Anyone who knows Susan Goldman will tell you she radiates warmth, genuinely cares for those around her and makes a positive impact wherever she goes.
They’ll also tell you she is a positive role model who puts her heart into everything she does. When she was recognized as a Development Workshop Inc. champion, she shared her heartfelt reasons for why she has strived to serve others for over 20 years.
Her deep sense of compassion and commitment to helping others, especially the staff and clients at DWI, led her to continue serving others after once retiring. Upon her retirement a few years back, Susan just couldn’t deny her nature and love for her clients who have become like a second family to her.
Before she began working at DWI, Susan was working full-time at a potato processing plant while taking care of her big family. Her family-oriented nature is what inspired her to want to pursue a new career in 2000.
“I knew somebody on the Festival of Trees Board and I said, ‘Do they have any openings over there?’ 'cause I had raised seven kids, and so I thought I know how to teach life skills,” Susan said.
And that, she did.
Susan has been teaching at the DWI for 24 years teaching life skills and leading the choir. And as much as she’s taught others, she says she has learned just as much. “It’s been a learning experience for me as much as anybody else,” she said. “I had to learn more patience because I’d have to do the same thing over and over again, but it works out.”
The impact that Susan has made at DWI has been more than meaningful and transformative for those around her.
“Susan is not just an employee at DWI, she is a true champion who embodies every core value we hold dear. Anyone fortunate enough to work alongside her or learn from her emerges a better person,” McKayla Matlack, CEO of DWI said. “Our greatest wish has always been to clone her, for she truly represents the mission of DWI and everything we desire in our direct support professionals.”
Susan’s dedication is a true tribute to how much she loves what she does. “Seeing them grow is amazing,” she said. “Getting to see when something finally clicks, and they can do a two or three-step direction on their own without any prompts.”
Over the years, handfuls of students benefited from Susan’s patience and presence. One in particular, she recalls, came to DWI not knowing how to walk forward. She walked backward and never talked.
“We had to have the development specialist from ISU come to talk with us and learn how we could work with her. I mean, three-fourths of the time she was on the floor screaming and throwing her shoes, and this and that,” she said. “I tried to take her across the street once and she sat down in the middle of the street, took her shoes off and threw 'em. But when she left us, about 6 years after she came, she was walking and she could talk. She'd carry on a conversation almost.”
“My favorite thing is just seeing them change over the years. But it doesn’t take years sometimes,” Susan laughs.
When the 20-year award was given to Susan at the DWI Annual Celebration, it came as no surprise to those who know her. Her contributions to not only DWI but the community have set a positive example for what it means to be compassionate, kind and to make a difference.