“People are not cookie cutter,” said Danielle Silver. 

That was clear to Danielle at 20 years old when was working at a group home for people with developmental disabilities. There were five people she cared for in the group home, and she got to know each of them, and what each needed, beyond what was listed in their files. For example, one person when feeling distressed benefitted from talking through it, while another needed to be given as much space as possible. Care was not one-size-fits-all. 

“I knew them,” Danielle said. “I knew how to get through to them.”

The joy in building these human connections is what led Danielle to go back to school to become a nurse. As a new LPN deciding where she wanted to work, she weighed the pros and cons of working in a hospital setting versus a health center, such as Neighborhood Health Center. She wanted to be someplace that didn’t take a “cookie cutter” approach to care. 

Danielle already had a connection to Neighborhood. She’s been a Neighborhood patient since childhood. She remembers that even as a young girl she’d felt her pediatrician, Dr. Gail Ferguson, listened to her and cared for her as a unique person. She brings her own children now to see Dr. Ferguson. And, all of her children were delivered by another Neighborhood provider – Dr. Michele Frech – who understood that each pregnancy is unique. 

Now, Danielle works with Dr. Frech and Dr. Ferguson as an LPN supervisor at Neighborhood. She’s building connections with patients over time, and cares about them as people beyond the reasons brought them into the health center. Danielle reflected on one patient whose positive energy always had her, and others, smiling whenever he came in over the years. With tears in her eyes, she shared the heartache of watching health problems rob him of his energy and make him frail. 

“Seeing him trying to be himself still,” Danielle describes, “to see how big his light was, to see him trying to give that to us because of what we give to him, it was bittersweet.”

While Danielle wouldn’t call herself a people person, she finds that being a nurse brings out a different side of her.

“At work, dealing with patients, you get a different me,” said Danielle. “I’m smiling, I am quick to jump in and engage with our patients. I want to give them that quality care, because I really care.”

Having been on both sides of Neighborhood’s care – as a patient and as a nurse – Danielle feels she has a richer understanding. She sees the details that go into the flow of the day, and recognizes that small things like a friendly smile or a listening ear can have a big impact. She refuses to look at people as “cookie cutter.” 

“You don’t know what someone is carrying with them throughout their day,” said Danielle as she offered a reminder that one of the best things you can give someone doesn’t cost a thing. “It’s free to be kind.”