From probationers to patients, goal is same
Staff writer
From supervising probationers to running a care home for people with mental health issues, Jo Olsen has kept one goal in mind: making people’s lives better.
The Lincolnville woman worked as a corrections officer for 10 years and began her new job as administrator of Westview Manor in Peabody this fall.
“I didn’t expect to leave probation,” she said. “I expected to retire from that, but this opportunity came up and I had to take it. It is a wonderful place. The people who work here don’t make a lot of money, but they love their clients.”
Olsen, who has a temporary license and will test for a permanent one in March, tries to make the facility as much like home as possible.
“This is our clients’ home, and we are working on that,” she said. “It involves how we treat them, letting them make decisions when possible, and treating them as human beings.”
She misses the probationers she worked with before, watching them make huge strides in their lives, but she looks at what she does now as the same, helping people make their lives better.
“It’s a different world, but it’s very fulfilling,” she said.
She learned about the job through her sister, who is business manager at Westview Manor. The facility can house 45 residents and has 42 now.