Laila Schumacher works for these moments—when Elizabeth Eagle Feather finds something funny and smiles from ear to ear. “It’s what makes our job our job,” says Laila, who has served as a front line leader at Black Hills Works for almost three years, guiding the direct support specialists who work to care for the people Black Hills Works in Rapid City serves.

Tyler is outgoing, sociable and loves technology. He’s always on the lookout for new apps and gaming equipment and loves taking things apart to see how they work. Moving out of his mother’s house was a learning curve, as it is with everyone. The realization that Tyler could make his own decisions slowly began to sink in.

Cindy Roan Eagle has a heart for advocacy.

A member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe and a person served by Black Hills Works in Rapid City, Cindy says it is the future as much as her difficult past that motivates her to serve as a voice for people with disabilities.

Perseverance. It is a word, a feeling, an action that is pressed into the hearts of staff members across this state who work with people with disabilities. 

Mary Olson is not sure what she would have done without Aspire Aberdeen in the weeks after the death of her parents, now 10 years ago.

Teri Alford isn’t afraid of hard work. It’s one of the reasons she loves her job as a director support specialist at Black Hills Works, where she has been employed for almost two decades. 

Patrick Zacher may not say much, but what he does communicate to his parents is heard loud and clear.

“When he hears our voices, he’s coming right to us,” says his father, Joe Zacher. “It’s the love and affection he returns to us, he’s generally a very happy person.”

Ordean Stevenson is a people person. It is in the way he stops strangers to complement their hair, the way he can remember every single birth or anniversary date you tell him, and the way children seem to be drawn to his storytelling.