Meet Linda Ditsworth
Linda Ditsworth, production/direct support professional (DSP) lead, has been at the Center of Hope for 46 years, starting in 1975 through a youth program. We asked Linda about her time at the Center.
Please describe your role at the Center. My duties in production include setting up the jobs and the people to perform them, quality control, shipping and receiving, and communicating with our customers. The DSP part is to cover Hopes staff lunches and breaks. If a staff member is absent, I cover their class and drive participants home if needed.
What is the biggest change you’ve seen over the years? Being here as long as I’ve been, I have seen many changes. When I started, we were at Arthur Ave. We had a kitchen that served a hot lunch to our participants, a once a week rec/dance night, and years of a live Christmas program performed by the participants. As our population grew we had to operate from three different buildings. We purchased our current building, the old Whig Hill Elementary School, to combine the three programs. We had so much work that we had to hire people from the community to help with production. They were known as model workers. Our participants are very eager to work and make a pay check. They enjoy the challenges and the success they receive when they work.
What keeps you at the Center? Working with the participants, they are my family. They make me feel special and needed.