Located in Spring Valley, Noah Homes is a nonprofit serving adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Kevin Salvador, a direct support professional at Noah Homes was named the recipient of the 2025 California Direct Support Professional of the Year Award by ANCOR, the leading voice in Washington for community-based disability service providers. Salvador joins 53 other honorees in the 2025 edition of ANCOR’s annual Direct Support Professional of the Year Awards program, with this year’s awards bringing in more than 500 nominations from across the nation.
Salvador and the other 2025 honorees were recognized during an awards ceremony April 9 during ANCOR Connect ’25, the association’s annual conference.
“The entire Noah Homes community is proud of Kevin as he receives this national honor,” said Sandra Rocco-Melville, executive director of Noah Homes in a press release. “This award recognizes his dedication to fostering inclusion in a community-based, person-centered environment for the individuals we support. Kevin’s work has transformed the lives of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. We are so pleased to celebrate him.”
These awards seek to raise awareness about a direct support workforce in crisis. Inadequate investments in this essential workforce have led to a decades-long severe shortage of DSPs, which risks being exacerbated significantly as Congress weighs substantial cuts to Medicaid, the program that funds most services delivered by the direct support workforce.
Since 2007, ANCOR’s annual DSP of the Year awards have recognized outstanding direct support professionals who deliver long-term services and supports to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The awards celebrate the important role DSPs play in ensuring people with I/DD have what they need to thrive and be included in the community.
ANCOR Chief Executive Officer Barbara Merril said it is a pleasure to hear stories “day in and day out about the magic the DSPs make possible” as they deliver services for people with I/DD.
“It’s the very reason ANCOR began the DSP of the Year Awards program nearly two decades ago, and it’s why we are very much looking forward to celebrating the outstanding professionals like Kevin Salvador in San Diego next week,” she said.
