By Nicole Lemire
After an illustrious career in human services spanning over 30 years, Mark Lewis has begun a new chapter at BCArc as a Brain Injury Site Manager. Caregiving has always come naturally to Mark, who can recall early childhood memories of being at the grocery store with his parents and always wanting to assist people with disabilities with their shopping.
Mark is dedicated to providing the best quality of care possible and helping individuals to better themselves.
“I love helping people work towards their goals – developing patience, being open to conversations, doing their laundry – whatever it may be. We’re there to support them and witness the moment when things click for them.”
“We’re there to support them and witness the moment when things click for them.”
Mark worked at several different human service agencies throughout his career, and gained experience providing care to individuals with a variety of different disabilities. He was familiar with BCArc and knew some people in the agency, so when the opportunity arose to manage a Brain Injury home in Westfield, he decided to join the BCArc family.
Leadership & Teamwork
Being a Site Manager has involved taking a greater role in the facilitation of the house and making sure that everything runs smoothly, from coordinating schedules to overseeing staff communication. However, he is grateful that he is able to remain true to his roots in direct care work and still help out in day-to-day care of individuals when he can.
“I set the tone of the day, and open the lines of communication,” Mark said. “Our house is very collaborative. I may be a leader as the Site Manager, but I also believe that direct care is a form of leadership, since we are all trying to help people become better.”
Mark’s favorite memory of his time with BCArc so far has been bringing the individuals to a Springfield Thunderbirds game. This was a former tradition of the house, but they hadn’t been able to go for a few years. After the trip, Mark says that all of the guys were talking about the game for weeks after. He was glad to be able to revive this tradition and provide them with such a fun experience.
Resilience, Patience, & Understanding
Thirty years ago, Mark experienced a brain injury when he was in a motor vehicle accident. The experience and subsequent recovery process gave him a greater understanding of the people he serves.
“It was definitely eye-opening, and gave me a new level of empathy,” he said.
“As an invisible disability, brain injuries involve a lot of internal struggle that people might not realize,” Mark said. “It can be really frustrating for people to struggle with things like memory loss, and it requires patience and understanding.”
However, Mark doesn’t feel that this changed much about the way that he provides care, as he already was very passionate about working with and advocating for the disability community. It’s not something that he thinks defines him as a caregiver, saying, “It’s not about me, it’s about the people we serve.”
He advises anyone interested in working with this population to ask questions, be patient, and to have thick skin.
“As an invisible disability, brain injuries involve a lot of internal struggle that people might not realize,” Mark said. “It can be really frustrating for people to struggle with things like memory loss, and it requires patience and understanding.”
