TORRINGTON – Zach Prado was honored at a ceremony held via Zoom on Tuesday at the office for Diversified Services, Inc. Prado was one of several nominees for the Wyoming Community Service Provider’s Direct Support Professional program.
“The job is great and the participants are awesome,” said Prado. “I love what DSI does for the participants. It is a great place to be
and work.”
Prado is a Direct Support Professional and is the director for the Goshen County Special Olympics program. Prado started the job about a year and a half ago, but has been with DSI since 2015.
He told The Telegram his sister, Lupe Mitchell, had made him aware of the job and encouraged him to apply. He started out working with participants in the DSI car wash, which is no longer in operation due to health and safety obligations to the participants.
After working the car wash for more than two years, Prado was promoted to the position of Direct Support Professional where he cares for participants and helps them strive.
Prado enjoys spending time coaching participants in Special Olympics basketball, bowling, tennis and bocce. Prado said there was talk of possibly starting a baseball team, as well, next summer, but that plan was derailed with the emergence of COVID-19. He said local Special Olympics team competed at the Wyoming State tournament in 2019.
Julene Cook, CEO of Diversified Services, Inc., told The Telegram, “every provider put in a nomination to WCSP. Lee Grossman with the Wyoming Department of Health then chose the recipient of the award, a $500 cash reward.”
Cook continued, “Jennifer Peterson, the Staff Development Director, and I were given nominations from every department within DSI.”
The two were then charged with making the decision of who would move forward in the process.
Prado’s nomination reads, “Zach empowers our participants by listening to their wants and needs and encouraging them to direct their support and services they are receiving. He supports them in nearly all aspects of their lives, including community access, relationships, physical well-being and everyday choices.”
The nomination continues, “Zach is passionate about building relationships with our participants, their families/guardians and his co-workers. He is an effective communicator, goal-oriented and is adaptable to his job’s unpredictable and constant changes. No matter what is asked of him, he always steps up and helps out. He has a great sense of humor and is easy-going. He provides fun and a rewarding environment for the participants and his co-workers. Everyone loves working with him each day.”
