09/18/2026
Direct Support Professional Recognition Week will be coming to a close soon, but that doesn't mean our appreciation for our teammates ever will. We're privileged to share the story of another of our standout mentors, Curt Tornow!
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For more than 7 years, Curt Tornow has acted as a model Mentor for Advocates. Through his unique relatability to the people he supports and a genuine appreciation for his Mentor counterparts, Curt demonstrates that it really does โtake one to know one.โ Supremely humble at heart, Curt began by deflecting any focus on himself and instead recognized his coworkers who provide exceptional support.
โI work alongside some of the most incredible people Iโve ever met,โ Curt said. โEveryone is there to make the people we support feel included, and Iโm blown away by the work of other Mentors within the agency.โ By no coincidence, people under Curtโs tutelage have grown accustomed to feeling included, listened to, and perhaps most of all, valued.
โMy son, Byron, has always had excellent Mentors with Advocates, but his world opened up even more when we met Curt,โ said Anne Lee. โCurt is wonderful at connecting people to parts of life that will help them achieve their goals,โ she added. Anne couldnโt emphasize enough that one of Curtโs standout traits is his ability to truly listen to the people he supports.
โIโve always viewed Curt more like a brother and friend than a Mentor,โ Byron said, noting their many similarities. โHe gives me the confidence to achieve things because heโs done so much in his professional life, and how heโs been able to handle all of it impresses and inspires me.โ
Some might say that Curtโs professional career has been an atypical one. His creative nature and interest in fashion design led to a successful 30-year career in the fashion industry. Born in Buffalo, NY, his talent and experience led to working for prominent corporations in major cities like Chicago and New York, and he earned some prestigious titles along the way. Despite all his success and personal accolades in the world of fashion and advertising, he felt that something was missing. While living in New York City, Curt routinely supported a friendโs son who was diagnosed with autism. Around that same time, he attended the Alpine Learning Center to help advance his knowledge and understanding of disabilities. His personal experience and education helped to make a seamless transition from the world of fashion to the disability world.
โAll of this came very naturally to me,โ Curt said. โIโm a part of the community we serve, so I am able to relate to our people,โ he said, sharing that he, too, has disabilities. As a youth, issues with things like his speech, vision, mobility, and balance impacted his everyday life. Through the help of certain therapies and with a great support system in place, these challenges are a thing of the past. However, other challenges have lingered throughout his life, such as dyslexia, memory issues, and ADHD. Curt is proud of what heโs achieved in life in spite of his disabilities, and uses his story as motivation for others.
โIโve always struggled with math, but there I was, managing multi-million-dollar budgets for big names in fashion,โ he said, adding that leaning on others for support at the time was no easy task. โBeing someone with a disability decades ago was different than it is today. It was exhausting living with a disability and feeling like I had to hide it, because that sort of vulnerability wasnโt looked favorably upon.โ
Because Curt missed his family and the slower pace of rural New York, he eventually moved back to the state heโd first called home. When confronted with the necessity of finding work after the move, the decision to pivot to the disability services field was an easy one. His career transitioned to a childcare provider and later to a teacherโs aide in a kindergarten classroom with children with disabilities.
โI just wanted to be where I was needed and felt wanted,โ he said. โItโs my job to remind people that there are no limitations in life. People with disabilities deserve to be heard, and theyโre allowed to have hopes and dreams, too.โ These fundamental rights are personal to Curt, as he can recall times when he was the one without a voice. It was those unfortunate times when others seemingly defined who he was or the person heโd amount to. โIโll never forget when a high school counselor told me I could only be a trash collector,โ Curt said. โThereโs absolutely nothing wrong with that job, but it was presented to me like itโd be my only option, and I felt that was so unfair.โ And so, Curt makes it his daily duty to advocate for people with disabilities, act as a voice of encouragement and guidance, and assist people in reaching their maximum potential.
โHeโs got an amazing work ethic,โ said Elissa Tennyson, Support Broker with Advocates. โHe has a very positive energy and truly cares about peopleโs goals and helping them grow.โ
โThatโs part of the reason I love Advocates,โ Curt added. โEveryone here is united and gets along well, regardless of age or circumstance because the end goal is the same.โ The strides people have taken under Curtโs mentorship are a testament to his dedication, passion for helping others, and a knowledge of what itโs like to be in their shoes.
โBecause I know firsthand what itโs like to experience a lot of these things, I can better help others be the best they can be,โ he said. โI make a conscious effort to accept others for who they are and value them for what they can potentially bring to the situation.โ
According to Curt, his free time is limited. He likes to keep busy with mentoring at Advocates, spends time caring for aging family members, and visits with friends and family whenever he gets the opportunity. He shared that he doesnโt miss the thrills of big cities, big jobs, or big titles that were all a part of his former life. These days, he much prefers the personally rewarding work he does by day and the loving company of his pets by night. And with each passing day, Curt demonstrates that life should know no boundaries โ either for himself or for the people he supports. โThereโs always something amazing around the corner that people can achieve,โ he said. โThey just need to believe they can achieve it.โ With the belief Curt has in people like Byron and their reciprocal faith in him, good outcomes are all but guaranteed.
โWe trust Curt with Byronโs life every day,โ Anne said with much sincerity. And with that deep trust comes endless possibilities and a confidence to achieve things that were once unimaginable. โHaving him by my side with everything keeps me on track, no matter what Iโm doing,โ Byron said. โIf it wasnโt for him, I wouldnโt be handling things as positively as I am.โ
With empathetic, dedicated, and compassionate people like Curt, it isnโt a matter of if a person will achieve his or her goals; itโs a matter of when they will achieve them. Advocates is fortunate to have Curt on its team of more than 1,400 dedicated employees, and we sincerely thank him and all of our Mentors/Residential Coordinators for the work they do day in and day out!
