ANCOR Links: Season 1, Episode 14

Gabrielle Sedor

Hi, hello, my name is Gabrielle Sedor and I am here with ANCOR Links, the podcast of ANCOR. I am the Chief Operations Officer and Foundation Director here at ANCOR and I am so excited for today’s interview. Please help me welcome Nick Roloff, Lee Whitehurst and Diane Walderman. They are all joining us today from AHRC Suffolk. and that is a provider organization based in New York State. Folks, would you like to say hello?

Nick Roloff

Hi guys. It’s an honor to be invited. Thank you so much for having us here.

Gabrielle Sedor

We are so happy to have you. If Nick Roloff’s name sounds familiar, it’s because you may have heard of him if you watch American Ninja Warrior. So he’s also known as Ninja Nick. For those who don’t know, Nick, why are we calling you a ninja? What is American Ninja Warrior?

Nick Roloff

So American Ninja Warrior is, well, it’s just the coolest TV show on NBC ever that you’ve ever heard of, okay. I might be slightly biased to say that, but it is. It’s basically a really large competition series. Every year, right now we’re on season 15, we’re about to go into season 16, so it’s been around for a while. It’s the large competition series where contestants are faced with a large series of different obstacle courses. The obstacles themselves are super insane, gymnastics, parkour-type stuff. And everybody’s getting together to compete for a $1 million prize. And, I was one of the lucky few people who have had the opportunity to go on there and compete as an athlete. And I’ve had the opportunity to also represent, having a platform on television represent the most important things that I do in my life which is interacting and being a part of a family of AHRC here. And so that’s why we have Lee and Diane here with us to help me tell that story of what we do together.

Gabrielle Sedor

I love it. Now, Lee, is this your first podcast?

Lee Whitehurst

No.

Gabrielle Sedor

So, you’ve done this before. Diane, what about you?

Diane Walderman

Yes, it’s mine.

Gabrielle Sedor

Excellent. And Diane, since folks are only listening to our voices, is there anything that you want our listeners to know about you?

Diane Walderman

Well, I’m blind. I can’t see, but I don’t let my disability get in the way. I do everything that I can do. I surf, I roller skate, I everything. Even in cafeteria, I like to make things like when we have jewelry, make jewelry, I just like to make things. And we put on plays, like we put on Snow White. I was the bad queen. Uh, Cinderella, I was the queen of hearts. Peter Pan, I was Peter Pan, a boy called Peter Pan.

Gabrielle Sedor

Wow, that is amazing, Diane. So you keep super busy. Wow. Lee, what is something that you would like our listeners to know about you?

Lee Whitehurst

I would like our listeners to know that when we go out in the community, we are trying to help the people who can’t help themselves. And we want to know that if they need us, just let us know because we care about y’all and we support you the whole way from your housing to what happens to you. And if you need to have it with anything that you need, but we need the funding from the government to step in and help us do what we have to do from here, from point A to point B. And like Nick said, it’s not what you’re doing, it’s what you’re doing is helpful, but what you’re feeling in your heart, too.

Gabrielle Sedor

Yep, that’s well said Lee. And so I think when you say we, you’re talking about you, you’re talking about folks like Diane, you’re talking about Nick. It sounds like you’re talking about the whole family of AHRC Suffolk. Let’s talk about that. So Nick, you’re not just a ninja, but you are part of the staff at AHRC Suffolk. How did that happen? How did you find this new family?

Nick Roloff

When I graduated high school, I took a gap semester and I went into college to get a degree in what wound up being broadcasting and mass communication. So I was set on this path of, oh, you know, I’m going to go out and I’m going to be a part of this big media empire. I’m going to do great things. And then I graduated in the year of 2020. In May, that was the year the world kind of shut down from COVID. And so to take a quick step back, I have my family who’s made up of very compassionate people as well. My grandfather was with AHRC for like over a decade. He had worked at an insurance company and then he found his way here. After having had a huge impact and commitment, I mean, people here, even though he’s been retired for many years, people here still remember him in a really fond, positive way. My grandfather has always been a huge role model to me. Beyond that, my mom, when I was, I think when I was like 16, which is around the same time, actually, I started training and preparing myself to be on Ninja, cause this was a long dream of mine. My mom started working when I was, still a teenager here at AHRC as a staff member. And now she’s even still for over 10 years now, she’s a community integration specialist. And so even though there were like other paths that weren’t necessarily the first thing on my mind, you know, these, these world events came into play. And so I said, you know what, you know, there’s, there’s, there’s like kind of immediate shutdown going on right now with, with the whole COVID pandemic, but let me go jump in at AHRC. So I came here to AHRC and the role that I was aware of that, that was open at the time when I joined in was the janitor, the custodial role, which you wouldn’t think as being like a highly interactive, very, you know, directly involved sort of role. And it’s funny because from day one, I realized that this was not going to be like a regular, just a janitor type of position. I was cleaning the restrooms over at our Bohemia location. And one of the people there came in and we had a whole conversation. And that was the first person that I met here at AHRC out of those receiving services. And at the end of our conversation, he just kind of looked at me and he said, I like you, Nick. I hope you stay. And, you know, it’s such a benign, small little thing. But to end the conversation with that, it’s sort of like, I don’t know that that always hit me. I think about it even now, like, the way he really meant that, like we had just met and I was just there as the janitor, but this guy was happy to see me here being a part of this family. So right away, like the moment I was here, I was like, this is a family. It doesn’t matter if you’re a janitor. Doesn’t matter if you were a manager, it doesn’t matter if you’re a DSP or an integration specialist, once you’re here, once you’re even in the building, you’re forming these connections and these relationships and those become an important part of your family here. So I just got hooked and I can’t really see myself doing anything that isn’t so meaningful like what I do here. What I do here is so meaningful that I’ve only grown more and more personal relationships and connections and memories and stories. And it’s just been going up since I’ve been here from day one.

Gabrielle Sedor

I love that Nick. And now you are a direct support professional, right? A DSP. For folks that don’t know, what does a DSP do?

Nick Roloff

So a DSP has a number of roles, but the main one is to support and facilitate the independence of the people who receive services. Having an intellectual or developmental disability, can make it really hard to do certain things. Um, or it can create challenges that a lot of people we take for granted. And so what I’m there for is assisting in the tasks and assisting in their ability to,  to get through those challenges with as little resistance as, um, as possible, helping them live as full a life as possible, being a guidance for all kinds of things, whether it’s trying to achieve goals, even if they’re sort of behavioral changes that they wanna make in their lives, if there’s a goal, if there’s something that they wanna achieve, achievement-based goals, the goals can go anywhere from as small as, you know what? I really want to start trying to set that habit of making the bed every morning to something as complicated as, you know what, I want to be an actor, you know, anything like that. And I’m really there to help them with whatever it is that they need guidance for. Everybody has their own potential of what they can achieve. And so I’m really just there to help them realize that for what it is, whatever it is for that individual for themselves.

Gabrielle Sedor

I love it, Nick. That was the best explanation. And I think you’re right. I think people don’t realize how person-centered and how different each DSP’s roles could be and how you’re more than just a home health assistant or a nursing assistant. And for that reason, it’s kind of why a lot of our advocacy here at ANCOR has been working towards getting an actual definition of direct support professional. So we just got really, really good news. And I’m gonna mention this because Lee was talking a lot about advocacy and advocating for more funding and making your voices heard. In the United States Senate, they just passed a bill that would create a standard occupational classification for DSPs. And that’s kind of like the first step towards getting a real understanding, Nick, of what you do as a DSP and what others do as a DSP. So that’s super exciting.

Nick Roloff

That is super cool to hear. It is a hard thing to define, I’ll tell you that. There’s different things happening every day. Yeah, but what’s consistent, right, is that mutual respect and that mutual love between you and the people you support. And it’s clear that that exists between you and the folks at AHRC. So Diane, maybe you could tell us a little bit about why you like hanging out with Nick.

Diane Walderman

Nick’s a great, cool guy. He works at my house at the midnight. He’s a midnight shift. And I always give him the nickname Nick at night. He’s a cool, awesome guy. I really like him a lot.

Gabrielle Sedor

That’s great. Lee, why do you like to hang out with Nick?

Lee Whitehurst

Like I said earlier, Nick is the best person who would go through any link to help you. To see any goals that you put your mind to. Nick would always want to help you. And for me, I’m thankful for that.

Gabrielle Sedor

Yeah, Nick, you did use your spotlight on season 15 of American Ninja Warrior to focus on AHRC Suffolk. And I thought that was so amazing because, for folks that watch American Ninja Warrior, you know that from time to time, they’ll take one of the ninjas and tell a little bit about their backstory. So for all of the things that Nick could have chosen, he chose AHRC and to show the people that receive supports from AHRC as among his biggest fans. And I saw you all with your signs and I saw you all on the screen waving. And it was really cool for me as a viewer, because like I told you guys, I have a 10-year-old son and we watch it together. And it gave me a chance to talk to him about what we do here at ANCOR. And that was really, really special to me. So I just wanted to say a heartfelt thank you, Nick, for choosing to use your platform in that way, because I think it really, really touched a lot of people.

Lee Whitehurst

And I would love for your son to think more about doing that, because I think once he gets to understand what Ninja is all about, then he will come. He’ll become a Ninja someday he would realize that if he put his mind to it, anything could happen. Anything could go forward for him.

Gabrielle Sedor

Or maybe he would come to work at a place like AHRC and support people to be out in the community, to advocate for themselves, to learn new things. That was the coolest part, I think, in getting to watch it. Lee, how do you think you’d do on an American Ninja Warrior course?

Lee Whitehurst

I think I would do good. You think you… how would you do? I think I would do great. Yeah? Yeah. Diane, what do you think? You’re a roller skater, actress. How would you do on an American Ninja course?

Diane Walderman

I try everything else, so why not that? Even though I can’t see.

Gabrielle Sedor

That’s a great answer.

Diane Walderman

I’m not trying to be… flippant or anything, but I do try everything. Like I surf. I belong to an acting club on Saturdays. We’re putting on a play, on April 6th. And so I just, I enjoy coming here. I’ve been here since 1984. And in December, I’m getting my 50th award. Wow. That’s what I say. Yeah.

Gabrielle Sedor

So, Diane and Lee, we’ve been talking a little bit about direct support professionals, about DSPs, people that help you navigate the community and be the best that you can be. What are some special skills and special traits that you think a good DSP should have?

Lee Whitehurst

A good DSP should have good humor and more than if you’re not in a good mood, then say that at the door. Don’t bring it in because if somebody comes to you and say something and you’re in a bad mood that would put them in a disruptive way of moving away from you. And I don’t think they want that.

Diane Walderman

Well, I think they should have a nice personality. They should be kind. They should be strict, but not overly strict. They should be nice and just easy to get along. You know, not push everything on you, you know, and so I think they should be nice and friendly.

Gabrielle Sedor

Excellent. Nick, as a nice and friendly DSP, Nick, as a DSP, you’re one of the most important components of providing quality services. So from your perspective, what would you like to see in the future to support people with intellectual and developmental disabilities?

Nick Roloff

I think the most important thing at this time is that people who are involved in these communities, people who are involved in programs like what we do here at AHRC, we need to be really, really outspoken. We need to extend our voice. We need to make sure that our local communities are aware that we’re out here and that we have all this potential and all these people who are ready to be a part of the community. And so we need to, as DSPs, and even any position in an organization, We need to be very outspoken and make sure that people know, you know. We want to try to have, create as much outreach as we can. We want to try to represent ourselves as positively as possible so that, you know, we can catch somebody’s eye and people will start to notice and be like, oh, hey, you know, these guys over here, they’re actually pretty cool. Like I want to hang out with Diane, you know, and the more we can do that. You know, one of the things that’s very common, a common problem is, you know, it’s actually quite difficult to generate the manpower. The human resources can be a big challenge, you know. There’s a lot of houses that provide residential care where the staffing is very hard to provide staffing because there’s not always that many people, especially in areas that are a little bit, you know, not close to a big city, where there might not be that many people who are applying for these roles as DSP, especially when it is more of a demanding task in certain situations where there might be a learning curve and not everybody, a lot of people have social anxiety and not everybody is going to be fully aware of the resources that are actually available to them to create an impact in somebody’s life and what a joy that actually is. So I think we need to talk about that more. I think we need to get that message out there. And on another side, I would also say that I think we as DSPs need to get better at practicing self-love and self-care. I think that there’s, you know, there’s a lot of challenges. And when I say that we’re a family, being a family is great. But being a family is also really hard. It’s hard to be a family, right? Families bump elbows and step on each other’s toes. Families have people who want to go this way, but then I want to go that way. And so…there can be a lot of communication and management of emotion that can be really amplified by practicing self-care. Not everybody comes into the DSP role having their own understanding of what it means to sort of improve upon oneself and to care to oneself in that way. And I think the more you learn how to take care of your own self, whether it’s physically taking care of your body or you’re, you know, trying to set goals for yourself. The more you learn how to do that for your own self, the more you’re going to empower yourself to be that guidance for somebody else. And so if you can focus, if you can learn those skills for you, then you’re going to be great as a DSP when somebody else needs to develop those skills as well. You know, it’s, it’s can’t just be going straight to, you know, I’m going to be a leader for somebody else, but I can’t be a leader for my own self. So we need to learn how to be our own advocates. And, but yeah, definitely we want to, we want to talk and, and, and spread our voices. You know, if you, if you’re a part of a community, you can become a member of an AHRC type organization. You know, financial support is huge. If we get financial support to, to increase, like let’s say the wages for DSPs, that can attract more people to be in and to raise some eyebrows and get some more people involved because we definitely need a lot of good people in order to make as big an impact as possible.

Gabrielle Sedor

You bet. Great. This is such a great interview. Before we turn off the microphone, Diane, is there anything else that you want to be sure that we share in this podcast? Anything that we forgot to say?

Diane Walderman

I think, like Nick said, we need all that the community members, more members, I enjoy being working here. Like I said, I came in 1984 and I’m still here.

Gabrielle Sedor

I love it. Lee, is there anything you wanna be sure that we add?

Lee Whitehurst

Yeah. As Nick said earlier, we need more funding for our members and us, but we need…to put the word out, out in the community, let them know that when they see us, we need them to understand that if you want to work in a group home, that you need to have the right skills, the right personality. You need to write more affection. You need more honesty. You need more of a nice staff who…We talk to you in the middle of the night if you have problems and wake you up in the morning and we say good morning to you or good afternoon or bye. And I think we need more of that in the community to know that we’re looking at a person’s perspective for that role to have in this community and in this role that we have. It’s not going to be fun and gravy out there. But at least you understand that it’s a nice two homes out there that need more help than ever. Great. So both group homes and other services at places like AHRC are always in search of folks that are kind, honest, loving, friendly, and have the right kind of attitude. Someone like Nick, right? Yeah. Yes.

Gabrielle Sedor

Excellent. So, Nick, season 15 was your last appearance. Do you want to talk a little bit about how you did? And when’s the next time that we get to see you on the Ninja stage?

Nick Roloff

Oh, man. Every time I get to step my foot on the ANW stage is the most exciting, adrenaline pumped feeling in the world. Season 15 was no different. I would call it a personal victory in the sense that I got further than I did in season 14. Season 15, I would call a personal victory because I did get further than season 14, which to me is the whole point and the whole idea is to try to do better. I didn’t do super great. So there were six obstacles in our course. It was a qualifying course in Los Angeles and I got through a brand new first obstacle. They never had this before. It was always either the quad steps or the shrinking steps. This time out of nowhere, they came out with the pole vault obstacle. You had to jump off of a trampoline, grab a pole vaulting pole that was going to tilt down and then climb up to the top of it before it hit the water. Then after I got through that, you had the triple dipper, which is probably the worst possible of all the obstacle tubes I could have got. But I made it through the triple dipper, which is to me just so fantastic. I had a lot of anxiety facing that obstacle, which is basically a bar with wheels on the ends of it suspended in the air on a track. The track goes down like a roller coaster. You have to lache, which is to swing and jump, let go of the bar, grab another bar that’s also on a track with two wheels, go down again, then you have to hop into a third track, up into the air with the bar, bring the bar with you, and then dismount onto a platform. So with all of that, I got through it, I did it. And then unfortunately, we had a moment where I had stumbled. I just had a poor footing on these dominoes. The next obstacle was called the domino effect. So I fell on the third obstacle. It was agility. Agility is always a toss-up. Ninjas will always tell you that that agility is the one that can make or break all of us no matter how practiced and trained in skill you are. So that’s how season 15 went but it was an amazing experience and I got to meet a lot of cool people again and I definitely triumphed over my personal records and faced some tricky obstacles so that was good. Now moving forward we have to see where the tides take us. But my next opportunity hopefully will be when we see season 17 roll around. Season 16 was just recently announced. So that’ll be airing this summer. After that season, we’ll have season 17. That’s when I hope to be back on for another good run.

Gabrielle Sedor

That’s excellent. We can’t, we at the Sedor household can’t wait. And you train little ninjas too, right Nick?

Nick Roloff

Oh, I certainly do. It’s another one of my favorite things that I do. I’m a coach. I’m a coach at a place called Smithtown Ninja Academy. Shout out to Spider-Man, Coach Isaac, and Captain, and Mia. But yeah, we have everybody from ages five all the way up to, I have some adults that I helped train in their 40s. So every range and every category, every size, shape, person, and it’s a really fun time. Training obstacles is so much fun. It’s a lot more, in my opinion, it’s a lot more exciting than other forms of…you know, exercise or whatever, you don’t even know, it’s like you’re playing games, but you’re getting stronger and faster. And so that’s been a great time.

Gabrielle Sedor

Excellent. Yeah. All right, we have spent an hour together, my friends. So I think we’re gonna wrap up the interview. Once again, I’m with Nick Roloff, Lee Whitehurst, and Diane Walderman, all joining us from AHRC Suffolk County, which is based in New York state. I’m Gabrielle Sedor, I’m with ANCOR and I think that’s it for our interview today.

Nick Roloff

Thanks again, Gab, so much for having us.

Diane and Lee

Thanks, Gab.