Spotlights

Meet Melissa Webster, Director of Programs at One Hope United!

What is your job title & how long have you been an employee at OHU?

I am a Director of Programs. My programs are Centralia Residential, Centralia Group Home and, as of January 13, 2018, I direct the Lake Villa Residential Campuses.

I started working at OHU on February 22, 1999. Next month I will celebrate 19 years with this organization. Ironically, I married my husband on February 5, 1999. It was a great month!

What sparked your interest in this career field?

This is a long answer!

As a 7^th grader, my science teacher brought in a Time Life Book, “The Mind.” I was fascinated by it, mostly by a photo of drawings of a cat by an artist as he lapsed in to a more and more dramatic schizophrenia diagnosis. I was  fascinated by the way the mind works. Also, ironically, as an only child, I had always dreamed of living in an orphanage. I wanted my parents to be there too, I guess they would have been house parents or something. I just felt I wanted to be surrounded by other kids. A neat story is about 10 years ago we received a copy of that same Time Life Book as a donation. I was sharing with one of my tougher kids at the time the story of when I first read it. He wrapped it up and brought it to my office: he said, “You should have this. It inspired you.” I still have that book in my office as a reminder. And I get to work at not one but two children’s homes: life came full circle. I am blessed.

In college, I studied public relations and  journalism. My parents discouraged me from studying psychology, I don’t think they understood it. My first work was in marketing with a travel company. It was  a great job for a young person – I traveled all over North America personally and professionally – but I genuinely felt something was  missing. I did some deep self-discovery and determined although I had never been to therapy, I wanted to be a counselor. I wanted to make the world a better place. I earned a master’s degree in mental health counseling. I worked with people living with HIV/AIDS initially, then community mental health, crisis work and SASS before taking a job at the Edgar County Children’s Home as a therapist. We merged with Hudelson/Central Baptist and I found my way to lead the Centralia Campus in late 2004. I loved working with kids and families, watching them grow. Now I still get to enjoy that, but love working with my campuses and teams,  helping them to develop and grow. I will always be grateful to Ann Pearcy and Becky Newcomer: they saw the potential in a therapist who had interned once, to lead more than 80 team members. I am also grateful that Margaret Vimont and Becky have trusted me with the Lake Villa campus: I call it the crown jewel of One Hope United.

Why are your programs so important?

Residential and Group Home Care are important because so many youth need more care and supervision than a single home can provide. We work hard to help youth heal from past trauma, learn new and better skills in this world and send them back into the world. We serve youth who are so hurt and broken: it is critical that we reach them, offer them hope and help them see their place as a productive citizen in our culture.

Can you share a success story or something you are most proud of doing in your role?

Where do I begin? I have nineteen years of stories! I love seeing our kids thrive, whether it be immediately after they leave or years later. I love talking to my kids who were taken away from abusive parents or caretakers now successfully raising their own children. I love having a youth reach out to me via Facebook or a telephone call to tell me about a new job, a pregnancy or finishing school. Many kids over the years stand out: I am so proud of them all.

Now, I take great pride in the success  of my team. With my recent addition  of responsibilities to direct the Lake Villa Campus, several of my team in Centralia have now been promoted and taken on additional responsibilities. I have many people in Centralia that started very close to their 21^st birthday, many with no college degree, who are now Mental Health Professionals in Illinois due to their experience with us. Some have started and finished both bachelor and master’s degrees! I have supervised several therapists so they could earn their licensure in Illinois.

My greatest success is when youth, families and team members say they have hope as a result of their work with us. (If you would like to chat, I have a lot of stories 😊)

What are you most excited about as far as the future of your role?

Many, many things excite me about my role. My world changed dramatically as of January 13 of this year. I am excited to see my team mature, grow and develop in Centralia. I now am responsible for our Lake Villa campus, and initially, will spend much of my time in Northern Illinois. My Centralia team is amazing, learning to lead without me right there. In Lake Villa, I am excited to get to know the team better, to learn this program and to work with both team to propel both campuses to greater trauma informed work and treatment of youth. In Lake Villa, it is our goal to open a group home to serve a new population of boys, and I am thrilled to help shepherd a new program from vision to reality. I love a challenge, and 2018 looks to be full of them!

On a final note, I want to share my husband and I are donors to OHU. We give generously because we believe in the mission and the value of the work of our organization.

Meet Kevin Greer, a new employee who’s very excited about his future at OHU!

OHU: What is your job title & how long have you been an employee at OHU?

KG: Director of Training & Development. I’ve worked at OHU since 9/19/16

 

OHU: What sparked your interest in this career field?

KG: As a trainer, the biggest reward is being able to help people succeed. That’s really what I want to do with my life; serve people. And as a Director of Training at OHU, I realize that my contributions can not only help the employees succeed, but it will hopefully trickle down and help children and families succeed.  I can’t think of a better field to be in than that.

 

OHU: What have you enjoyed most so far in your role?

KG: I’ve enjoyed getting to know all the people and seeing the work that is being done. It’s difficult to understand exactly what a non-profit like OHU does until you’ve experienced it. I still have a lot to learn, but I’m quickly understanding how big of an impact this organization is having on the community. Also, Chicago-style deep dish pizza is enough to warrant anyone moving here. 

 

OHU: What are you most excited about as far as the future of your role?

KG: I’m excited to meet and talk with more employees, continue to communicate ideas and projects, and also just be able to have fun along the way. The job will return as much enjoyment as you put into making it an enjoyable place to work. I’ve really come to enjoy everything and everyone in this short time period,  and I am looking forward to being able to see and work with so many great people.

 

Check out our last Staff Spotlight featuring Tim Snowden, Executive Director of Community Based Family Services, HERE.

Watch on as Tim Snowden, Executive Director of Community Based Family Services, shares his personal goals for his team and learn how he first became interested in social work!

My name is Troels Soendergaard and I’ve been a part of One Hope United’s marketing team as the Digital Strategist for nearly 2 years. Recently, there was a big change made to our staff child care policy, significantly dropping the price of childcare at some of our centers for all OHU employees. This change is personally saving me over $1,200 a month! Knowing that it hasn’t been widely announced, I felt the need to share the positive impact that this change has made on my family because it could possibly do the same for other employees and for people considering becoming an employee at OHU!

After becoming a father 8 months ago, it quickly became clear that raising a child would be expensive. I grew up in Denmark and have never received nor seen a hospital bill. So when my son was born 6 weeks prematurely and had to stay in the intensive care unit for almost 10 days, it was quite the cultural shock for a Dane.

In a case of perfect timing, my wife and I began looking for child care providers in our neighborhood around the same time that we heard about OHU’s awesome new policy. We were pleasantly surprised at how affordable child care was for OHU staff and knew that it would greatly benefit our financial situation. My wife is a full time night student, studying to become a school counselor. She recently began interning three days a week, which is the reason behind our child care needs. It turned out that there was an open spot for our son at the Wilmette Child Development Center, only a 20 minute drive away from my wife’s internship. The center is more than we could have ever asked for, with teachers that are kind, thoughtful and very aware of our son’s developmental needs.

When searching for a new job position, it can be very easy to forget the value of great benefits. Human services agencies don’t always offer the highest salaries, but OHU will certainly make up for it in benefits. As an OHU employee, I can annually save around $15,000 after taxes on child care alone, which I’d say is quite a lot. I also can’t forget to mention the provided vacation and paid time off, which is a lot more than what is offered in the private sector.

Raising a child is hard work and can even be financially strenuous. Luckily, One Hope United has made the transition into parenthood a little less stressful and we are very grateful. Thank you OHU!

Interested in joining the OHU team? Check out our open positions at onehopeunited.wpengine.com/careers.

The 4th Annual “Give a Little Extra Love” event occurred on March 4, 2016 at Young Scholars Child Care Center in Ingleside, Illinois. Chrys Zastrow is the driving force behind this event, aimed at providing comfort kits to foster children. A comfort kit is comprised of a new duffel bag containing a fleece blanket, stuffed animal, water bottle, book or craft and a toiletry kit containing shampoo/conditioner, body wash, toothbrush and toothpaste.

Chrys knows all too well that foster children often arrive at their new homes with nothing to call their own. When Chrys and her husband, Matthew, welcomed their three daughters as foster children a few years ago, they arrived with only the clothes on their backs.

The children and staff at Young Scholars Child Care Center hold fundraisers all year long to purchase the supplies for the comfort kits. They also solicited donations and discounts from local stores. This year’s donors included JoAnn Fabrics, Garvey Office Supply, CASA and Dr. Katie Hauf. Girl Scout Cadet Troop 96 ran this year’s event and cut all the material for the blankets. This scout troop also conducted fundraisers to purchase supplies.

The 4th Annual fundraiser will donate 150 comfort kits split equally between three agencies, One Hope United, Arden Shores and Department of Children and Family Services. Foster children from each of these agencies are enrolled at Young Scholars Child Care Center.
Hats off to Chrys and her continued passion to bring a smile and some comfort to children in foster care at a difficult time in their lives!