Senior Navigator, Joshin
Dre Soper is a Sr. Navigator here at Joshin, who helps to support members from all walks of life and meet them where they are on their journeys of neurodiversity, disability, and allyship. Dre helps to serve as a listening ear, share resources, help members to navigate the perplexities of all things neurodivergence both personally and professionally and ensure that members stay on track and aligned with their goals.
Dre has been a caregiver to her blind mother for over 20-years, learning from a young age what it means to serve, support, uplift, and fight for normalcy. She also is the mother to a beautifully neurodiverse little boy who has Autism, and is immersed in the world of caregiving from all angles. Dre also identifies strongly with neurodiverse characteristics, and uses her personal and lived experiences to help support others while discovering more about herself in the process.
Managing caregiver self-care and personal mental health go hand-in-hand. Dre has learned to cherish each day, not be overly critical of herself (as much), establish easy and practical routines, and has recently adopted Sandra Lee’s motto of semi-homemade in ALL aspects of her daily routine, not just cooking. This means putting in the extra effort where it counts, and being okay with a short-cut, cool gadget, or an extra helping hand to help carry some of the load. Not having the daily weight of everyone on her shoulders has helped her to focus more on her mental health by “leaving well enough alone” and reserving her fuel for when absolutely necessary. Everything else, with the help of good routines, operates on cruise control.
Dre absolutely loves to cook, organizing is therapeutic, Audible is her best friend, driving on long road trips (everyone is contained and typically QUIET), and her favorite downtime is binge watching a good crime show with a fresh turkey sub from Jersey Mikes!