Welcome Back, Monica Micklos!
Creating games and running activities for older adults captured Monica Micklos as teenager. It all started after volunteering to help feed residents at a nursing home. At 16 years old, she was offered a part time job in their recreation department. “I left work with an excitement and a sense of energy—it was a natural high,” she remembers. Working at the Jewish Home for the Elderly in Fairfield, Connecticut, Micklos found a life-long passion for work with older adults—even if she didn’t know it at the time.
After graduating from Villanova University, Micklos returned to the place where she worked in high school for guidance. “I didn’t know what I wanted to do,” she says, “but I knew that I had loved that job more than anything else.” She was encouraged by the nursing home administrator to study social work—and she did. Her graduate work at The Catholic University of America brought her to DC and connected her again to aging concerns. Micklos’ first field placement was with IONA Senior Services. From there, Monica continued to grow into her career eventually serving as the founding Director for Seabury’s Care Management and co-authoring the book Empowering Social Workers for Practice with Vulnerable Older Adults.
After time away from Seabury’s Care Management, Monica is excited to return. “Having founded the program, it’s great to come back to my ‘first child’,” she says. “I love Seabury in particular,” she continues, “because it offers a chance to work with people across the city in different situations.” Of particular concern to Monica is continuing Seabury’s legacy of quality service that is client centered. Monica finds joy in empowering clients to make the living and healthcare decisions that are right for them. “Seabury touches so many lives—even though our impact looks different for every person and family. Finding what’s uniquely best for each situation, that’s what makes our work so important,” she adds.
Monica lives in Washington, DC with her husband Jeff and four children. In her free time, she enjoys local concerts and her children’s varied sporting events. Having lived abroad as a child, she appreciates the diverse cultures and backgrounds represented in the greater DC region. When asked if she’ll encourage her children to volunteer with one of Seabury’s living communities, she smiled, “I hope they will—I’m so glad that I did.”
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Seabury is glad to welcome Monica back to our team at Seabury’s Care Management. To contact Monica, email her at mmicklos@seaburyresources.org or call the Care Management office at (202)364-0020.
