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When 23-year-old Marika Steir first met Dottie Sola, an administrator at Children’s Hospital Boston in Peabody, she fell in love with the receptionist’s poufy, 1980s-inspired hair. Although severe cerebral palsy prevented Marika from communicating her approval verbally, she had no problem expressing her admiration through emphatic sign language, interpreted with help from her mom, Linda. The next time Marika came for a doctor’s visit, her hair equaled Sola’s in height, and the two hit it off, conversing about their fondness for big hair and a shared veneration of Seymour Zimbler, MD, Marika’s orthopedic doctor.
Marika has been seeing Zimbler for her care since just before her first birthday. In 1995, when Children’s Peabody location opened, he transferred to that clinic, and so did Marika. Since that time, Marika has gone from a determined young girl facing a universe of obstacles to a confident career woman. For the employees at Peabody who have been privy to Marika’s transformation, her progress has been awe-inspiring.
During high school, Marika was a National Honor Society member with big dreams. During her sophomore and junior years, she spent her free time volunteering at a nursing home, where she found she was a natural with the seniors. The daily challenges they faced—relearning basic living skills that they’d previously performed with ease, like eating and showering—was something she could relate to. Simple daily tasks had never come easy to Marika, who uses a wheelchair to get around and a computer system with a voice output tool to communicate. At the nursing home, she became an example of the power of perseverance.
In high school, on her monthly doctor’s visits to Peabody, Marika adopted Sola and Tricia Mento, RN, as her trusted confidantes, sharing stories about school and soliciting advice about what she should wear to the prom. “She brought in beautiful pictures afterward and we tacked them up on the wall,” says Mento. It was important to Marika that she should participate in ordinary teen activities, just like her peers: Despite the fact that her wheelchair stopped her from getting a driver’s license, she was determined to take and pass driver’s education. She studied diligently, and in 2005, graduated with the rest of her grade.
By the time she was 20, Marika was a world traveler, having visited Australia several times and spending three weeks traveling through Japan. Traveling was exciting, but it was Marika’s years of interactions with clinicians at Children’s that inspired her choice of career: to work in health care. Marika’s experience as a teen at the nursing home helped narrow her focus. “I asked her what she wanted to do when she graduated and she communicated that her ultimate goal was to work with adults with disabilities and open an adult day care facility,” says Mento.
For Linda, Marika’s desire to work in health care made perfect sense. “In her junior year of high school, I got a bit panicky,” she says. “I was wondering what she was going to do for a career, what would suit her skills and be a viable option.” But when Marika told her she wanted to be in the health care profession, Linda was enthusiastically supportive. “Marika has always loved to go to the doctor,” she explains. “At first, I didn’t understand why, but I finally got it: It’s an environment where she’s accepted for who she is, not judged and where she’s valued,” she says. Linda began researching adult day care facilities, with Marika’s help. Unlike nursing homes where seniors live full-time, adult day care facilities only care for clients during the day. Marika liked that it was a good option for families who are taking care of their elderly parents, but need to work, and how adult day care helps keep clients in the community—and with their family and friends—as long as possible.
In 2006, after months of planning, Marika and Linda’s center, Sarah Care Adult Day Services, opened in Hampstead, New Hampshire. Sola, Marika’s long time supporter, was invited to the opening, and she drove through rush hour traffic after work to make it to the reception. “When Marika saw me, she let out an excited sound as she pointed to me,” she remembers. “She was beaming.”
It’s now been three years since the opening, and Marika has garnered a reputation as a team player. “She’s sensitive to people’s losses,” says Linda. “It’s probably her greatest contribution.” That, and Marika also plays a mean game of UNO. Linda is finally at ease, knowing that Marika has a job that will capitalize on her talents and offer her an opportunity to grow. For Marika, she’s simply happy to be able to help others every day. “I don’t think Marika has a selfish bone in her body,” says Mento. “I know it’s a cliché to say that some people were born to help other people, but in her case I believe she really was.”
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