Christy Osentowski, Residential Manager at Slife
When Christy Osentowski was about 16 years old, she wanted to do what many of her peers were doing. She wanted to get a job. But, Osentowski wasn’t looking for any job; she was looking for a position where she could help others.
“I have always been a people person,” she said.
Osentowski began serving people at a local nursing home throughout her high school career. Then, in the early 1990s, she began working at Epworth Village, Inc. as a relief staff worker. Because Osentowski was only 19, she was placed in the younger boys’ unit. During this time, she decided to back up her desire to serve children with a post-secondary degree. While balancing work with her own family and school, Osentowski attended Southeast Community College in Lincoln where she achieved a degree in Human Services with a specialization in youth.
“In 1998, I came back to Epworth Village, Inc. and worked as a Residential Therapeutic Specialist for about a year at the shelter we used to operate. Then I was a shift leader,” she explained.
In August of 2002, Osentowski accepted the Residential Manager position at Slife. She said working with the children at Epworth Village, Inc. is both challenging and rewarding. Osentowski said, the quality staff she enjoys camaraderie with each day enriches her work.
“I just really, really like the people I work with. I learn so much from my co-workers. It takes special people to do what they do each day,” she said.
As Residential Manager, Osentowski said quality staff are key.
“I miss working directly with the children as much because now my time involves more public involvement with caseworkers, parents and the court system. I really rely on the Residential Therapeutic Specialists here at Slife to deal with the one-on-one needs the children have. I miss the interaction. But also like my position now too.”
Each level of care at Epworth Village, Inc. has its own system. At the Treatment Group Home level, Osentowski said, “We are less structured than the Residential Treatment Center level of care. That is our way of challenging clients to make good choices even when every minute is not structured. We have chores on a daily basis and the children do group therapy three days a week. There is recreation time in the evening and Life Skills classes. . . . This time is very important. You can really connect with a child when doing things like baking cookies.”
Each day, clients learn they can operate in the cycle provided within the Epworth Village, Inc. program.
“Structure is something not all children admit they like, but they need it,” Osentowski said. “Things are so much better when children know what to expect.”
Although “structure” is definitely a part of the children’s program, Osentowski said she enjoys her position because of the “variety”, “No two days have ever been the same. Each child is different and their needs are different, despite the consistency of our program.”
“Working here really makes a person appreciate what they have, even the littlest things. I mean there are some children who come to us with nothing but the clothes on their back. Even those basic needs are not being met.”
“ I am reminded, each day, of how important it is to spend time with my own family,” she said about her husband Brandon and their two children.
“You have to reach through all the sludge to pull out the good kid that is inside waiting to come out. And, even if we don’t see progress today. A year later we may get an invite to a graduation or just a note that says, ‘thanks.’ That makes it all worthwhile.”