Strong support begins with a team that is supported too.
At Empowered Services, wellness is not an extra — it is part of how we protect steady, compassionate, person-centered support for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. And it includes the people behind that support too.
Skip ahead to this month’s winner
Caregiving — in every form — asks something steady from the people who do it. Routines, presence, communication, problem-solving, emotional care, and the quiet work of showing up again and again.
That work happens at the front line of support, and it happens in the offices, on the phone calls, and in the planning that surrounds it. None of it can be sustained alone, and none of it should have to be.
This page is one small part of how we answer that. Each month, every team member is invited to share a single privacy-safe self-care activity — a walk, a quiet moment, a hobby, a boundary, a conversation, a breath — and is entered into a wellness gift drawing. The activity matters more than the gift. The reminder matters most of all.
Fatigue builds quietly.
It can look like exhaustion, emotional overload, irritability, isolation, missed routines, or the feeling that there is no room left to recover. Encouraging wellness helps the whole team remain present, consistent, and compassionate.
For DSPs
Direct Support Professionals provide practical, relational, and emotional support. Wellness helps protect patience, consistency, clear thinking, and care quality.
For ECP Providers
Family and friend caregivers often support someone within the rhythms of home life. Self-care helps prevent the role from becoming isolating or overwhelming.
For Individuals & Families
When caregivers are supported, individuals with IDD benefit from steadier routines, safer relationships, calmer support, and stronger trust over time.
For Admin & Care Team
Coordination, communication, hiring, scheduling, and follow-through all carry weight. Wellness protects clarity, compassion, responsiveness, and sustainable leadership.
Self-care does not have to be complicated to count.
The best wellness activity is one a person can actually repeat. Small, sustainable choices restore energy, reduce stress, and make support work last.
Physical Reset
Walking, stretching, hydration, rest, meal prep, breathing, sleep support, movement, or time away from screens.
Emotional Support
Journaling, counseling, boundaries, asking for help, reducing overload, reflection, or a quiet pause after a hard day.
Connection & Renewal
Family time, faith practices, hobbies, community, creativity, gratitude, or anything that helps a person feel restored.
Workplace Sustainability
Clear communication, realistic boundaries, asking for support, taking breaks, celebrating progress, protecting healthy team rhythms.
Use what’s already yours.
Wellness isn’t an extra. For families and ECP providers, it is built into the ISP. For Empowered Services team members, it is built into the benefits package. Here is how to use what is already in your hand.
For Families & ECP Providers
Use the support already in your plan.
If respite is approved in your loved one’s ISP, use it. Respite exists to protect the long-term sustainability of caregiving — not as a last resort when you are already empty.
Ask your Care Coordinator to schedule another provider so you can take time back. Coverage exists for exactly this reason.
Adjusting the schedule before fatigue compounds is what coordination is for. Don’t wait for a crisis to ask.
For Care Team & Caregivers
Use the benefits already on the table.
Paid time off is part of your compensation — not a reward to save up. Use it before you need it. Rest is a tool, not a treat.
Eligible team members may have access to an Employee Assistance Program and other benefits. Empowered Services invests in you — many people never check what is available.
Boundaries between shifts and personal time are not optional — they are how the work lasts. Maintain them like the equipment they are.
One small entry. One quiet reminder.
The drawing is intentionally simple so DSPs, ECP providers, Admin, and Care Team members can participate without adding another complicated task to their month.
Practice self-care
Choose one wellness activity that supports your rest, relationships, emotional health, work rhythm, or physical wellbeing.
Share your entry
Submit your wellness entry through the contact form by choosing wellness entry, or follow the internal instructions shared by your coordinator or team lead.
Enter the drawing
Your wellness entry is added to the monthly wellness gift drawing — a small thank-you for showing up well.
Celebrate together
Winners are announced live on Facebook and may be featured in a community wellness video when appropriate permissions are in place.
Share your wellness — not private information.
Wellness entries should be simple, encouraging, and focused on the participant’s own self-care. No protected, identifying, medical, employment, personnel, or service-related information should be included.
Share your own wellness activity — walking, rest, counseling, prayer, hobbies, movement, family time, healthy boundaries, or asking for support.
Keep the entry focused on your wellbeing — not on a customer, coworker, family, incident, or service situation.
Do not include customer names, coworker names, photos of customers, medical details, service-plan details, private family information, personnel issues, or identifying information about the person supported.
Only share photos or videos when you have clear permission and the content is appropriate for a public wellness feature. When in doubt, leave media out and submit a simple written entry.
If you are unsure whether something is appropriate to share, please ask before submitting. The Empowered Services team is happy to help.
This form is not monitored as an emergency, HR, payroll, scheduling, or incident-reporting channel.
If there is an urgent safety issue, immediate care concern, schedule issue, incident, payroll question, HR concern, or support need, please use the normal Empowered Services communication and escalation process. The wellness entry is only for the monthly self-care drawing.
Wellness Winner Spotlight.
Read May transcript
Melissa: Hi everybody. My name’s Melissa. I’m a matching specialist here at Empowered Services. Hope you all are doing well.
Yesenia: I’m Yesenia. I’m our compliance specialist, and today we wanted to just talk to you all about wellness. You have been working on self-care and wellness every month and turning those things in to us and letting us know what you’ve been doing.
A couple of examples: somebody has been writing a book, somebody has been paying off debt, walking with your kids, massages, physical therapy, resting, and just taking time out for yourself for self-care.
Today we want to present one of our providers with what they won. Yesenia is going to do that now.
We’ve got a couple of nice gifts today. We have a self-care journal, as well as two Dutch Bros gift cards. The winner for this is Jessica D. Congratulations.
We look forward to your responses for the month of June. Thank you all. Have a wonderful day.
Read April transcript
Ruth: Hi. Hello from Empowered Services. My name is Ruth, and this is Jeanette.
Jeanette: Hi, I’m Jeanette. I am the Billing and Spanish Community Manager.
Ruth: And I am the County Coordinator for Multnomah, Columbia, and Clatsop. We are here today to talk about our wellness survey that we sent out this month. It was really exciting to see everybody’s responses, and I’m so glad to see that so many people participated.
We got a wide variety of responses, which was awesome to see — from someone going to the arcade to walking their puppy as well. So there are lots of different ideas that everyone can take part in.
Today we are announcing the winner for our wellness survey for April, and it is a Barnes & Noble gift card for $25. We are super excited to get that out. Our winner today is Maria S.
Jeanette: Congratulations.
Ruth: Congratulations. Your County Coordinator will be reaching out to you soon to get those details on how to get that gift card to you. We are really excited and thankful for everybody’s participation, and we look forward to seeing more responses in May.
Read March transcript
Hello, everyone. This month, we started doing wellness check-ins with all of our providers. It is something really exciting because it gives us the opportunity to show our appreciation for all that you do and help promote health.
Providers, look out for emails from the county coordinators to fill out a survey where you can talk about your stress levels, what you are doing to help manage that, and how you are promoting self-care.
For the month of March, we had so many responses that were so exciting to read through. Our winner for this month is Mary S. Mary took the time to jog and be outdoors. She also took time for herself to limit phone calls during that time and be in tune with herself.
In this basket, we have a movie basket. We have a little blanket, a gift card to Regal Theaters, two really yummy sparkling waters — clementine flavor and strawberry vanilla flavor — three bags of popcorn to share so you can enjoy this with a friend or family, and two things of chocolate.
Congratulations, Mary, and thank you for all that you are doing for your customer and for yourself. We really appreciate that.
Like I said, this will be something that we send out every single month, so keep an eye out for that. We want to emphasize how important it is to not only take care of yourself, but also help promote that for others as well.
Others are doing things like puppy yoga and recovering after the sick season. It can really look like anything. That is about it.
Need to reach your coordinator?
Whether you are a current team member, a family, or someone exploring services, our quiz routes you to the right Empowered Services coordinator in under a minute. Skip the guesswork — get the right person, the first time.
Take the Quiz →Team Wellness, in plain language.
Clear answers for DSPs, ECP providers, Admin, Care Team members, families, referral partners, and caregivers exploring Empowered Services.
Who can submit a monthly wellness entry?
What kind of self-care activity can I submit?
Can I include details about a customer, coworker, or service situation?
Can I submit a photo or video with my wellness entry?
Where are the monthly drawings announced?
How do I find my coordinator if I have a question?
Is the wellness entry the right place to report an urgent issue?
I am interested in becoming a DSP. Is this wellness culture part of the work environment?
I am a family member interested in Empowered Choice. Where should I start?
Where can families learn more about IDD support services?
Part of the team? Take a moment.
Whether you are a DSP, ECP provider, Admin team member, Care Coordinator, Regional Manager, or part of the Care Team — your wellbeing matters. Whether your activity was quiet, creative, active, relational, spiritual, restorative, or simply a moment to breathe, it counts.
Become part of the family.
The wellness culture you’ve just read about is part of the offer — for the families we serve and for the people who join our team. Two paths in. The same care behind both.
For Families · Receiving Care
Start with steady support.
If you or a loved one needs support, our team is ready to walk with you. Begin with a quick intake conversation — and learn how the Empowered Choice Program puts your family in the driver’s seat.
See all IDD servicesFor Future Team · Joining Us
Build a career that protects you back.
Empowered Services hires DSPs across Oregon — and the wellness culture you’ve just read about is part of the deal. Submit your interest, browse careers, or view current open roles.
Browse all careersWhere to go from here.
Whether you are a family, provider, referral partner, future DSP, or current team member — these pages can help you move forward.
Stay connected.
Get updates, team encouragement, caregiver wellness reminders, IDD resources, events, and community news from Empowered Services.
Helpful pages.
Direct routes for the most common next steps.