Lifelong Impact: Twanya’s Story

“The uniqueness of CDS is that you never know who you’re going to meet that’s going to impact your life forever.” – T. McNeill

At CDS, every employee has the opportunity to make a lasting impact – both in the lives of the individuals we serve and in their own personal and professional development.

This is Twanya McNeill’s story of how working at CDS has impacted her during the 15 years she has been a CDS Monarch employee.

What drew Twanya to CDS was the genuineness in the individuals that were here. She started working at CDS Monarch as a Direct Support Professional, or what we call a DSP.

“If you are someone who is thinking about becoming a DSP, you’re going to hear the good and not so good stories of working with the intellectual and developmentally disabled population. You have to remember that what you’re hearing is someone else’s experience. Give yourself the opportunity to create your own experience,” says Twanya, noting that in her case, “[T]he individuals that I’ve supported in the past, and those that I support now, taught me more about myself, and that’s what keeps me here.

Twanya’s favorite perk about working at CDS is that “you can grow.”

“I went back to school and I got my Associate’s degree. And I do owe that to the individuals because they pushed me. They’ve given me courage. They taught me not to give up. It makes you want to be a good person and you don’t want to let them down. And I plan on continuing to do what I do as long as I can,” says Twanya.

Check out more of Twanya’s story here: