ALIQUIPPA, PA –ANCOR, the leading voice in Washington for community-based disability services providers, has announced that John Palmer, a direct support professional employed at Beaver County Rehabilitation Center (BCRC), has been named the recipient of the 2024 Pennsylvania DSP of the Year Award. Palmer joins 54 other honorees nationwide in the 2024 edition of ANCOR’s annual Direct Support Professional of the Year Awards program. This year’s awards garnered a record-breaking 492 nominations.
“BCRC is so incredibly proud of John. We are thrilled to celebrate his award, which both recognizes him as well as highlights the significance of the Direct Support Professional (DSP) role in the Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (I/DD) community. John promotes true community inclusion for the people we support daily and his commitment to those he serves is unwavering” said Lesley Hallas, Executive Director. “John clearly demonstrates the transformative power of community-based supports, and we’re so grateful that ANCOR has recognized John with this national honor.”
Since 2007, ANCOR’s annual DSP of the Year awards recognize outstanding DSPs who deliver long-term services and support to people in the I/DD community. The awards celebrate the important role DSPs play in ensuring people with I/DD have what they need to thrive and be included in the community. These awards also seek to raise awareness about a direct support workforce in crisis. Inadequate investments in this essential workforce have led to a decades-long severe shortage of DSPs, which has only been amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic and has accelerated into a crisis that threatens access to critically needed services.
“Each year, we are seeing more nominations, and more compelling nominations, for ANCOR’s DSP of the Year Awards,” said Diane Beastrom, president of ANCOR’s Board of Directors and vice president of transition for Ohio-based I Am Boundless. “But John’s nomination just blew us away. I cannot think of a more deserving professional to honor, as they truly exemplify what it means to see, appreciate, and value the people we are fortunate enough to support.”
Barbara Merrill, chief executive officer for ANCOR, added: “DSPs really and truly do it all, and it’s no exaggeration to say that this year’s class of honorees deliver transformative and
sometimes lifesaving supports to the people who accept their services. People like John and all 55 of the 2024 honorees are perfect reminders of why ANCOR works tirelessly to advocate on behalf of the direct support workforce and the incredible work our DSPs do to support people in community.”
The awards ceremony where John and the other 2024 honorees that were recognized took place in Santa Fe, N.M., on Wednesday, April 10th during ANCOR Connect ’24, the association’s annual conference.