ResCare Professional Shines as Caregiver and Artist

By Lucie Juneau Patrowicz

(Lincoln, NE) Janna Harsch, program specialist with ResCare Community Alternatives Nebraska, is the subject of a feature story in the Lincoln Journal Star. Entitled “Downtown Street Cleaner Leads Double Life,” the article focuses on Harsch’s work with individuals with intellectual disabilities and her dual career as an artist.

Through her work with ResCare, Harsch helps disabled people develop life skills and achieve greater independence. Many mornings Harsch can be found leading a team of disabled workers as they clean the streets of downtown Lincoln. She has worked in the disabilities field for thirty years and was recently recognized as Nebraska’s Direct Support Professional of the Year by ANCOR, the American Network of Community Options and Resources. She is one of eleven ResCare employees from across the U.S. to be awarded top honors in their states in 2009.

As an artist, Harsch has created works that hang in galleries across Nebraska and beyond. Her drawings and paintings of horses have been exhibited at the Nebraska Governor’s Mansion and by the American Academy of Equine Artists in Kentucky, and her illustrations grace the covers of books and magazines.

To read the full article and view the accompanying photos and video, visit the Lincoln Journal Star website. To learn more about ResCare’s disability services, please go to the ResCare Disability Services web page.