2019 ARRM Cares Award Winner Amber Lobdell
By CCRI
Published on December 16, 2019
Amber’s heart is tender, kind and above all loving. She wears it on her sleeve, opens it for those who need it and can magically warm the hearts of anyone who needs to feel loved. Amber is anything but ordinary, she is extraordinary!
Amber is a connector. She goes out of her way to ensure Lane, David, Brad and Greg connect with friends and community members. She understands the importance of maintaining friendships and finds opportunities that promote this. She helps to plan coffee dates, dinner dates and is always searching for community activities. Amber and the guys have participated in art classes, community education classes and sporting events. This group of friends keeps busy.
Greg loves to dance so Amber is on dance floor, encouraging, drawing others in and facilitating new friendships. These relationships have grown to include potlucks at Greg’s house, invitations to other dances and the introduction of new dance moves.
Amber is creative. The men she works with have big emotions and huge personalities. While they care deeply for one another, sometimes conflicts arise. Amber is quick on her feet and is able to turn things around. When Lane left his roommate’s birthday party, Amber took the time to find out why this usually happy situation was upsetting. Lane was upset everyone forgot it was President’s Day. Amber immediately worked her magic. She made medals, rounded up flags and presented Lane with a “Presidential Award” for remembering the holiday. She added red, white and blue sprinkles to the cupcakes and created a podium for Lane to give one of his famous speeches. After they sang Happy Birthday they concluded the party with singing The Star Spangled Banner and everyone was happy.
Amber is an advocate. She was one of the first to point out their current home wasn’t meeting their needs. Age was beginning to affect their mobility and she worried about their future safety. Using her passion for her work, concern for her clients and gift of writing, Amber assisted with fundraising efforts to raise dollars to build a new accessible home. She used many social platforms to move this dream to a reality. She introduced the “guys” to the community through her blog, corporate twitter account, newsletter articles and through public presentations. Amber delivered a key note speech to more than 200 people and her words struck a chord in the hearts of everyone in the room.
Amber is level headed. When Lane needed her the most, she was able to stay calm and focused despite the fact that she was terrified. Amber considers the guys family and when Lane stopped breathing, she utilized the skills she had learned to perform CPR. Thanks to her quick response and ability to manage a crisis, Lane made a full recovery. His family is forever grateful.
Amber is a lot of things. To these guys she is figuratively and literally a life saver.
Amber is one of six 2019 ARRM Cares Award Recipients in Minnesota. We are so proud to have her on #TeamCCRI
