My name is Lynn Guthrie. I am an LPN as well as the Health Service Coordinator for ADEC. The way I ended up at ADEC was a long process.
In 2013, I married a man from Goshen. Tom and I met online and knew each other for slightly less than eight weeks when we got married. We were going to get married six weeks after our first meeting but decided not to rush things.
Tom owned a home in Goshen. He is a retired teacher but was substituting for several school corporations. I had lived in my home in Daleville for 33 years and was working as a pediatrics triage nurse. We decided to move to Daleville since I had a full-time job. In addition, I had been a volunteer Firefighter/Emergency Medical Technician for my local community since 1990. I hated the thought of giving up my volunteer activities.
We decided for Tom to apply for full-time work in the Daleville area, and I would apply for full-time work here. We gave the issue to God and sat back to see where He would lead us.
Tom applied for various positions ranging from the Indiana Department of Health to working as a substitute in the Daleville area. A friend of Tom’s suggested I check out ADEC. He knew I had worked at Hillcroft Services in Muncie and enjoyed working with those who have disabilities. So, I googled ADEC. I wanted to do a ‘drive by’ so to speak when we came to Goshen. We made frequent trips to Goshen because Tom’s youngest son, Brian, has Asperger’s Syndrome. He was 19, working at Meijer’s, and living on his own in our Goshen house. Brian’s brother would check on him frequently, but it was a difficult adjustment for Brian AND Tom.
We came to Goshen to visit. While we were there, I wanted to check this ADEC place out. That turned out to be very interesting. ADEC doesn’t have ONE address, it has multiple! The first place we went was the Plaza, but we couldn’t find anything that said ADEC. By the end of the weekend, I had given up on the drive-by idea and just decided to go to the website.
I sent a resume. I talked with Laura Zalas by phone who advised me there were no LPN positions open at that time. I would email Laura frequently to see if there were any spots open. I didn’t want her to forget me!
FINALLY Laura let me know there was an LPN spot! I was so excited. I talked with her and she encouraged me to apply quickly.
The travel to ADEC hit a bump in the road. I found out about the LPN position the early part of the week. Later in the week, I went to my orthopedist. I heard news from him that I really didn’t want to hear. I had to have my left hip replaced. The joint had been destroyed by arthritis and avascular necrosis. I just sat down and cried. I emailed Laura, told her what had happened, how much I had appreciated her help but I couldn’t apply at that time. I had the surgery, the physical therapy, and everything else that goes with it in September 2013.
By early July of 2014, Tom had not found full-time employment in Daleville. I had not looked again for a job in Goshen. We both had pretty much decided we were where God wanted us, so we would stay in Daleville until … I had down time at work one day. As a triage nurse, you have frantic periods of time with huge demands, or there is nothing. It’s not really a job you can go drum up business either. I decided to pull up ADEC’s website. I couldn’t believe it. There was a LPN job open. I emailed Laura, she called me back, I had an interview set up for the following week with Michele Fendrick, Health Service Coordinator. I couldn’t believe it when Michele offered me the position. I was SO excited.
I turned in my two-week resignation and drove HOME to Goshen on July 30, 2014. I started with ADEC on August 11th. After a year, I finally was going to work at the only place I applied, the only place I wanted to work. ADEC.
Editor’s note: This is the fifth story in a series on staff perspectives across ADEC.
Photo by Rod Tackett / Communications Specialist
