5 questions with Lisa Fannin, Ohio State Director

1. What do you consider your greatest achievement?

The longevity of the people I have supervised. Many of them have reached their 10-year milestone at Dungarvin. I appreciate each one of them and do whatever I can to help them develop and ‘put tools in their toolbox’. I enjoy watching them work closely with the people they supervise and watching them move to new roles in the company. In my personal life, I have also raised a pretty great daughter!

2. What characteristic – or adjective – would people use to describe you?

I believe they would say that I’m dependable. I do what I say I’m going to do, and people know they can rely on me. As a social worker, I’m naturally caring and nurturing and I enjoy helping people. I’m also honest, even if I’m delivering hard news – my family always says that I’m “not Willy Wonka, because I don’t sugar-coat anything.”

3. Why do you have a passion for this work?

I always want to see people achieve their potential. This applies to the people I supervise, as well as the individuals that we support. As a supervisor, I believe that a good supervisor helps to develop the people they support and in turn, the quality of life of the individuals we support increases. It’s a trickle-down effect that is a win/win for everyone involved. 

4. Who are your heroes in your life and why?

It’s hard to name them all, so I’ll give you an example: A hero to me is someone that does something so fantastic and gives of themselves in a way I’m not sure I could. That said, I consider foster parents to be heroes. They put their hearts out there and welcome children into their homes, and sometimes a lot of heartache, so children can be well taken care of and loved. This is such a hard job, and we need more of the selfless people to foster because there will always be a need!

5. What would you most like to see happen in your state to better serve people with disabilities?

At Dungarvin Ohio, we provide a great service through our Ohio Shared Living (OSL) program. I would like to see more counties appreciate the quality of life this service can offer to individuals in need of care by referring individuals to the program. We have so many success stories to share from our OSL program, and many providers waiting to give individuals the opportunity to live in a family home with true community inclusion. We simply need to get the counties on board to make the referrals.