Her Story
About Ashley
Ashley Guererri serves as Residential Manager at The Arc Ontario, overseeing a group home residence for individuals with disabilities. With more than ten and a half years in the field, she started as a direct support professional over ten and a half years ago and progressed through multiple positions. Her prior role at Mosaic ended in April when the position was eliminated due to budget constraints, leading her to join The Arc Ontario in May. In her current role, she ensures the residence operates smoothly by assisting individuals with daily routines such as boarding buses for programs, verifying that billing and goals are completed, providing guidance to staff, and leading meetings to develop better support strategies. She emphasizes the importance of consistently showing up to build trust and relationships with both individuals and staff, and she advises young professionals entering the field to remain open-minded and willing to learn amid ongoing changes in budgeting, services, and individual needs.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Ashley
01What do you attribute your success to?
As I grew up, I had a grandmother who worked for the agency and would always tell me how much she loved it. She genuinely loved her job, I don't remember ever hearing her complain about it. She was always so positive, and she introduced me to the individuals she worked with on a few occasions. When I was old enough to work and needed a full-time job, I went to work for that agency and ended up staying for 10.5 years. That same grandmother now has dementia, and lives in a nursing home. I do my best to show up and care for the individuals the same way I hope the nursing home staff are caring for her.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
To just keep showing up. That's how you make a difference in their lives. No matter how rough the day was the day before, you just keep showing up. Every day is different. There's something new. That's how you build the relationships and the trust with both the individuals and staff.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
To stay open-minded and keep being willing to learn. Coming into this, there's always changes. You've got changes because of the budgeting, you've got changes with individuals moving between houses, changes in services, and you need to be able to keep an open mind to these changes and be willing to learn and grow with the agency.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Definitely staffing. It seems to go through phases where we have no one applying, and then suddenly there's a surplus. There is also the issue of people coming into this field who have never worked it or interacted with the population before, and they end up leaving shortly after they realize it isn't always an easy job. Many agencies are always trying to roll out new trainings and new opportunities for DSPs and even supervisors/managers to learn and grow. One of those things is the E-Badge Academy. It's an online "course" where DSPs and Frontline Supervisors can write testimonies and answer questions on how they apply the NADSP Code of Ethics.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
For both- Making sure that I am doing the best I can and showing up for the people who need me. For work- keeping on top of the things I need to do, making sure the staff and individuals feel supported, and making a difference. For personal- making sure I am taking the time I need to refill my energy "battery" and am not getting burnt out.
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