REM undergoes leadership change
CHRISTINE RUPP — Sentinel Staff WriterArticle Photos
FAIRMONT - Peg Kunkel may no longer be regional director of REM Heartland, but she's still a big presence in the office she left behind.
Lori Larson, who took over the role Kunkel left recently, said she made it until about 11 a.m. her first day before having to call Kunkel with a question. That's OK, though, because as director of intellectual and developmental disability services, part of Kunkel's new job is to answer questions.
After 31 years with REM in Fairmont, Kunkel and her husband recently moved to the Twin Cities area to be closer to their three daughters and soon-to-be first grandchild. Kunkel didn't want to sever ties with REM, though, and the company felt the same way, creating a new position for her at the corporate office in Edina.
Talking about the upcoming changes days before moving and starting her new position, Kunkel said it would be hard to leave behind all the friends she had made through REM. Her last week in the Fairmont office was emotional.
As Kunkel talked about one of REM's clients who had made mugs for her and her husband as a going away gift, she teared up.
"My whole week's been like this," she said, dabbing her eyes with a tissue.
REM - which stands for Robert E. Miller, its founder - started in Redwood Falls in 1967 with Miller and his three sons.
The organization started out serving those with developmental disabilities, and Kunkel joined in 1977 when it branched out to include Martin, Faribault and Watonwan counties.
At that time, state hospitals were being de-populated due to a lawsuit, Kunkel explained, and there was a need for services within communities. Up until then, people with developmental disabilities were only served in state hospitals.
Kunkel helped start the first group homes for REM clients in Fairmont, and all of the people who moved into those homes were out of the St. Peter Regional Treatment Center.
Neighbors tried to block the first group home opened in Fairmont, Kunkel said, because there was a real fear factor. People didn't want to live next to someone with developmental disabilities.
Other homes initially opened in the area met with the same resistance, Kunkel said, but as REM's clients got out into the community and proved themselves to be good neighbors, people began to realize they really weren't so different. Now neighbors call and welcome the group or individual homes.
Having a 30-year history with the organization, Kunkel has seen many changes. One of those came in the mid-1980s when Minnesota chose to go with a new federal program. Until then, REM's clients had to live either in state hospitals or group homes to receive services, but the new program allowed them to live either at home with family or in smaller four-person homes and still be eligible for services.
"That really changed the landscape for people with disabilities to start receiving services, and now we have many, many homes in Fairmont," Kunkel said. There are currently 15 REM homes in Fairmont with around-the-clock staff support.
"It's been a very fun transition to watch many of my friends start in the group home and realize dreams that they have of living in their own home," she said. "It's been great."
The goal of REM is not to do things for the clients, Kunkel explained, but to teach them how to do things for themselves.
"We really are trying to enhance people's lives by giving them skills that give them value," she said.
"We don't look at a person and see their disability, we look at people we serve and see the personalities, and the warmth, and the laughter, and the sadness. They are who they are and you just love every part of that."
REM's clients go to church and volunteer, Kunkel said. They are participating, contributing members of their communities.
"All of us have a need to feel valued and like we're contributing somehow, and that's what is finally afforded them instead of isolating them," she said. "Who wouldn't grow under those experiences vs. being isolated on a campus your entire life?"
REM started with 30 clients and 30 employees. It has continued to grow, and in 2003 it was bought by The Mentor Network of Boston. Since then, its services have diversified to include clients with traumatic brain injuries, mental health issues and chemical dependency.
Today REM employs close to 300 people who serve about 175 clients.
After contributing to that growth, Kunkel said she can't explain what it feels like to leave the Fairmont area.
"I have had a job that I have loved to come to every day for 30 years," she said. "Every day."
Working out of the corporate office will be different because she won't be dealing with clients every day, but change is OK, Kunkel said.
In her new role, Kunkel will help explore new directions and development for REM. She'll also work on problem resolution with regions throughout the state.
And, of course, she'll answer questions, as Lori Larson knows.
Larson, though, isn't new to REM either. She has worked with Kunkel for 14 years, and before stepping into the regional director role she was one of three directors of program services.
In her former role, Larson was responsible for individual homes within the community, and she developed close relationships with several clients.
"Once you spend the time getting to know each one as the unique individual they are, you don't even see their disabilities anymore," she said. "I don't see that. When I see them, I just see, you know, my friend and they are forgiving; they're just fun to be with and (have a) great sense of humor."
For Larson, her interest in REM began with a college job while she was living in Brookings, S.D. She liked the variety the organization offered, and when she and her husband moved to Fairmont, she saw an add for a position at REM and applied for it.
She started as a unit coordinator in charge of one house and worked her way toward larger roles.
With her newest role ahead of her, Larson credited Kunkel for making sure she was ready. Kunkel was always committed to keeping the area leaders updated on what was happening within the rest of the organization, Larson said.
"I think I'm as prepared as I certainly can be," she said.
Her first week proved that. While it was busy - typical for a week at REM - things went smoothly.
"I'm looking forward to the future," Larson said.
