me. We listen to the same rap songs, we could have switched places 20 years ago. He got into a car accident like I did, doing the same things I was doing, same high school, so we're very similar.
One night he was very down on himself. He started talking about wanting to end his life. I listened and also encouraged him not to do that because I care about him very much and he’s my friend. I told him he was a hero to me and he didn't believe that at all. He responded “No, I'm nobody's hero.” But eventually we came up with this story that at night he and I would dress up and go out and fight crime, and we talked about this for like an hour. By the time we were done talking, he was smiling and happy. The suicidal ideations had come to pass and he went to sleep.
Then the idea just snowballed from there and we made up a different story for each of the guys. Like Gabe, he's a ‘good buddy’ kind of guy, so he's got the power of love, and he fights crime with that. And we have an older guy named Charles who has explosive farts, and he's silent but deadly. It's pretty cool. We've got some merchandise and stickers and water bottles and all that good stuff. We're having fun with it, for them and for myself.
"It started as fiction and it turned into a philosophy of “Hey guys, you know every disability is a superpower, right?
You guys are all heroes to me because you get up every day and live the most independent lives
in the best way that you can, and deal with challenges that I will never know.”
You guys are all heroes to me because you get up every day and live the most independent lives
in the best way that you can, and deal with challenges that I will never know.”
I got a guy who sits and stares out a window all day long looking at cars that he knows he's never going to be able to drive. Now, if I can take some of that pain away from him by getting him out of that world and making him feel more valued as a human being, that's what Crestwood Heroes is about.
So that's one thing I’ve implemented here. I just try to treat my guys like they're my brothers; I go in every day and I try to treat them like they're just the best. They're regular guys just like me. So I think that's the biggest impact I'm going to leave on them. They're going to have more independence and more freedom, and feel more valued at the end of the day.
What's unique about being a Program Supervisor?
Being a Program Supervisor is a really great job because you're doing so many things. I run an eight bed ICF (Intermediate Care Facility). To keep it all running smoothly, in my mind I compartmentalize the work and staff into ‘departments’. So I've got a medical department, a dietary department, maintenance, my ‘fleet’ of vans (there are only two vans, but I call it a fleet anyway), and manage the other DSPs.
There's never one day that's exactly like the next. It keeps me going, and it keeps me on my toes all the time. There's just so much to the role, and I really like the challenge of managing all the moving parts.
I just try to be a really good, supportive manager. When new staff walk into my facility, I let them know they're part of the team, day one. I think that's important. When we have staff meetings, I like to make a big deal of them, and introduce them to each one of my staff and just try to be as supportive as possible. I give them my personal cell phone number if they need anything they can get ahold of me.
Then I try to have a lot of grace when they make mistakes and they get down on themselves. I point out to them that they’re learning, it isn't something they're going to understand overnight. You're taking care of eight human beings. It might take you a while to get good at the job, and even then, you're constantly going to be learning things. You're constantly going to be reinventing things, and it's just never going to be the same.
Is there a quirky, fun fact you can share about yourself? I'm kind of a nerd. I've got an action figure collection. A lot of my staff don't know that about me. I have a pretty big toy collection and then I also do a podcast once a month about nerd stuff and nerd culture. I used to have a few thousand action figures, but I've brought down my collection quite a bit. I started selling them off. I sold a lot of my collection to fund more outdoor activities. I bought a camper and put a down payment on a Jeep and I've been hiking a lot. I lost a lot of weight, so, like, just kind of taking one hobby and switching it over to the other one. But I've been collecting those things my whole life.