Ever since high school, Katie Arp knew she wanted to do something that involved athletics and wellness. “I was always involved in sports and I was very passionate about wellness. College really opened up my mind to a career in the health and wellness field,” said Arp. After receiving her undergraduate degree from Nebraska Wesleyan, Arp worked as a personal trainer for years before coming to Immanuel. “In college, I never thought I would be working with seniors. I was always interested in working with athletes. But when I got the job at Immanuel, I found it to be very rewarding,” said Arp. She first worked as a Wellness Coordinator at AgeWell where she taught exercise classes to seniors at both Immanuel Village and Immanuel Courtyard. “Being able to help residents reach their wellness goals to even helping them brush their hair or move around the gym, they’re so appreciative of the ability and opportunity to attend an exercise class,” said Arp.
Now, Arp works as the Corporate Wellness Specialist at the home office where she focuses on employee health and corporate wellness initiatives. “I do miss working closely with seniors but my current job allows me to help our employees and those who care for our seniors as well. I love hearing their stories and progress,” said Arp. Her favorite part about Immanuel is the work culture. “My brother passed away during the first three months of my employment. The support I received from the organization was amazing. It was really wonderful to receive all the letters, cards and notes from my co-workers. I knew in that moment Immanuel was a great organization. It’s a great fit for me,” said Arp. And for any organization, you have to have healthy employees, an initiative of which she is very proud to be a part. “It’s nice that Immanuel understands the importance of wellness, mind, body and spirit,” said Arp.
Before moving to Omaha, Arp lived in Adams, Nebraska, a small town about 25 miles south of Lincoln. Her Dad is a cattle farmer so she’s no stranger to early morning wake up calls but she says it was worth it. “It truly is a labor of love. I wouldn’t have asked for anything else growing up. I think I get a lot of my work ethic and my hard work mentality from living and working on a farm,” said Arp. She fed the cattle, mowed the yard weekly and helped her dad harvest crops. “We did chickens one year and that was the end of that. My Dad now breeds Red Angus bulls and sells them,” said Arp. She graduated from Freeman High School and Nebraska Wesleyan before receiving her master’s degree in health promotion from Nebraska Methodist College.
Arp tied the knot to her college sweetheart Bryce back in April. “He is 6 foot 8 so it would be a shame if he didn’t play basketball,” laughs Arp. The two met through friends. “We lived in the dorms next door to each other, but we never really spoke. We had a lot of mutual friends and that’s how we were introduced,” said Arp. Her husband Bryce works as an accountant at Team Software in Omaha, an organization which focuses on developing software and applications for human resources, payroll and benefits administration for various companies. Arp couldn’t be happier with the work she does here at Immanuel. She has a lot of heart for what she does because of our people. “The heart that my co-workers and this entire organization showed me after the death of my brother gives me a lot of heart and motivation to continue doing the work I do. There’s no better feeling than that. I love it here."
