Ji is one of the wonderful Residential Specialists at Opportunity House!

She lived in Sitka for a most of her life, moved to Washington for college in 2007 to study International Relations then to Hawaii to major in Korean Studies.

In 2012, she made her way to Ketchikan and started providing independent care for a family and they encouraged her to apply with Community Connections. She liked that Community Connections helps individuals stay in their home to live independently. She applied and was hired to work with elders in our Older Alaskan Resources program then eventually added our Developmental Disabilities program!

A part of her job she really enjoys is how, at Opportunity House, the staff have a lot of opportunities for community engagement with the customers. She enjoys how they are able to provide services in a way that makes the customers feel like they are not just a customer and to provide a fun place for them in their homes. She also enjoys being able to watch how the customers progress towards achieving the goals that they set for themselves.

Something that Ji finds challenging is staffing shifts. She really tries to work with the Opportunity House team to make sure shifts are covered and really appreciates when staff are willing to step in to cover shifts when needed.

When Ji finds some free time, she enjoys learning languages, such as, Thai, Japanese, Mandarin, Korean and Spanish! She would like to become proficient in other languages as well. She also loves baking, tattoos, kayaking and anything to do with animals and traveling.

Her supervisor says, “Ji is such an incredible human! It is obvious in everything she does how much she cares about the folks she supports. Ji brings such a playful joy to Opportunity House. She makes all of the parties and get-togethers so much fun. Ji has worked with Community Connections for over 11 years total and she is constantly going above and beyond to make sure that everyone gets the support they need. I’m so thankful that she is on the Senior and Disability Service team and grateful for the incredible work she does. She truly lives our mission and core values and has such a big heart to share with all! Thank you Ji!”

Thank you, Ji!!