Meet Jennifer
We chatted recently with one of our new staff members, Jennifer Romer - Independent Living Specialist, to get to know her better. Here’s the interview:
Photo of Jennifer Romer, who has shoulder-length wavy blond hair, smiling at the camera. She is wearing a black top and has sunglasses on top of her head.
Tell me a little about your background or what you were doing before this position.
When I was first thinking about college, I thought I’d go into engineering. But after spending nine months working in an engineering office, I realized pretty quickly—it just wasn’t for me.
While I was finishing up my prerequisite classes, I started working at a nuclear pharmacy, delivering radioactive pharmaceuticals to hospitals. That’s where things clicked. I was fascinated by what the hospital teams were doing, and I knew that’s what I wanted to be a part of. So, I figured out the path to get there, earned my degree in Advanced Medical Imaging Technology and became a nuclear medicine technologist.
After I was laid off, I decided to go back to school and got my MSEd in Training and Performance Improvement. Around that same time, I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, which definitely brought some challenges. I ended up being out of work for about 12 years—not because I didn’t want to work, but because it was a tough time to find the right fit.
I did some contract work here and there, volunteered with a global organization and ran my own health and wellness website. So even though I wasn’t working full-time for a while, I stayed busy, kept learning and stayed connected to things that mattered to me.
Eventually, I moved from Cincinnati, Ohio, to Western Washington (with a short stint in Eastern Washington in between). My walking was getting harder, so I knew I needed more support—and I needed a job. That’s when I got connected with Disability Empowerment Center and started working with Philip, who eventually talked me into applying for a position here.
Why were you interested in joining Disability Empowerment Center?
I saw all the possibilities and opportunities that Disability Empowerment Center has to offer its consumers and the impact I can make. And of course I get to help people.
What's your favorite part of your job so far? Watching people get excited when I helped them accomplish something they were struggling to get done by themselves.
What do you like to do outside of work? I love to travel, I like to do various crafts. I sew and scuba dive. I also love to cook.
Do you have any secret skills or something else to share that most people wouldn’t know about you?
Goodness, I am an extrovert that is way off the charts. So, I am pretty much an open book.