When Felicia Minnigan first started at The Arc of Essex County in 2006, she worked as a direct-support professional in a household of nonverbal residents at the Seven Oaks home in Orange. Some DSPs might have been overwhelmed, but Felicia thought it was the best possible entry into her new field.

“Learning to communicate with non-verbal people forced me to pay such close attention to body language, different mannerisms and energies, watching where their eyes went; you have no choice but to pay attention to every intricate detail,” she says. “After working there, you can work at any program, because you know how to be extremely attentive to our residents’ needs, and then it’s even easier when they can be verbal with you.”

Felicia recounts how her manager at the time, Peggy, immediately gave her every tool she needed to be successful. “She introduced me to the personalities and the expectations, and gave me such peace of mind,” Felicia says. Combined with her “deep intention to give residents that family feel,” Felicia was able to help the people in her care navigate their home lives, as well as adventures in the community.

A few years later, Felicia moved up to become assistant manager at Seven Oaks, and in 2014, she became program manager at the West Caldwell group home. “Everyone there had such amazing personalities, it was so much fun,” she says. “And they were always so thankful.” She recalls fondly the little happy moments together, such as sitting on the front stoop, laughing together, or joyfully celebrating birthdays.

Felicia takes pride in the fact that she has always treated her residents as an extension of her family. “They shouldn’t be seen by their disability, like that defines them. They’re each unique people, and I never wanted them to feel out of place. I never wanted them to feel like anything was unreachable to them.” And if someone in the community mistook her for family, “that was such a compliment. Because that’s how I think of it; we don’t just provide a service, we provide a family, and it goes both ways.”

It was difficult to leave the scene at West Caldwell when Felicia was promoted to Assistant Director of Residential Services in 2022, but she’s thankful that, even as she’s now based in the main office in Livingston, she still has her former group home under her purview and can visit regularly.

Felicia says she always advises her group home managers to lead from the heart. “In this field, you have to have a passion for it,” she says. “It’s not just about the paperwork or the supervision, it’s about building relationships. We get to make a difference in people’s lives every day. It’s pretty cool. And so fulfilling.”