When Christine Derringer was little, she was amazed when she saw people helping others with disabilities.
“Having had a disability myself, knowing the impact you can have on another person’s life,” she knew she wanted to help, too, someday.
“I really believe God led me to this field,” she says.
Christine, a day shift DSP lead at the Walters Family Campus, is originally from the Buffalo, New York, area. She has worked in this field both in New York and at Opportunity Village in Las Vegas. As of May 7, she has been with the organization for 17 years.
“I’ve had lots of different kinds of jobs,” she said, but finds the work in this field to be the most fulfilling. She must — she’s been doing it since she was 24. This year, she celebrates her 70th birthday, along with Opportunity Village.
In her role, she oversees the people receiving services who work in production on the Cox Communications contract. This means she and her staff work to train each person on how to complete the contract, which involves cleaning cords and cables that come in from Cox.
“We’re basically refurbishing them, cleaning them of any dirt or debris,” she says. The next group rolls up and ties the cords so they can be shipped back to Cox to be reused. They have been working on the Cox contract for about four months.
Christine says her favorite part about her job is “working with people and helping the individuals learn to do something or to improve what they already can do so they can be paid for the work that they do.” She likes to show them they can do more than they even realize.
“I think we’re all kind of that way. We don’t know what we’re capable of until we’re challenged, but at the same time given the support we need so we can actually achieve that.”
Christine says she appreciates the flexibility OV gives employees to change job positions if the need arises.
“I really like working for OV because I’ve been able to do a lot of different kinds of jobs,” she says. She used to oversee assessments for many years, but that became time-consuming with her family dynamic at that time. She says she was able to move to a less demanding role in case management, which worked out well for her and her family.
“As time went on and I wanted to … slow down a little bit, I moved from case management to my current position.”
But, she says, “I’ve loved all my jobs that I’ve had at OV.”
Christine’s birthday is coming up in October, but she hasn’t made any plans.
“I’m going to leave that up to my husband and my family,” she says. “I don’t need anything elaborate, that’s for sure.”
Get to Know Christine:
Q: What is your favorite food?
Anything Italian
Q: What are your hobbies outside of work?
Reading, spending time with family, and doing crafts like needlework
Q: What talent do you have that not many people know about?
She can take a task and break it down to make it as simple to understand as possible for the individuals she is working with while still maintaining all the components needed to complete the job.
Q: Do you follow any sports teams?
Buffalo Bills and Vegas Golden Knights
Q: What movie genre interests you the most?
Dramas, detective movies, murder mysteries
Q: What is one thing you can’t live without?
Her husband, who she says is her best friend: “He … makes my life complete.” They are celebrating their 40th anniversary this month.
Q: If you could pick one superpower what would it be?
“I use a wheelchair all the time, so being able to walk or run or dance would be really cool.”
Q: If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would it be?
England and Ireland
Q: What’s your favorite holiday?
Christmas
Q: What is one piece of advice you would give people new to Opportunity Village?
“Talk to people and ask questions and learn about your job and how to work with people, because that’s where you get all your best information, is from other people’s experience. This is not the kind of job you can just go to and figure it out. So getting support from your teammates, your supervisor on how to handle situations, that’s what you need to do. You need to build relationships with staff and the individuals so you can be better at your job.”
