A Valpo Life in the Spotlight: Carolyn Flahive

carolyn-flahiveThis week I got to interview someone dear to my heart. She is an amazing woman who works with amazing people, and I FINALLY caught her for an interview. Her name is Carolyn Flahive and she is this week’s Valpo Life in the Spotlight.

Flahive was born and raised in Muskegon, MI. She has fond memories of her childhood of playing the piano, dancing, singing in the choir at church, playing with the other kids in her neighborhood, and her mom cooking breakfast in the park for her and her family or friends.

I’ve always been an extrovert. I was friendly and happy and I wanted people in my life. I think I blossomed and grew from there,” Flahive said as she reminisced.

After high school, Flahive got a job at a facility for the mentally handicapped called the Muskegon Regional Mental Retardation Center. This is where she was introduced to individuals with special needs. Her job was to get the clients up in the morning and help them start their day. Flahive believes that this was an important part in her life because it started her down a path that led her to where she is now.

“It was culture shock. I realized that I lived in a glass house,” Flahive said. “But thanks to the people that I worked with and the clients themselves, I came to find that I cared so much for these individuals and without this experience I would never have realized how wonderful my life would be. And as a result of that experience, here I am all these years later working with and loving people with developmental disabilities.”

Flahive met her husband, Michael, while working at the center, and after about two years of working there, she obtained a position as a teacher’s aide at the Muskegon Area Intermediate School. The school was for kids k-12 with developmental disabilities. During this time, a federal mandate was passed (Education for All Handicapped Children Act) that stated that all children, special needs or not, were allowed an education.

In 1974 Flahive and her husband moved to Scranton, PA where she attended Marywood University. She received her B.S. in Sociology, and had her daughter, Jennifer, during her final semester of college. Following this, Flahive was a stay-at-home mom and then began substitute teaching for special education children in 1989 when Jennifer began attending school.

It was 1992 when Flahive came to Opportunity Enterprises. She toured the facility and immediately fell in love with the place.

“When I came here I knew that this was where I wanted to be,” Flahive said. “I was always pulled to working with people with developmental disabilities. I’m glad I was able to be immersed in what I do. OE has just evolved. My reason then is the same as it is now. This place has gone through tremendous change with clients, staff and programs. The number of people that we can serve now is huge compared to when we started. We make OE what it is -staff and clients. I’ve met some incredible people here. This is my family away from my family. I’m very happy when I come here and I can’t imagine my life without OE.”

So six weeks after her tour at OE, she began working there as a Case Manager. Her job duties included a caseload of people for day program, she was part of the intake process for clients to be able to work out in the community, and she had caseload of people that lived in the group homes.

Now, Flahive is an Intake Specialist. She deals with people who are referred to OE for their four day programs, she is involved with the Jobsource program and respite, and she does her best to give people help and direction if OE isn’t a fit for them.

Those that work with Flahive say she is the, “First and best contact families or other agencies have when coming to OE. She makes a connection quickly and is dedicated to making the process a smooth one."

And as a tribute to her dedication and commitment to OE, Flahive was awarded a Life Time Gem Award from Opportunity Enterprises.

"I love OE I love what I do. This is truly my passion. It’s fulfilling -it’s never enough. There’s just so much to do,” Flahive said with a genuine smile. “The clients here are a tremendous blessing in my life. It’s a humbling experience and I learned from them to move forward; to never give up. They are beautiful people. They enrich my life. I’m reminded every day that my life is truly blessed because of them and I should never complain about anything in my life as I have a tremendous list of blessings and they are at the top of my list.”

Flahive lives here in Valparaiso with her husband and she is quite happy with her location.

“I love Valpo. I love that the city treasures what we have and it works to make things better. I love the downtown, the walks and parks and playgrounds. I just think that whoever is responsible for our city is mindful and thoughtful and I know I benefit from their actions,” Flahive said. “When I came here it was like coming home. I’m very happy here.”

In her free time, Flahive likes to spend time with friends and family, she enjoys gardening, and she loves to travel. In the future when she retires, Flahive would like to learn Spanish, cook more, and volunteer more. And in the near future, she is looking to becoming a first-time grandmother.

Her advice to anyone who wants to find happiness in their life is simple:

“Look for the good in all people,” Flahive said. “Too often we are critical and we pick people apart. As bad as we may think someone is, there is good there. Everybody has a good heart and there is good stuff in them, there truly is.”