DSP Appreciation Week – Jason Deskiewicz

“My Uncle Dan was a successful member of the program prior to me even starting 7 years ago. I like to tell employees about how I saw things from the other end.”

Jason has been a Residence Counselor at AccessCNY for 7 years. But before he started, his Uncle Dan was a program participant who received mental health services. His uncle later passed away. At the funeral service, Jason learned there was a job opening providing the same services his Uncle Dan had gained so much from.

“I like to mention that when my Uncle was struggling and not receiving services it was somewhat stressful and difficult to have him at family functions. As he worked with the program and got better I began to look forward to having Uncle Dan over. For the families we service this program can be such a huge help,” Jason said. He went on to say that, “. . . having a family member who had been in the program changes how you see things. As employees we might not see huge progress in folks, but for their families to have family members with mental health issues be stable and working on these goals – that can be huge.”

“I also want to say thank you to all of my coworkers at this house. We have tough times, but we always get through it,” Jason said. Of course, there are fun times too. As Jason explains it, the best times are when people are doing well and having a good time in the community. As he says, “Some guys when they are out and about having a good time, for them, they may never have been in that positive environment before.”

Thank you, Jason, for all you do.