Over Donnie
Hello,
I’m an educator and artist born in Chicago and living in Amsterdam for the past eight years.
After nearly 7 years serving some of the most troubled youth in the US, I went abroad and taught English in Egypt and, later, Thailand. In 2012, I moved from Thailand to Amsterdam to focus on music with a friend here and I’ve found that many of my previous skills working with young people have transferred into care-giving.
In 2017 I began working with one older couple in Ijburg, assisting particularly with the wife who was chronically ill with MS and unable to move or speak. This included help with feeding, personal cleaning, recreation, while also contributing to home maintenance (I love fixing things), administering medication, and helping the husband with any and all other matters. For three years I would work for 2 days a week from 8-4, but once Covid happened I worked with them four days per week and, in all, it was one of the more beautiful and fulfilling experiences of my life. Sadly, she succumbed to her illness and passed away in September of 2020 in the care of me and her husband.
Since then, I’ve worked with three different clients, a younger man with Duchenne, an older blind man, and a middle-aged woman with severe MS. Time and time again I find myself helping people through some of the most difficult circumstances of life and these are also the situations for which it seems my person is best suited. I think part of my fit in this service is based in always knowing a person is so much more than their circumstances.
Finally, a bit of general stuff about me. I like to laugh, learn new things and investigate. I love music, art in all its forms (digital too), being in nature, reading a captivating book, and spending precious time with loved ones. I have a very calm demeanor, but behind that I’m always buzzing a bit with the excitement of life’s happenings. I’m a problem solver, a hard worker, and I can often see what’s needed without being told. Lastly, I love people, young, old, and in between, strengthening our connections and being greater than we are alone.
