Central Susquehanna Opportunities, Inc. & STEP, Inc
In the world of social services, burnout is real—but so is hope.
In this episode of the Thinking CAAP podcast, Beck and Heather sit down with Amy Misunas and Raelyn Jackson, two passionate professionals from Central Susquehanna Opportunities, Inc., and STEP, Inc., who share powerful insights on the emotional toll—and deep rewards—of Community Action work. Amy shares what motivates her as a caseworker and why asking for help is one of the strongest things a person can do. She brings forward inspiring stories of clients who have found housing, employment, and confidence through small steps and consistent support. Raelyn joins the conversation with her insights on wellness, leadership, and disaster case management. She reflects on what it means to model empathy and accountability, and how personal experiences shape her deep commitment to helping others.
Together, they unpack strategies to prevent burnout, celebrate client wins, and build a supportive workplace culture. From honoring client autonomy to making space for rest and reflection, this episode offers encouragement—and practical wisdom—for anyone working on the frontlines of Community Action.
Whether you’re a seasoned caseworker or new to the field, this episode is a heartfelt reminder that caring for yourself is a necessity.
Thinking CAAP Talking Points
00:00] Introductions and Purpose of the Podcast
Beck Moore and Heather from Holloway Media Services introduce the Thinking CAAP podcast and welcome Amy Misunas from Central Susquehanna Opportunities
Excitement about highlighting the impact of Community Action and hearing from frontline professionals
[00:01:27] Motivation for Working in Community Action
Amy shares her passion for helping clients rediscover their spark and strength
Emphasizes that asking for help is a sign of courage, not weakness
[00:05:58] Myth Busting and Client Success Stories
Amy addresses the misconception that CAAs only serve non-working individuals
Shares inspiring stories of clients moving from assistance to stability and success
[00:08:47] Outreach and Challenges of Asking for Help
Discussion about referral sources and the difficulty some clients face in seeking help
Importance of reframing help-seeking as empowering and proactive
[00:12:21] Impactful Client Stories and Emotional Challenges
Amy reflects on how emotionally challenging—but also deeply fulfilling—the work can be
Shares a success story that highlights resilience and transformation
[00:13:45] Celebrating Client Success
Amy celebrates a client’s victory in securing housing and documentation
Reinforces the value of acknowledging even small wins
[00:16:19] Self-Care and Coping
Amy shares her personal coping strategies, including painting and spending time with her son
Talks about the importance of refueling to keep giving to others
[00:17:18] Community Action Month Celebration
Beck and Heather spotlight Central Susquehanna Opportunities’ work during Community Action Month
Call to action for listeners to support their local agencies
[00:18:25] Introduction to Raelyn Jackson
Beck and Heather welcome Raelyn Jackson from STEP, Inc.
Raelyn outlines her role overseeing housing, youth, and readiness programs
[00:24:34] Work-Life Balance at STEP Inc.
Raelyn discusses STEP’s supportive culture and how it encourages staff to prioritize well-being
Highlights the importance of boundaries in social services
[00:25:32] Importance of Wellness Check
Raelyn emphasizes wellness checks as essential during intake and for staff
Leaders must model care and support team mental health
[00:29:07] Modeling and Accountability
Beck and Raelyn stress that leadership starts with modeling healthy behavior
Discuss accountability, especially when leadership becomes more removed from direct service
[00:31:48] Personal Motivation
Raelyn shares her journey and how her own experience in foster care shaped her passion for service
Emphasizes helping others as her lifelong calling
[00:35:47] Overcoming Barriers
Raelyn shares a story of a client overcoming deep challenges with trust and timing
Importance of planting seeds and walking alongside clients
[00:37:11] Timing and Support
The role of timing in client breakthroughs
Acknowledging that change comes from within, supported by consistent care
[00:37:22] Understanding Client Challenges
Raelyn reflects on the mental health and emotional hurdles many clients face
Highlights the need for empathy and individualized support
[00:38:27] Impact of Client Stories
Raelyn shares how emotionally taxing work in intellectual disability services led her to shift paths
Deep appreciation for those still in the field
[00:39:10] Career Paths and End Goals
Discussion on how purpose can evolve and doesn’t always have a clear endpoint
Finding fulfillment in the day-to-day impact
[00:40:27] Motivating and Empathetic Leadership
Raelyn speaks on using client success stories to uplift her team
Encourages gratitude and empathy as leadership tools
[00:48:16] Dealing with Trauma and Celebration
The importance of processing trauma and celebrating even small wins
Beck and Raelyn discuss the emotional impact of the work
[00:48:49] Partnership with CAAP and Disaster Case Management
Raelyn discusses a new disaster case management initiative in partnership with CAAP
Excitement for serving Hurricane Debbie victims and leading a new team
[00:49:16] Connecting with STEP
Beck encourages listeners to engage with STEP, whether by volunteering or offering support
Promotes awareness of local Community Action Agencies
[00:49:37] Encouraging Support for STEP
Beck underscores the importance of supporting local CAAs like STEP
Encourages connection with Raelyn and her team
[00:49:58] Workplace Culture Conversation
Beck expresses appreciation for the discussion on workplace culture
Thanks Raelyn for her insights and openness
[00:50:03] Conclusion and Next Episode
Beck wraps up the episode and thanks Amy and Raelyn
Transcript of Episode 9
00:00:00
What's up, everybody? Welcome to the Thinking CAAP. With us today is my co host, Heather. Heather, go ahead and introduce yourself. Howdy, everybody.
00:00:07
I'm Heather Holloway and I'm thrilled to be here. And Heather's joining us from Holloway Media Services, one of our partners and just what who I like to call friend. So Heather, always happy to have you as our co host. I'm Beck Moore. I'm our CEO of Community Action Association of Pennsylvania.
00:00:23
I should probably introduce myself. And with us today we have a special guest from Central Susquehanna Opportunities, one of our amazing community action agencies, Amy Misunas. Amy, thank you for joining us. Thank you for having me. Absolutely.
00:00:38
So we're gonna ask you a couple questions. Amy, wanna really highlight the work that you're doing in Community Action and just have a conversation today. So thank you for, again for being here. We're happy to have you. Thank you.
00:00:48
And with that, Heather, take us away. Yeah, you got it, Beck. Thanks so much. Yeah. Amy, it is a real joy and pleasure to have you here with us today.
00:00:55
And thank you for taking the time to sort of go pull back the curtain and reveal what's happening at your association. So we're going to start with a softball question. This is really, really easy. Okay. Okay.
00:01:08
Tell me, you know, how you do what you do is never as important as why you do it. So can you tell us, you know, why do you work for the, for your Community Action Association? I love helping people. Want to make sure that we, we clarify though there. Right.
00:01:27
Because Amy's works for one of our agencies. Yeah. That's associated with the association. Associated with the association. See what I did there?
00:01:35
Yeah. And Amy, just to clarify, you're. You're a caseworker at CSO, right? Yes. Perfect.
00:01:40
Okay, so back to you, Amy. Okay, so I love helping people, but I love helping realizing realize their full potential. Basically. A lot of the people, they come to us and they're like completely defeated. And that's, that's totally okay.
00:01:54
You know, they're going through a lot and they just feel like totally lost. And that light in their eyes is totally gone. And when they come to us, I can so see what they totally lost. And I want to help them get that back. So, yeah, I like to help them realize their full potential and get that back.
00:02:16
I love that answer so much. One of the, on our, one of our previous episodes with Erin Lukoss, who's the CEO of Bucks County Opportunity Council, we talked a little bit about this. I think Heather, even when we did an episode together, we talked about this, too. One of the things I love about Community Action is something that I heard at one of their events, which is this idea. Right.
00:02:36
That and what happened with a client story that I heard about someone who said, you know, when I met with my intake worker, when I met with my caseworker for the first time, the very first question that they asked me was, what was my dream? And no, I had not really had the chance or opportunity to dream about what I wanted to do or where I wanted to go. And that's a really powerful thing. Right. Because we all deserve the opportunity to dream and realize our dreams.
00:03:06
And so appreciate so much the work that you do in helping people really achieve their dreams, their goals. Bring that spark back. It's a really important thing that you do on a day to day basis. So. So thank you for doing what you do.
00:03:20
Thank you. Absolutely. Yeah. And you know, Beck, just building off of that. Central Susquehanna Opportunities.
00:03:26
Right. The word opportunity is in the title. So, Amy, you know, throughout your career, I mean, did we. How long have you been with CSO and, you know, what was the trajectory to get there? Have you, have you leaned on any previous experience to do what you do today?
00:03:45
Yep. I used to work for Children & Youth. I worked about seven years total for, with Children & Youth Services, split in between. You know, I was there for like six and a half years. Then I went back for a little bit to equal seven years.
00:03:58
And then I found out about CSO through Children & Youth Services and I was like, you know, really want to work there. So I applied and had the interview and literally it was like a phone interview first. And then I remember after the interview, I walked to my dad's house to tell him. I'm like, yo, that went really well. And then they called me and I was like, what?
00:04:20
I was super excited. So. And I've been here almost four years. It'll be four years in July. So I'm, I'm really excited for all the clients that I've worked with and all the, the growth that I've seen.
00:04:34
And it's, it's really rewarding. Yeah, that's. That's awesome. I love that. You know, one of the, one of the things that we talk a lot about in our advocacy work around community action is some of the, you know, myth busting kind of discussions that we have and.
00:04:50
Right. The idea that Community Action connects people to welfare. Right. And, you know, what some people perceive as handouts. While, yes, we do connect people with those things, we also surround them with the resources to help grow economic mobility and become self sufficient.
00:05:11
And I think one of the things that we hear often also is that, well, the people that we're working with, they're not working. And I think that that is typically not what we see. Certainly there are some folks who maybe don't have jobs at that particular point, but more often than not we find that the clients that we're serving within our organizations are working one job, two job, three jobs and still. Right. Can't get to the point where they're self sufficient.
00:05:38
And so when you think about. Right. Some of those myths, is there anything that comes to mind that sort of is a myth busting or something that people would find surprising about the work of Community Action or Central Susquehanna Opportunities? We work with all people from all walks of walks of life. Yes.
00:05:58
I have people like one of my clients, I'd like to point her out, obviously, but when she came to us, she was collecting disability. Now she's working, she's getting very little. She gets very little food stamps. Now she's actually paying for our own insurance. Insurance and everything.
00:06:18
Like she's doing great. And then we have some people that are. That were not working, that are working, not getting any benefits at all. So like we just, we work with people from all walks of life. So if that's the kind of the answer that you're looking for.
00:06:35
I mean, I mean, I think. Yeah, I mean, it's not necessarily. I think. Right. Like, it's this.
00:06:40
I think it's this idea to help people really understand that a lot of times when we talk about poverty, it's an idea of or a concept that people have in their minds that's pretty specific. Right. And a lot of times that idea is around, it's about a choice that somebody made and. Oh, it's definitely not all the time. No.
00:07:00
I mean the way the economy is, people that are working two jobs can't afford their PPL bill, you know what I mean? Like, it's definitely not just people that are not working. You know what I mean? It's just the way the economy is now. Yeah.
00:07:17
Well, and I think it's the concept. And we've talked about this on a couple other episodes as well. Right. This idea that a lot of times when we think about the folks that we're serving, it's one emergency away from being in a circumstance that they're potentially going to be evicted or they have to make a choice about putting food on the table versus, right, paying their rent.
00:07:39
And then that tends to start to snowball because of that particular circumstance. And so again, one of the things I love about the work that you all do on a day to day basis is that surrounding people with the resources so that they get further and further away from that one emergency. So I appreciate you highlighting those clients and the, the challenges that they're, they're working through and some of the successes that they've had. I appreciate that.
00:08:05
Yeah. Yeah. And, and you know, thinking about this, when you're in that, that, that mindset, you're, you're working the two to three jobs, you're trying to put food on the table and balancing, you know, do I pay for electric or God forbid, if they have oil heat, my goodness, bless them, I have that. And that's just. My goodness.
00:08:24
We have, we have oil heat here, right? I mean, you know, space, Space heaters. Our rule in the house is no heat till trick or treat. So even for someone who's a CEO, right. We, we have to make that hard decision too.
00:08:34
So I get it. I get it. Well, you know, and it's these mindset shifts. But, but you know, how do people find you? Like, I imagine that there it's a challenge to say we are here to help.
00:08:47
We get referrals from all over. We get referrals from schools, we get referrals from children & youth services, referrals from aging in our building. We have like an aging center, senior center downstairs. We get referrals from there.
00:09:06
Word of mouth. People just find us everywhere. And so, and then part two to that challenge is, do you find that the folks that you work with, is it hard for them to ask for help? Yes. And I want to say something about that because a lot of people, they, I hear them saying, oh, it was so hard for me to do this.
00:09:26
I'm so embarrassed. And I always want to say sometimes it is hard to ask for help, but I find that such a strength to ask for help. It's definitely not, it's not a weakness and it's nothing to be embarrassed about at all. Yeah, that's definitely something I've had to, to learn and still have challenge with. For sure.
00:09:49
Yeah, I. That resonates with me. Hard. Yeah. Yeah, it is.
00:09:55
It is difficult to ask for help. But you're, But I, I appreciate how you reframe and tell them that it's a superpower. It is. I think that's power. It is a superpower, and that's what makes you so special.
00:10:05
So you can you tell me, you know, what does the day to day look like, like what are you doing from 9 to 5? Or does it even end at 5? I mean, you might. Well, it's supposed to, yes, but it, it does end. It ends at four, technically, but anyways.
00:10:21
But every day is different and that's what I really love about it, technically. You know, some days different. Like I might be enrolling a new client into case management with me and things like that. A lot of my clients, I have very good working relationships with my people. They're always calling me, let me know what's going on in their lives.
00:10:38
And I like that. Sometimes I might be scheduling an appointment for them to, you know, draft a resume or whatever, do a mock interview with them, stuff like that. Sometimes I transport them to job interviews, which I love doing that. Sometimes I'll take them to like, different resources. Like we have an amazing resource in Milton, it's called Dig Furniture bank, which is so cool.
00:11:03
I'm taking one of my clients there on Tuesday, in fact next week. So that's fun. Every, every day is different. So you never really know what, what you're in for unless you have a scheduled. So yeah, it's fun.
00:11:21
So if, if there, if you think back over the last four years and I also want to just say thank you to the work that you did at Children and Youth, because I can appreciate through some circumstances that I've, I've lived through just how hard that job is too. And there's, there's it. All of the roles that you've had, those are, those are hard, hard jobs. So just again, I gonna annoy people who've heard me say thank you so many times in this episode, but I just can't thank you enough. You know, you're doing the hard work for sure.
00:11:49
But when you think about the last four years is there is. And the clients that you've, you've helped and all of the people that you've, you've touched their lives in a really amazing way. Is there something in particular that you think of that you're just like, you know, this is something that I'm just so proud of. Or that one client that you just, you remember on a regular basis that, that keeps you going? Because I appreciate that in all of the roles that you've had, it's, it's a lot, it's a lot to take on emotionally.
00:12:21
Right. And so I'm sure that there's something in there that's just like, you know, this is the thing that keeps me going on a day to day basis. Or that one Client that just really, you think about that person often. There's a lot of them, honestly a lot of them.
00:12:37
But I think the one, the one that I brought up already, I've been working with her for quite some time. But like her strength, when she first came to me, she was very timid and very afraid and her growth is, has been phenomenal. Like I said, she was just collecting disability and she was very afraid. But with working together, she has gained employment. She's still collecting disability, but now she's like just getting very little amount of food stamps.
00:13:08
She lost her medical and she was so afraid with that. But I'm like, you'll be okay. And now she's paying for her own medical, you know, and so this is great. She's like breaking away from the government assistance and you're working towards sustainability, you know, and there's so many other clients that I've seen, not just her in particular, but where, you know, they come to us not working at all, you know, just getting out of jail, you know, and then they get a job, they get housing, they get full time employment and then they show me their first pay stub and there's overtime on that. And I'm just so happy.
00:13:45
This one, one guy in particular, I was so happy. He sent me a picture of that pay stub and his hand was filthy because of his, his job is such a hardworking job and I was just so proud of him. And then he emails me telling me he's going to look in an apartment this weekend. Like, I'm just so happy just to see that motivation. Well, and you get to be that person.
00:14:08
Right. That the person is that client is sharing their success. And so that, that to me. Right. Tells me everything I need to know about how you're connecting with your clients because you're the person that they want to tell.
00:14:21
Yeah. They're excited to tell. Right. And you know, I know that for me there have been points in my life where there hasn't been that person. Yeah.
00:14:30
Yeah. And so you get to be that. You get to be that person. You know, that's, that's, that's pretty amazing. And that, that again, that's tell.
00:14:37
That's really telling about the connection that you've made with that. With that individual. Yes. Yeah. There's other clients too.
00:14:42
I have so many stories I could tell you, like 50 of them. But just like I celebrate every, even some, like some people, that's just like a tiny success to me. Everything they do is a success. Like even if they Just get a renewed ID. To me, that's phenomenal.
00:14:58
You know what I mean? Well, that's, that's a, that's a step to accomplishing something else. Because if you don't have an ID, you can't get a job, you can't get housing, you can't, you can't. Right. You potentially can't drive a car, you can't get a paycheck cashed.
00:15:12
Right. Like, there's a million things that until you're living in that circumstance, you. You can't appreciate how something so simple is such a barrier to the next thing. Yes. I had a client call me, tell me she got her renew her new ID by herself.
00:15:28
And I'm like, that was $42. Like, to me, $42 is a lot. And I'm like, the fact that she got that herself, I was so happy. You know what I mean? Like, I was so proud of her for doing that.
00:15:39
That's a huge success. Yeah. You know, when, when things are going well, we take. We take so many things for granted, just like renewing an ID or having that license. What you're providing, I'm hearing, is independence and purpose, two phenomenal things that are empowering and can inspire us to continue going on those rough days.
00:16:01
But, Amy, I have to ask you, what do you do to fill your cup up so that you can continue to serve your community? I will openly say that there are times right now that I've had this conversation with Heather that, like, I don't have a cup anymore. Right. Like, I threw it, it's gone. I don't know what I did with it.
00:16:19
So also appreciate that there, you know, there's. For me that there's a. That's a trigger question right now in particular, but. So you're asking self care, basically. What do I do?
00:16:28
Yeah, yeah. What do you do? You can continue to show up for your clients. So paint I. As painting the paintings that you see in the background.
00:16:36
I did myself. I spend time with my son a lot. You know, and this sounds silly, but I watch YouTube a lot. You know, I, you know, I watch like, hauntings, ghost stories, things like that. So that's what I do.
00:16:51
That's it, though. But that's significant because it helps. You know. Art therapy is a pretty amazing thing, so. Yeah, agreed.
00:17:00
Totally. Well, for those of you who are listening, want to make sure to remind you. Right. That you can check out Central Susquehanna Opportunities by visiting the CAAP. Org and going to the about Us section to search for CSO and or your Local agency.
00:17:18
We want to encourage you to check out cso. In particular, your local community action agency is always looking for volunteers and support. That could be your time, that could be your resources. But please make sure that you check CSO out and the amazing work that they're doing. Just can't say enough good about all of our agencies.
00:17:36
But here specifically to celebrate Amy and the work she's doing at CSO. So, Amy, thank you for joining us. Is there anything that you want to share else that you want to share before we officially wrap our episode today? I just love what we do here and I'm so proud of everybody that comes here looking for help, and I'm just happy for everybody. I love that.
00:17:57
Thank you again for joining us. Yeah, we appreciate you. Happy to celebrate Community Action Month with you. Thank you for being our guest today. Thank you.
00:18:04
Thanks for having me. Absolutely. Thanks, Amy. Yep. Thank you to everybody.
00:18:09
Heather, thank you for co hosting and we'll catch you on the next Thinking CAAP episode. We'll see you next time. Bye. All right, thank you so much for staying with us for this special episode of the Thinking CAAP. Let's not waste any more time and move on to the second interview in this compilation episode with Raelyn Jackson.
00:18:25
What's up, everybody? Welcome to the Thinking CAAP. I'm Beck Moore, CEO at Community Action association of Pennsylvania, and we have some great guests and an amazing co-host. Heather, thank you for joining me yet again. Happy to have you.
00:18:38
Oh, my gosh. It is an extreme pleasure and honor and thrill, and I'm delighted to be here. Beck, thank you so much. Of course, remind our listeners who you represent, which organization is because I want to make sure that we get a special shout out for you. Oh, my goodness.
00:18:53
Well, thank you so much. I own Holloway Media Services, and we are your organic social media marketing partner. Thank you so much. Of course. Absolutely.
00:19:00
Thank you for partnering with us. And also with us today is Raelyn Jackson, one of our team members at one of our agencies, one of our local agencies at Step Inc. So, Raelyn, say hello to our amazing listeners. Hello, everyone. Thanks for having me today.
00:19:15
Of course. We're happy to have you here. We're going to be talking a little bit about some of the things that you do. We want to make sure that this is an opportunity for us to share with folks during Community Action Month the amazing work that you do at your agency as well as a lot of your colleagues across the state. So thank you for being here.
00:19:31
Thank you to Rachelle Abbott, who is your CEO, who for making sure that you could be a part of this episode and shout out to her episode, which I think was launched in April, if I'm not mistaken. So if you haven't checked out her episode. Yeah. Check it out. Yeah.
00:19:46
And with that, Heather, take us away. Yeah. Awesome. So, Raelyn, thank you so much for joining us and congratulations as we're moving through all these podcasts and highlighting some super heroes within all of the, you know, action agencies in Pennsylvania.
00:20:00
First things first. You know, we have alphabet, alphabet soup here right back with all of them. So what does STEP Inc. Stand for?
00:20:08
Success through Engagement and Partnership. Okay. Success through Engagement and Partnership. And where are you located in this beautiful state of Pennsylvania? We are in, like, we're serving Lycoming and Clinton counties.
00:20:21
Okay. STEP is one of those organizations that has a couple different counties like some of our others. So they have a larger service area than just one county. But they do some tremendous work. Lots and lots of programs there.
00:20:33
Well, great. That's. You're teeing me up, Beck. I mean, let's talk about some of those programs. So what are we offering there at STEP?
00:20:41
Well, our STEP organization has a lot of programs as a whole. I am just a director of one of those programs. So my team works overseeing… Hold on, hold on, hold on. Raelyn.
00:20:51
Not just. Don't say just. You're a director. You do amazing work. I just want to make sure to write, like, know your worth, friend.
00:20:59
You do amazing things. I hear from. Hear about the great things you're doing all the time. So you're a director. Not just a director.
00:21:06
A director. I don't want to interrupt your flow, but I want to make sure to say that because I think you're amazing. Incredible team, though. It takes my team. It does.
00:21:14
It's not me, it's my team. So I oversee an amazing team team, which is very important. So I. I have about nine programs under me and we're expanding from there. So we have a lot of various housing programs.
00:21:28
We have a lot of people that are experiencing homelessness working with the 211 system. We also have some youth programs. Our Yes Program helps oversee, um, ages 16 to 21, helping youth kind of overcome any barriers that they have. We have general case management that also helps people overcome any barriers to self sufficiency.
00:21:49
So that's like your, like one of the basic foundations of my programming is our case management services that we offer. And then we also have programming for our work ready team that helps people that have done an extended TANF for five or more years. So those are Individuals that haven't been able to get back to work because they've been on cash assistance for five or more years. And we're helping them get back, get over those hurdles of the barriers that they're facing for self sufficiency and then get back into the workforce.
00:22:18
We have a lot going on. We have a lot of different grants flowing through my department alone. But then as an agency, you know, we have, you know, your weatherization programs, your housing programs, we have transportation, Head Start, the Office of Aging. Our team's huge. It's amazing.
00:22:35
We have all the amazing, incredible things. That's amazing. It sounds huge. My goodness gracious. When do you sleep?
00:22:43
You know, every now and then. And I know. So I've. I've gotten the opportunity to get to know you since. Since I've been here at CAAP.
00:22:51
I think we met the first time at the conference. My first year, if I'm not mistaken. My first year. Yeah. Yeah.
00:22:58
But remind. So how long. How long have you been at STEP? I've been with STEP for two and a half years. So I'm going on my third year right now in August.
00:23:06
Yes. You started just a little bit after I started here at the association. Yeah. And so I know I'm just going to give Raelyn a special shout out because I know in having met her for the first time back at that conference, and I can remember exactly where we're standing in the main session and the folks that you were standing with. And so I just know that I've really seen you grow in a lot of different ways.
00:23:25
I know Rachelle has really mentioned your executive director, CEO has mentioned just the growth that she's seen from you. And I just. I know you've really leaned into a lot of the CAAP efforts, and so I just. I just want to say I appreciate your leadership on STEP. I think you do amazing things.
00:23:38
And I just. I know that folks just can't say enough good about you. And I've. And I've seen. I've seen growth in you, so I just want to make sure to give you a shout out there.
00:23:46
Thanks, Beck. That's really meaningful. And I mean, Rachelle is amazing, as we both know. So, like, just to hear that she's speaking highly of me means a lot to me. And then.
00:23:54
Thank you, thank you. I’m trying.
Well, you're doing more than trying, friend.
00:24:02
I'm glad to work with an incredible organization, though, that holds me in, that, you know, like, holds me accountable, but then keeps me growing and Being better and. And being the best person that I can be, too. So it's. It's amazing. It feels good to be home.
00:24:12
That's what I consider it. I love that. So put that on a T shirt somewhere. Yeah, I love it. That's awesome.
00:24:18
So, can you kind of pull back the curtain for us, then, and take us through your day-to-day? I imagine from the moment that 9 a.m. or when, I don't know, 4 a.m., whenever you get in the office. From the time you get in the office to the time you leave, you're here.
00:24:34
No, that's. So that's one thing I love about STEP, though. They honor people's time. And I actually get in trouble if I stay too late or if I'm working outside my hours. So I can't even be upset about that because I used to be that person who would work 247 and never stop.
00:24:47
And as we all know, where that leads is a very dangerous position. So I am very grateful to work for an organization that says no at the end of the day. You need to end your day. It's okay if you need to send a quick email late at night or something, but ultimately, back off and don't do that because to be mindful of your time, your energy, and put your. Your energy is where it needs to be.
00:25:07
So I love that about here. Yeah. So I love that, too. And I'm just going to say this out loud. I know we've talked about this on some of our workplace culture discussions.
00:25:15
I know I present on this a lot. Right. Like, we can't be the best version of ourselves for our clients and the people that we serve if we don't give ourselves that space. We've talked a little bit on some of the other episodes with some of your counterparts, Raelyn, about the fact that many of the folks who work in Community Action have been clients of Community Action. And so there's that re-traumatization that happens when you're taking people through the intake process.
00:25:32
And so I think that, like, what you just said so acknowledges the need for that, you know, kind of wellness check. And as leaders, it's our responsibility, whether we're the CEO, director, or whatever we are.
00:25:51
There's an opportunity for us to ensure and make. And make sure, frankly, that that's happening.
Absolutely. Yeah. I love that.
00:25:58
I love that highlight. I love that I'm learning that and that it's officially hitting me, like, to understand that, like, you know, your weekends are supposed to be your weekends, your evenings are supposed to be your time to kind of take things in. And, I mean, I'm very. I'm very much one who will, like, read through my day, right? Like, I'm going back and going through my entire day.
00:26:16
Like, what could I have done better? What could I have done differently? But I still, like, even having a supportive husband and stuff like that, too, at home, just to be like, okay. It's okay. It's gonna be okay tomorrow.
00:26:27
Let's decompress and just move on from there. So, having support all around is very important in this field to just kind of keep yourself in check and see how those days are going. But I get off that soapbox and onto the main road here. So, as far as what my day looks like daily, it's really hard to say, Heather.
00:26:46
Like, every day is very different, and it can all be based on what's happening. So, like, you know, my position has just kind of taken a shift. This, too, where I'm not doing as much frontline stuff. I'm not working directly with the frontline staff as much as I was last year. We're building a leadership team below me, which is amazing, to kind of, like, highlight those individuals and make them in charge of their programs and, like, see how they push that forward and build all of these bigger and better programs than what I could have done and, you know, have them highlight team members and build their leadership skills too.
00:27:22
So that's been fun for me to kind of go through that transition as we're just starting that, really, in January, February. So, like, helping them become better leaders, too, but recognizing, you know, what that is going to look like for programming and stuff. But then reports, grants, helping, assisting wherever I can, trying to still keep myself on the focus on the front line, too, just so I don't lose touch with that, because that has been one of my biggest fears with making that adjustment, which I think is pretty normal for US Leaders as we get further away. Especially if you've started off as a case manager from before, you're like, I need to stay in check with reality a little bit too, to make sure I don't lose touch. Because, how can I be a good leader if I don't understand what the frontline team is doing too?
00:28:10
So, like, taking the time to go in with them into some of their case management meetings just as a quick like, hey, I'm here to help. You know, what can I do? Tell me about the story about the Kiddo, what's going on? Like, what can we talk about?
00:28:25
What are you seeing? What can I, what can we do? What can we do here? What we can, you know, just conversations. But it also then helps us on the flip side for grants, because how can I write an effective grant if I don't truly know what the needs are or what we're seeing in the community, too?
00:28:41
So like I said, I can't really tell you a day to day but I can tell you like an over compass of like what we're working towards and what I'm trying to do every day and trying to make our programming better while looking for new programming while also building the team that we have. So, leader for the win. I'm going to call out a couple of things that I think are really important to the things that Raelyn just mentioned. So number one, modeling, right. The things that you're modeling for your team, super important.
00:29:07
If we're willing to jump in as leaders, the team's more willing to help each other. Right. A thousand percent over accountability, partnership. Right. And saying like if we're, again, if we're modeling, right.
00:29:18
Like okay, if I'm on a sick day and I'm terrible about this as of late, over the course of the last year, if my team's listening, I acknowledge this. I'm trying. Like when you're off, when you're sick, right. Like again, right. Our decision-making is not the best.
00:29:33
We might be more short-tempered. We may not be more, you know, even keel. We might not be as thoughtful. And so that's really important. Like when we're off, we're off.
00:29:41
We're off because our team should also have that. It's a respect thing. Or like if you're taking a sick day. Not that long ago my family had a neurovirus.
00:29:51
There were lots of things happening in this house. Not great things. I should not have been picking up the phone at any given point. I should be focusing on, you know, dealing with my own bodily fluids. Recovery.
00:30:03
Recovery, Right? So I think that's really, really important. And what you said before, I want to just call this out too. You said something about, right, like one of your fears about getting further and further away from frontline staff. So because it's a fear, I just want to say this out loud.
00:30:17
You're going to, you're going to be intentional about this and you're. My guess is if I was Reading the tea leaves, you're probably always going to be intentional about it because it's a fear. Because when we fear those things, we tend to come, we tend to compensate. Right? And so we talk about this a lot with leadership that the further you get away from front line, right, you get, you don't understand the impact and the decisions you're making and so super, super important.
00:30:40
So give yourself some credit. And I also want to just call out that I appreciate that there's a perspective that people are thoughtful about that, but it's really easy to get tied up in the day-to-day and have to worry about this and this and this. And so when we have that intentional leadership and we're thoughtful about it, not everybody has that CAAPacity. So give yourself the accolades that you deserve for being thoughtful about it.
Well, thanks Beck.
00:31:05
I appreciate that. Call me out the best possible way. And I agree with your statement, like I'm trying. So like that's you know, the biggest piece and I think that that's all I can expect from my team too, is to try. So like we're, we're all trying to make this better and to make others' lives better too.
00:31:21
So. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you know what, we've, what we've seen on a lot of these podcasts and, and stories that I'm learning too from meeting all the, all, all you guys out there and, and gals, there's a lot of folks that like Beck said, come from being a client of the resources you provide. So I'm wondering what your background is like why are you doing this work? Why, why STEP? How did you get here, and why are you doing this?
00:31:48
And then I guess part two would be how'd you get there?
Sure. So I, I did not come from that type of background, but I have had a lot of experience. Like I've always been a helper. I've always been one of the people to just kind of hit the ground and help however I can.
00:32:02
And if I see somebody in need, I take it as my need and try to help them overcome. Takes them to have some skin in the game, but you know what I mean? So you know, coming alongside of people and helping, helping has not been something I've shied away from since the very get-go. Going back to middle school, high school, elementary, it's always been the way that I have so.
00:32:26
But I, Raelyn, being the friend, you know what I mean? You know what I'm saying? I feel like that's gonna be my slogan today. I try.
00:32:35
I'm always just trying to be that person who can try to help in some way, in some capacity to make somebody's day better or make a positive impact on somebody's life. Not just me, but, like, as a whole, like, what can we do to make a positive impact on somebody's life or what kind of programming are needed to make that positive impact? But I actually came from the world of foster care, adoption and adolescent residential care. So I worked there for about seven years as the director of operations.
00:33:03
And while there, I grew a heart for this work. I. I worked in residential as a case manager for about a year and a half, and when I did that, I realized that the world is cruel and can be awful to people and how things like how environments create people and how, you know, like, unfortunately, terrible situations can cause people to be pretty, have struggles in their life and struggle for the rest of their life, especially when it happens to our youth, youth and the younger folks. So, working alongside them, they inspired me. You know, like, they had some terrible, terrible uprisings and had some terrible situations.
00:33:45
You know, I remember one client specifically who told me that her dad was injecting heroin into her since age 2. And that's just terrible. And it's awful. And, you know, and then prostituting her out, like, it got worse, like it just didn't get better. And, you know, working alongside of and seeing her still have ambition and wanting to make change and wanting to do better for her family and herself as she gets older, I mean, obviously she was focusing on herself and coming alongside of her, helping give her the tools and resources to do that, even though I didn't have personal experience from it, and her still trusting me enough to, to come to me and want me to help her, like, showed me that you don't necessarily need to have a background in this, but you need to have compassion and empathy to come alongside of them to understand.
00:34:34
Like, I may not be able to directly reflect with you, but I sure as heck can try to help you overcome this, however that may be. And I mean, she's now a nurse and she has a baby and she's married and, like, all the things. And that's just really incredible. And that's just one story out of the hundreds we've worked with. But, like, she was one that, like, I will always think of, like, this is why I do what I do.
00:34:55
Like, there's, there's change to be made when people want to make change. And I would love to be able to help them do that. That. So thank you.
00:35:05
Thank you for your work in all of that. I mean, I think what you just said speaks so much to the. The thing that we've talked about time and time again on many of these podcasts, which is that people have this perception that the situations that they're in are based on the choices that they've made on their own.
00:35:20
And, sure, while that may be true, more often than not, the situational component largely overpowers the individual choice. Because if I start from this starting block, there's only so many choices. Right. And it's really hard to overcome some of those barriers by things that you never chose on your own. And I think that story really is really a powerful one for people to understand.
00:35:47
Right. So thank you for doing that work. Yeah. No, I mean, thank you for her for doing that work. I mean, coming alongside of her and just offering those.
00:35:56
Those resources. I mean, she. She overcame a lot, and. And just to think, you know, she got away from heroin and never used again. I mean, those aren't the same success stories for everybody.
00:36:05
But to know that that isn't. Is able to happen is really important for any of our clients to understand, too. Like, you can do this. It's just a matter of when you're ready to make those moves and when we can come alongside of you.
00:36:16
And I always say to my team, like, it's about planting seeds. Like, we might see the same clients hundreds of times, thousands of times. And, I mean, we do. We do see a lot of the same ones, but planting that seed each time to show them we're here and to create that trust in that bond. So then when they're ready to make that and their seeds start getting watered, then we all sprout.
00:36:36
And, you know, like, we all know that, like, slogan. And it's so true, though. Like, you see it. You see it happen over time. Eventually, it clicks, and they want to make that change, and you're like, okay, let's do this.
00:36:45
Like, if you don't change the way you acted from the first time to the last time, they're going to have that trust with you automatically. And they're going to want to make those moves, too, because they're like, like, oh, Raelyn. Raelyn knows me from the very beginning, but she's never changed the way she's thought about me, despite all of these things that have happened in between. So, like, just showing you care and you really do want to be there, but also understanding people have to make that choice in that change. Well, and sometimes timing is everything.
00:37:11
Right. I mean there are sometimes when there are just too many things happening at once and your ability to be able to see through that. You can only take in so much sometimes times. Right. So not to give excuses.
00:37:22
Right. Or, or for people to think like, oh, right. Like, you know, that's, that's just, that's just an excuse. Sometimes I'll have this conversation with people around something similar and they're like, oh, well, right. But if people really want to change, sure.
00:37:31
But there's also. Right. Like sometimes, you know, and depending on what somebody's ability level is, depending on what emotional capacity they have, mental health issues. Right. Etc.
00:37:44
The overwhelming anxiety of just making a choice when so many things are, you know, the swirly twirly world of whatever is happening. It's just some, it's just too much sometimes. And I, I say that as somebody who, you know, is very well resourced at this point in their life, but at other times haven't been. Absolutely. Yeah.
00:38:02
I mean, I, and I, you know, I'll also just say that is relevant to the client stories. Early on in my career, one of my very first professional jobs was working in the intellectual disability space. And the stories of many of the clients that I worked with were really hard. And I, I was only there for maybe a year and a half, two years, and eventually I had to move on because it was just, it was just too much. I couldn't, I couldn't handle the client stories.
00:38:27
I wanted to help people, but it was just too much. I couldn't; My heart broke too often. I just couldn't, I couldn't do it anymore. So again, I know that the clients are doing the work, but you know, there's a certain power in what you're doing, and I just appreciate you very much. Thanks.
00:38:45
Being that calm, steady consistency. Right, Consistency. I heard that, that brought up a few times where, you know, they didn't have the consistent support or the person that they can call, you know. So thanks for. Yeah.
00:39:01
I want to ask one other question actually that I think is. Well, I have two questions. One question I've never asked. Well, both questions I don't think I've asked anybody yet. So thank you for being my guinea pig.
00:39:10
Okay, number one, number one easy question here. And I mean this. There's nothing to do with age, to be clear, unless our listeners think that I'm being ageist right now. What did you want to be when you grew up? I still don't know.
00:39:23
I'm 43 and I still don't know. But I'm just curious. I. I honestly don't know. I don't know.
00:39:28
I always kind of let life guide me, and that's kind of. And that's why I say, like, I don't have a background, but I'm here because of all the things that led me here, and I've always just kind of found my path that way. So I have no idea what my end game is. No, I just enjoy the ride and I love every second of it. So, yeah, I mean, Heather and I might take over the world.
00:39:48
I think that's what. There you go. You should. I mean, I'm along too, because she gonna get it done with us.
00:39:56
And then my other question for you is, you kind of were talking about this a little bit when you were describing, you know, your team, etc. And I'm sorry, if you can hear my dog barking, it's the of the day and he wants to go outside. So I'm sorry. But when you talk about right. Empathy and right clients that you're seeing regularly, one of the things that we talk a lot about when we're doing management and coaching or when we think about kind of the training that is asked of CAAP as a training and technical assistance entity, it's around that idea of empathy.
00:40:27
How do you keep your team motivated and still thoughtful about the client experience? Because I know that that's. That's hard, right. When you're. You're dealing with the same situation day in and day out.
00:40:39
Yeah, it is hard. And I'll say every day we're kind of learning different techniques or different ways to conversation. And I think that's part where my leadership team comes in. So, you know, because I naturally am,
00:40:51
I try to be positive, and I try to stay on that positive side too. Sometimes that can be seen, you know, as a hardship for somebody that's been in the field for many, many years. So they're looking at me like. Like, Raelyn, you're still like, green. And I'm like, but I'm not.
00:41:04
But, like, I see what you're saying. So, like, you know, having that mutual respect to come together and be like, okay, what's the reality of the situation? But one thing that I will say that I implemented pretty quickly when I started here was we had to do success stories. And everybody was like, you know, fretting what a success story means. And I'm like, listen, I don't need this huge.
00:41:24
Like, this is the amazing things this person has overcome and challenges every single month and all of these things. All I need is one snippet about a change that one of your clients made that month that is a positive change in their life. It can be minimal. It could be they received the government phone because they had no cell phone before, and now they have communication to the world.
00:41:44
That's it. It could be something as simple as that. And that's amazing because that's a huge hurdle that now they no longer facing. They're no longer facing those communications. So what I always say is, like, look at the small stuff.
00:41:54
When we lose touch with those small things and are only looking for those big stories is when we lead further to, closer to burnout. Because we're so wrapped up in that idea of, oh, it's not happening. These things aren't working out. What I'm doing is not happening. And.
00:42:07
But the reality is, it is every little step that those people take is one step closer to their self sufficiency. And it's their definition of self sufficiency. It's not mine. It's not yours, it's theirs. So, like, any goal that we can overcome, any hurdle that we can help anybody achieve, we need to hang on to, because those are the things that are going to help us get through those hard days.
00:42:27
Those are going to be the things that it's going to be hard when we see the same person come back. But, okay, what did we do for them last time that was successful for them? Or what could we do this time that we can see as a success? Because if we recognize those little patterns, then we can have a greater understanding and a greater appreciation for that person. Because we're all making steps and hurdles every single day.
00:42:49
And if we don't recognize them, you know, it's like that whole, like, write down one. A great thing that has happened to you today. You know, staying mindful in some of our approaches and staying mindful in how we treat our clients is. Is the same. It's the same philosophy.
00:43:01
Yeah. We do something at the dinner table every night. Say your favorite thing about your day. Yeah. And some days that's hard.
00:43:07
Yeah, it is. I think what we're trying to instill in our children is that idea of, like, the power of positive thinking and really trying to be thankful; a sense of gratitude.
00:43:17
There was a speaker once that I was at a conference with, and it was like the 10 top things, the Science of happiness. And this person had literally studied happiness at Harvard. I think it was Harvard. Maybe it was Yale. I'm sorry, for Harvard or Yale, whichever one I've offended here.
00:43:29
But anyway, there was this whole study of the study of happiness. And one of the things that the presenter talked about is that people who have a spirit of gratitude are far happier. And it's something I definitely feel very passionate about, in making sure to say thank you to people. But I think to the point about empathy, I also just want to, to say, say is that I think, want to remind people that I know that the work is hard and it's tiresome, but when we start to lose our empathy, it's a form of bias. And it's a form of putting people in boxes.
00:43:59
And we have to be, remember, every situation is different and we need to, you know, do a mental health check, think about our burnout levels. Right? All of those things in order to find our way through. Because it's what I used to say as a camp counselor pretty often, right. If I have a group of 30 kids and every single kid within, you know, 20 minutes asks me, what are we doing next?
00:44:20
What are we doing next? What are we doing next? What are we doing next? I can't be upset at kid number 30. They don't know that 29 other kids, or maybe they do, but it's not their fault that the 29 kids ahead of them ask that question.
00:44:32
And so I have to treat kid number one and kid number 30 the same way, no matter what. And I think that's really true with respect to clients too. Right. I mean, it's a really simple rule, but if we forget it, we're not doing our clients, us, the best service that we can. Absolutely.
00:44:46
Yeah, absolutely. It's, it's, it's extremely important to feel yourself with that burnout and that biases, too. And I, and I love that, you know, with the trainings and stuff that CAAP has offered before, like recognizing your biases and like paying attention to those kind of things because it is truly important. And once we start noticing that kind of action, then you can make change. But when you're so stuck in the, the burnout phase or the, you know, feeling overwhelmed and not recognizing that it's truly your overwhelmness and taking a step back and I mean, like a step back can be like looking at your phone for five minutes and taking a breather.
00:45:20
Right? Like, that's okay. Like watch a funny puppy video. Yeah, exactly. Right?
00:45:26
Go outside. Right? Yeah, yeah, whatever. Whatever we need to do. Like, you.
00:45:33
Whatever you need to do to regroup and refocus and know that you're going to be okay, even if it is taking a full day off. Take a mental health day, please. Please take a mental health day if that's what it's going to take. Because that's the only way that we can effectively help our customers and ensure that, you know, we're keeping ourselves grounded, too. Because the more you come in with feelings and things and all the things, Things, you know, happening at home even too, like, you're gonna have a harder time working here, and it's going to be harder to separate yourself from those things.
00:46:02
So, like, you know, they do say, like, leave the stuff at home. And I understand that that's not. That's only easy said, not done. But, you know, like, taking the time to just regroup, like, refocus and kind of like, shut that off, however, you need to take the day, whatever, like, it's super important because when you can disconnect and then come back, like, you're going to be 100 better for that person, and you're going to be working as your best self, so. Well, I know that we're coming up against time, and I.
00:46:31
I know we have said we want to make sure to keep these episodes short. So I don't. I want to make sure. No, no!
00:46:36
I'm loving this conversation. Don't apologize. It's great. I think everything we're talking about is super important. But I just.
00:46:43
I think, right. Like, that CAAPacity piece is sort of like recognition of the sick, time, et cetera. But. But part of what I think also tends to happen with burnout within this community of community action agencies is that we're all human. We all have lots of layers of what's happening in our personal lives.
00:47:01
To your point, I have a son with special needs, and so that means there are some days that coming to work in the morning, I need a minute if the morning's been hard. And my team knows that if I have a particularly hard session with therapy or whatever, I'm going to need a minute before I can. I'm ready to be able to take action on something. And some days I'm not going to be able to do it at all. And so I try to be really upfront and honest about what's happening there.
00:47:27
But what tends to happen is, right, like work, we care so much. You all care so much. And so it becomes this form of compartmentalization, so we don't deal with the thing that's happening. And then we come to work and we dig ourselves into work. And I've seen, like, lots of burnout, particularly in executive leadership, happening that we've dug so much in.
00:47:46
We haven't dealt with this thing. And I speak, I will say that this has been, this was a problem for me at one point in my life. I was definitely a workaholic. I wasn't dealing with those things. And then I was coming home and I was already right.
00:47:59
This much ramped up and that, that no amount of space in between, like, it's going to lead to bigger problems later. So make sure you give yourself the time and space. Recognize when you need the time to, in order to, to be able to do that. It's just, it's so important.
00:48:16
Trauma allows us to put things in boxes and deal with them later. You still have to take it out and deal with it. Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely.
All right, Heather, I think we probably have maybe one more question that's an easy one to end us out here with.
00:48:32
Raelyn. Yeah, sure. So, speaking about celebration, you know, whether it's getting a phone or staying hydrated or taking five minutes to get fresh air, what can we celebrate about? STEP and maybe some future programming. So STEP is on to some amazing things in many different of our programs.
00:48:49
And I know, like, soon we're going to be partnering with CAAP and, and doing a, our disaster case management that's coming down the line to help with Hurricane Debbie victims that were here in Lycoming County. So we're excited to see how that comes about, but that's specifically through my team, so we'll be pushing that through. And you know, with my new leadership and team, like, we're going to be rolling and I can't wait to see what comes about this year. So we're on to some great things, CAAP. I'm excited about that partnership as well.
00:49:16
We're excited to get that kicked off and moving along. So, I want to make sure to let our listeners know. If you're interested in partnering with STEP, learning more about them, you can go to the thecaap.org check out our website, go to the members, then the About Us section, find STEP in the drop down so that you can connect with them if you want to, you know, volunteer if you're able. Resources, time, dollars.
00:49:37
Certainly always appreciate it and connect with Raelyn and her team there. So would encourage you to please do that. And if you're not in Lycoming or Clinton counties, make sure you check out your local agency to learn more about what the amazing work that they're doing. So Raelyn, thank you for taking time. I know we spent a little bit more time than what we meant to, but I think it was a really great conversation and I know Heather, you know that I love a good workplace culture conversation.
00:49:58
So this is juicy. Thank you Raelyn. This is awesome. Thank you. I appreciate you both so much.
00:50:03
Thanks for your time. Absolutely. Thanks everybody for listening and stay tuned for the next episode of the Thinking CAAP.
00:50:13
Thank you for being a part of this episode of the Thinking CAAP. Check the show notes for resources and links to other episodes and don't forget to subscribe and follow to be notified when new episodes are released. If you have any community action questions you'd like Beck, Heather, or one of our local experts to answer in a future episode, please email your questions about community action to info@theCAAP.org