The Battery Life of a Social Worker: Balancing Empathy and Self-Care With Rebecca
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Description
How does a social worker maintain peace and hope amidst relentless challenges? This conversation on Journey With Care features Rebecca, a social worker and case manager deeply committed to supporting children, youth, and caregivers. Discussing the emotional toll of her work, Rebecca candidly reveals feelings of frustration and sadness with systemic failures and tough outcomes.
We highlight the significant role of churches in supporting social workers through compassion and practical acts of kindness, with a particular focus on the positive impact of initiatives like CarePortal and CareImpact.
Time Stamps
[04:25] Similar situations, unique individuals, engaging with empathy.
[08:02] Supporting professionals in challenging, high-pressure roles.
[11:12] Left previous job, sought other options, avoided stress.
[16:04] Taking a break for fresh air and reflection.
[16:50] Coping with emotions and maintaining professionalism.
[20:25] Hold on to metaphorical pebbles for hope.
[24:11] Maintain faith, stay connected with Jesus and others.
[27:53] Pray for people outside the church community.
[30:35] Empowering churches to care and make a difference.
[33:32] Church supports social workers, impacts lives positively.
Guest Links
Previous episode with Rebecca: https://www.careimpact.ca/post/s02e36
Other Links
Reach out to us! https://journeywithcare.ca/podcast
Email: podcast@careimpact.ca
Listen To Journey With Prayer - A prayer journey corresponding to this episode: https://journeywithprayer.captivate.fm/listen
or get both podcasts on the same RSS feed! https://feeds.captivate.fm/n/careimpact-podcast
CareImpact: careimpact.ca
About the CarePortal: careimpact.ca/careportal
DONATE! Help connect and equip more churches across Canada to effectively journey well in community with children and families: careimpact.ca/donate
Editing and production by Johan Heinrichs: arkpodcasts.ca
Mentioned in this episode:
See the gift-giving catalogue!
https://careimpactchristmas.com
Transcript
As a social worker, as a caregiver, I feel frustrated
Speaker:with systems and with
Speaker:outcomes and I feel frustrated
Speaker:with people who are demanding things that are
Speaker:not possible. I'm I'm on a personal journey to
Speaker:get more in touch with my feelings and to be okay with
Speaker:those hard emotions because
Speaker:I think as a social worker, it's not always appropriate
Speaker:to let those emotions out. What does loving your
Speaker:neighbor actually look like? This is
Speaker:Journey with Care, where curious Canadians get inspired to
Speaker:love others well through real life stories and honest
Speaker:conversations.
Speaker:Imagine dedicating your life to helping others, only to face
Speaker:relentless emotional challenges and a system that often leaves you
Speaker:feeling powerless. Have you ever wondered what keeps social
Speaker:workers going despite the odds? Johan
Speaker:here. Today, we're kicking off a new series, battery of a caregiver.
Speaker:We're exploring the lives of those who dedicate themselves to caregiving roles.
Speaker:We'll uncover what it takes, their self care strategies, and
Speaker:how our communities can provide much needed support around them.
Speaker:Joining us today is Rebecca, a passionate social worker and
Speaker:case manager, and we'll discuss self care and the toll it
Speaker:takes to work in the field of social work and the emotional toll of
Speaker:absorbing others' trauma. We'll also discuss how churches can play a
Speaker:pivotal role. By the end, you'll see how simple acts of gratitude
Speaker:can significantly uplift those dedicated to caring for others.
Speaker:But before we get into the episode, I wanna remind you to check out Journey
Speaker:with Prayer, a corresponding 5 minute devotional episode to start off
Speaker:your week. You can go grab the link in the show notes or simply just
Speaker:pause this episode, go on your podcast player, and look up Journey of
Speaker:Prayer and follow, or you can check out the website as well. You
Speaker:can get the episodes earlier on our website, careimpact.ca/podcast.
Speaker:Also, this podcast is made possible through generous donors like
Speaker:you. It does take financial resources to keep producing these stories and
Speaker:episodes weekly. So if you'd like to become a fellow sojourner or
Speaker:maybe you're part of a business and wanna sponsor an episode, maybe you wanna
Speaker:promote your work in the community or an upcoming event, You can also head over
Speaker:to careimpact.ca/podcast to get more
Speaker:involved. Okay. I'm really excited about this interview with
Speaker:Wendy and Rebecca. Rebecca has joined us on a past interview, and the
Speaker:feedback was nothing but positive. She's a great communicator,
Speaker:has a huge heart, and is a longtime friend of mine and a friend of
Speaker:CareImpact. You don't wanna miss this one. Now on with
Speaker:the interview. Today, I'm thrilled to have with me a guest
Speaker:in our studio, Rebecca, to talk to me all about being a
Speaker:social worker and what it looks like to take care of self
Speaker:and to be cared for in community. And you will
Speaker:hear a bit of community in the the background, and we're in our neighborhood in
Speaker:my Shasta. And right around us, there are children and families
Speaker:enjoying the nice summer weather. But, Rebecca, I wanna just welcome
Speaker:you here to the podcast. Thank you, Wendy. It's great to be here.
Speaker:Good to have you here too. We're looking at caregiving,
Speaker:and you are a caregiver of all caregivers. When we think
Speaker:of caregiving from a day in and day out professional perspective,
Speaker:I can't think of anyone more in the field than a
Speaker:social worker. Can you tell me a little bit about your
Speaker:role as a social worker? Yeah. I would
Speaker:consider myself a case manager. So I have
Speaker:a caseload of a number of
Speaker:different families that I'm working with,
Speaker:primarily children, youth, and their caregivers. And
Speaker:so on a day to day basis, I'm interacting
Speaker:with different ones, whether that's over the phone, over email,
Speaker:in person, attending meetings, answering questions,
Speaker:just kind of assisting them in system
Speaker:navigation. So is every day the same in the
Speaker:tasks that you do, or does it look differently? Like, walk me through maybe a
Speaker:typical day or week in the life of being a
Speaker:case manager? I think it is a lot
Speaker:of the same, but it's the people in the situations that are
Speaker:unique. There's lots of similar facts and
Speaker:similar scenarios, but every person that
Speaker:I'm interacting with has their own story, and they are
Speaker:coming with their own history. They're all coming to me
Speaker:as individuals, and so my role is to
Speaker:engage with them to kinda find out what do they need,
Speaker:how can I help meet those needs, how can I help connect them to
Speaker:other people if I'm not the right person to meet their needs,
Speaker:and really just to walk alongside people through
Speaker:what can be a really challenging season, some
Speaker:really complicated issues, and just to be there with
Speaker:them? Yeah. So when you're working with a youth or child or a
Speaker:family, they're at a point of crisis or
Speaker:a time of critical need. Right? It's not just for some
Speaker:simple steps forward in life and dreaming
Speaker:again. You're doing some crisis intervention. Is that correct?
Speaker:In my particular role, people would be coming to me after they've had
Speaker:a crisis. And so I would be providing them
Speaker:with support information after to
Speaker:continue to kind of go through some
Speaker:subsequent processes to the traumatic incident that they've
Speaker:experienced. So, Rebecca, can you take us
Speaker:back to the moment when you first felt drawn into social work?
Speaker:What brought you into this field in the first place,
Speaker:and what helped spark that passion for you?
Speaker:I actually growing up, I thought I was gonna be a missionary. I
Speaker:pictured myself overseas, and
Speaker:that didn't lay out exactly how I had
Speaker:anticipated. I moved from a small
Speaker:town to Winnipeg coming up on 2 decades
Speaker:ago, and I found myself working at a coffee shop. And I thought,
Speaker:I don't wanna work at a coffee shop for the rest of my life. I
Speaker:I feel like God has called me to have compassion
Speaker:and to be a helper. And so I
Speaker:kind of went through my mental list of careers that involved
Speaker:helping, and I came up with nursing and social work. And I
Speaker:didn't know how I'd fare with bodily fluids.
Speaker:So, like I'm with you on that. Yeah. I was like, oh, I don't think
Speaker:that's gonna go very well. So I decided to pursue social
Speaker:work. So you took the easy route and took social work. Right? Exactly.
Speaker:You don't have bodily fluids, but, boy, do you deal with a lot of
Speaker:messes, don't you? But you were drawn into that. So
Speaker:along the way, as you were in your social work degree, as you were studying
Speaker:and preparing for this, taking your practicum, do you feel that it
Speaker:adequately prepared you for what you now experience
Speaker:as social work? What's your perspective now in hindsight?
Speaker:No. No. It didn't prepare me.
Speaker:I I don't think that there's any
Speaker:profession that you enter prepared for what you're actually going to do coming
Speaker:out of school. They might provide you with theories. They might provide you with
Speaker:guidance or some examples. Even in practicum, there's some
Speaker:degree of this is more real. But
Speaker:until I was working as a social
Speaker:worker fully fledged on my own with my own responsibilities
Speaker:not being, you know, micromanaged or overseen
Speaker:directly day by day, I don't think I was really prepared for
Speaker:what I was stepping into. Yeah. And and for many people who
Speaker:aren't in the role, I'm certainly not, but I've been journeying with
Speaker:those who are in the profession. I've noticed that
Speaker:they hold a lot of weight. In some ways, there's a lot of need
Speaker:to collaborate with many people, but when this person or
Speaker:this family is in your caseload, there's a lot of pressure.
Speaker:You're it to make big decisions with them and
Speaker:to help navigate that. That's a big responsibility. How have
Speaker:you managed some of that as you get more and more cases,
Speaker:new cases coming on? How do you handle that when there's
Speaker:nobody else sharing that load with you? Well, fortunately,
Speaker:I'm not left holding the ball by myself. I'm
Speaker:fortunate to work within a team that includes a supervisor,
Speaker:that includes coworkers, and I remember reading
Speaker:an article way back when I was in school about why people stay
Speaker:this was specific to child welfare. Why do people stay working in child welfare
Speaker:when it was, you know, it's widely known that that is a very
Speaker:challenging place to work in. Mhmm. And it was
Speaker:a study that was quantitative. They were having interviews with people.
Speaker:And by and large, people stayed because of their coworkers. Because
Speaker:Yeah. They felt like they were part of a team, and they had people who
Speaker:had their back. And they felt supported even when they
Speaker:were doing some really difficult work and
Speaker:really underfunded, under resourced,
Speaker:challenging situations. They stayed because of their people. And
Speaker:I can certainly say that I don't feel like I am
Speaker:on my own doing what I do day to day.
Speaker:I'm also not on my own just within my team. I feel like there
Speaker:are. He made that point that as a service provider,
Speaker:I feel like we are always collaborating. We're
Speaker:always connecting. We're always looking for who else
Speaker:could support this family, who else has something to
Speaker:offer, something to to give to them so that they don't
Speaker:feel like they're alone in this? But I have talked with
Speaker:people who don't feel like they're part of a team,
Speaker:and it's really challenging to feel like
Speaker:you're it. Yeah. Because the reality is there is a lot of
Speaker:turnover and a lot of teams Absolutely. A lot of turnover. And maybe
Speaker:they're for good teams. It's not to say that the the team
Speaker:environment was bad, but it's stressful. There's
Speaker:practicalities to being a good team when you're all busy and running in
Speaker:different directions. Correct? Mhmm. And and taking on a lot of the
Speaker:the stress. I understand that compassion fatigue
Speaker:is a huge item for caregivers, particularly in
Speaker:the social work field in the profession. I was looking at the the
Speaker:Canadian Association For Social Workers, and they were
Speaker:identifying that there was a a huge turnover due to
Speaker:burnout and compassion fatigue. Have you experienced
Speaker:any of that in in some of the the good work you're doing,
Speaker:but you just didn't have enough to give, you felt, in that that
Speaker:moment even with a good team? Can you identify with any of
Speaker:that? I think that I left
Speaker:before I got to that point. You left where? I left the
Speaker:the space where I was working a previous position where I could
Speaker:see the possibility of that
Speaker:cropping up within me, and I made a decision
Speaker:to see if there were other options available to me and there
Speaker:were. And so, I was able to make a change,
Speaker:and I would say, by and large, avoid that. But
Speaker:then I can remember times when I would go to social gatherings, and
Speaker:I remember one person in particular saying, you look like you have the weight of
Speaker:the world on your shoulders. Mhmm. But, oh,
Speaker:that's that's not how I wanna live. Yeah. And it
Speaker:clearly it wasn't like, I feel like, oh, I'm, you know,
Speaker:kinda keeping it holding it together, not
Speaker:stressed, but, obviously, that wasn't the truth. Your body was
Speaker:showing that you were under a tremendous amount of of stress
Speaker:Yeah. Which is understandable when you're dealing with many
Speaker:different cases. And and how do you separate yourself from
Speaker:some of the crises that you're walking? You're journeying with them. You care deeply
Speaker:for their outcomes. But how do you not take that with you?
Speaker:It's really hard. It's really hard.
Speaker:I went to a vicarious trauma
Speaker:workshop. I actually went to it twice because I thought this is so
Speaker:important, and it was such a good training.
Speaker:And recognizing that even though I wasn't the one who
Speaker:is experiencing all these traumatic events personally,
Speaker:as a caregiver, I was absorbing them. Mhmm. I was
Speaker:absorb absorbing the trauma of the traumatized
Speaker:people that I was walking alongside, and that was impacting me more than
Speaker:I thought. And that workshop had a lot of great ideas about
Speaker:how to process your emotions and making sure that you had good
Speaker:supports in place. You were practicing self care. You were creating trauma
Speaker:free zones within your workplace. But
Speaker:at the end of the day, it was up to me to implement
Speaker:those things that I had learned. And some days, I did a good
Speaker:job of it, and other days I looked like I had the weight of the
Speaker:world resting on my shoulders. And what are
Speaker:some ways that you've helped mitigate that? When you see
Speaker:that on your dashboard that, hey, I care deeply, but
Speaker:this is getting to me or I'm carrying
Speaker:it home with me, what are some practices that you've
Speaker:been able to and I realize everybody has their own practices, but you found
Speaker:some some tips and some some strategies that have been
Speaker:working for you. Because how many years have you been in this now?
Speaker:11. 11. Yeah. So it's not your first rodeo.
Speaker:No. It take 11 years of day to day dealing
Speaker:with crisis and families in high needs.
Speaker:What are some of those strategies that have worked? Maybe some that haven't.
Speaker:I think some of the things that have worked have
Speaker:been avoiding certain situations.
Speaker:I I talked to a counselor and she's like, maybe you do need to expose
Speaker:yourself to some some of this. Like, I don't like watching sad movies.
Speaker:Mhmm. I don't like anything that remotely
Speaker:reminds me of work. I have really firm fences
Speaker:in my personal time to not engage with
Speaker:news, media. I know I have a lot of coworkers who do not
Speaker:follow those same boundaries. But for myself, I'm like, if I don't
Speaker:need to experience more trauma, I don't want
Speaker:to. And for me, those things are small t traumas. If I'm
Speaker:watching a movie that talks about things that I can
Speaker:I I can correlate with my work? I walk a
Speaker:lot. Mhmm. I walk when I'm on the phone.
Speaker:I have earbuds. While you're working on the phone? Or
Speaker:okay. Yeah. At it's funny. I I don't think it
Speaker:was really a conscious thing. Mhmm. But I have noticed
Speaker:that once I have start having a phone conversation that I
Speaker:feel is going to be potentially challenging, or even if it
Speaker:isn't, I find myself pacing back and forth in my
Speaker:office because I remember from this training that I took so many
Speaker:years ago that our bodies dispel trauma through movement.
Speaker:That that's really calming and centering. And
Speaker:so I find myself walking back and forth. You know, if I stay here for
Speaker:a really long time, there's gonna be a little worn out path in the carpet
Speaker:between the door and the window where I've Yeah. Walked my phone
Speaker:calls out. Oh, that's great. Now I was
Speaker:having a conversation with you the other day, and somebody said, hey. Do I see
Speaker:you sitting on a park bench at lunchtime,
Speaker:journaling or something like that. Is that something that you you put into
Speaker:practice in your workplace that you you get out for a
Speaker:bit? Yes. Yeah. I try to get out every lunch
Speaker:hour just to spend some time out in the fresh
Speaker:air, get some sun, get removed from my
Speaker:desk, from eating at my desk, from, sometimes
Speaker:lunchrooms can be a really great little oasis to connect with people, and
Speaker:sometimes they are a place where people want to continue to talk about
Speaker:work. And so I have chosen not to
Speaker:engage in that. And I go for a little walk, I sit
Speaker:in a beautiful park, I listen to music, I
Speaker:pray, I sit and stare into
Speaker:space and think about nothing and let my brain kind of, you
Speaker:know, go where it wants to go and process through whatever it needs
Speaker:to process through. Now I imagine in your day, you deal
Speaker:with a lot of and a variety of cases of of
Speaker:crises and emotions and mental illness and
Speaker:and tragedies upon tragedies. Yet I
Speaker:sit here across from you, and you have a very peaceful demeanor.
Speaker:You are very positive and and peace loving, and
Speaker:that's how I've known you to be. And you're very professional in not
Speaker:divulging personal information, which I appreciate you you
Speaker:hold and respect your your clients very dearly.
Speaker:But are there times, honestly this is just a you question, not a client
Speaker:question. Are there times, honestly, where you're just angry,
Speaker:where you're frustrated, you're annoyed
Speaker:when those emotions aren't on the happy happy, you
Speaker:you feel all the other emotions that sometimes we don't feel
Speaker:the permission to. Yes. You do.
Speaker:Okay. Because your smile isn't showing it to me, but I know it must
Speaker:you're human then, your what is what you're saying. Yeah. I
Speaker:think more more than frustration,
Speaker:I think I feel sad Mhmm. More often.
Speaker:And I feel frustrated with
Speaker:systems and with outcomes,
Speaker:and I feel frustrated with people who
Speaker:are demanding things that are not possible.
Speaker:Mhmm. And I'm I'm on a journey, a
Speaker:personal journey, to get more in touch with my feelings and to be
Speaker:okay with those hard emotions because
Speaker:I think as a social worker, as a caregiver in that regard,
Speaker:it's not always appropriate to let those emotions Yeah.
Speaker:Out. Sometimes there are. I can say that I have
Speaker:cried with people Mhmm. Because we're we're
Speaker:humans. Mhmm. Like, something hits you Yeah.
Speaker:Deeply Yeah. Impacts you. Yeah. It would
Speaker:feel fake to plaster
Speaker:on a smile or just to be indifferent. It's like
Speaker:this actually is really, really sad and really
Speaker:painful. And I'm feeling that with you. I think that's the
Speaker:that's the definition of empathy to to be with
Speaker:someone in their pain. But, yeah, I definitely get
Speaker:frustrated with people who don't seem to understand
Speaker:or who continue to make choices that I
Speaker:can look down the line and see You know where it's going. This is
Speaker:not good. Yeah. Been down this path before.
Speaker:So when you see those things, it's like if you were a battery and and
Speaker:it was fully charged, every time those things happen
Speaker:throughout the day, it can drain your battery, so to
Speaker:speak. Right? It can. Yeah. So what are some of the things
Speaker:that fill your battery up, that give you boosts of
Speaker:energy? Not that you're deriving your your energy
Speaker:from the outcomes of others, but what are some things in your
Speaker:day that add life and say, yes. This is why I'm doing this.
Speaker:This is this is what I'm here for. One of my first
Speaker:well, no. She wasn't one of my first. She was my first supervisor. She had
Speaker:been working in social services for, 40
Speaker:years. Mhmm. And when I was talking with her about
Speaker:a situation where things had gone really well Mhmm.
Speaker:And she said to me, imagine this
Speaker:situation is a pebble. Mhmm. You take that
Speaker:pebble, you hold it, you keep it close
Speaker:in your hand, you put it in your pocket. And on those days
Speaker:where things are not going well, you put your hand in your
Speaker:pocket and you bring out your metaphorical pebble and you remember that
Speaker:there are people who are being impacted positively,
Speaker:that you are doing good work, that people can
Speaker:change, that there is hope. Mhmm. And this supervisor, to
Speaker:my knowledge, did not know or love Jesus,
Speaker:but I thought, yeah. Yeah. I'm gonna reflect
Speaker:on these good circumstances, and I am gonna choose to
Speaker:have hope when these situations feel hopeless because
Speaker:I have a lot of pebbles in my pocket by now. I can
Speaker:remember that, god, you're still at work even when
Speaker:things don't go the way that I want them to. And and
Speaker:your value of who you are in Christ and where
Speaker:God has placed you in the lives of these people
Speaker:is not diminished or increased based on the
Speaker:outcomes of that path. Right? There's a lot of trust
Speaker:that goes into this. Tell me more. Trust that he's got
Speaker:them. Like, these people who are just hot mess express,
Speaker:things are not going well, I choose in those moments
Speaker:to trust, like, lord, I can't get through to this person,
Speaker:but I believe that you can. Mhmm. I believe that you have put
Speaker:many people along their path, that you love them, and you care for them
Speaker:more than I ever could. And
Speaker:that despite like, that's the definition of
Speaker:faith. It's the things that we can't see, that we believe He's at work,
Speaker:that He is going to redeem, that He's going to heal, He's going to
Speaker:deliver. And what do you guys just draw up a quick little
Speaker:prayer? Oh, Lord. Jesus, help. I can't see the way
Speaker:forward, but I believe that you're good and you're faithful.
Speaker:I I choose to trust in you in this moment for this person. And
Speaker:maybe in that ironic way,
Speaker:as scripture talks about when we are weak, then we're strong. When we know we
Speaker:come to the end of ourselves, that's when we can really invite God
Speaker:into those places. Maybe you just have a fast track to know
Speaker:that sooner, saying these circumstances are far greater than 1
Speaker:social worker can change or one system or a team, even the best
Speaker:team or the best system, even if they were working perfectly,
Speaker:that when we come to the end of ourselves, we
Speaker:realize the strength of God. And maybe that's what I'm seeing in you
Speaker:after a full day of crisis after crisis and meetings
Speaker:after meetings and system bureaucracy that you you deal with,
Speaker:you can still smile because maybe it's more than you,
Speaker:and maybe that's what you're representing here. That
Speaker:resonates with me. Mhmm. Because I I also,
Speaker:was researching mental health among social workers. You
Speaker:get a bad beating day in and day out. This isn't
Speaker:because you're not strong or you're not equipped or you're not
Speaker:professional about it, but they're estimating about
Speaker:45% of social workers when they're in
Speaker:the the field of social work in Canada have reported symptoms of
Speaker:mental health challenges and often related to anxiety,
Speaker:depression, PTSD, vicarious trauma. All of
Speaker:these things are things that people don't go in and and earn a
Speaker:social work degree saying, let me be Sign me up. Sign me
Speaker:up. It's a 5050. Can you speak to social
Speaker:workers or those that are interested in caring? God is still calling
Speaker:people to care. 100%. What can you tell people
Speaker:going in with those kind of statistics about
Speaker:caregiving? Keep your eyes on Jesus.
Speaker:It so feels cliched as
Speaker:it leaves my mouth, but, honestly, that is
Speaker:what keeps me going. I feel like he has called
Speaker:me to this, that he has a plan and he has a
Speaker:purpose. And I I
Speaker:my practice is to spend time with him daily to reconnect, to go
Speaker:back to the source because you're absolutely right. I don't have
Speaker:it in myself to take care of these people, to deal with
Speaker:all of the mess and the stress and
Speaker:continue to have joy and to
Speaker:feel peace. It's the holy spirit within
Speaker:me, and it's also staying connected
Speaker:not just to the Lord, absolutely, 1st and foremost, but also
Speaker:staying connected to other people and people who
Speaker:are healthy. There's I have all sorts of people in my
Speaker:life, but I really need to make a concerted effort
Speaker:to stay connected to people who help to
Speaker:support me and to care about what's
Speaker:going on in my life outside of work and inside of
Speaker:work. But So tell me more about that. What does a
Speaker:caring connection look like in community? When do you feel belonging
Speaker:or supported even after a full day and you can't
Speaker:tell anybody the situation? You're sworn of confidentiality.
Speaker:And yet you are still Rebecca the human, not
Speaker:just the Rebecca the professional. So what does it look
Speaker:like to be human in community and be cared for in that?
Speaker:So I'm a single person. I live in community with other
Speaker:women, but I don't have kids. I don't have a partner. And so
Speaker:then I have thank the
Speaker:Lord. He surrounded me with families who
Speaker:have kids, and I spend time intentionally
Speaker:with these people. I go and play
Speaker:and get hugged and give hugs and enjoy
Speaker:bedtime routine and going to the park.
Speaker:I have a really amazing group of friends that
Speaker:and just actually a couple a few in particular that I can
Speaker:be really honest with about when things are
Speaker:going well and when they're not. Mhmm. And I can ask
Speaker:for prayer. That was actually it's not something that's part of
Speaker:my life right now but for many, many, many
Speaker:years I was part of a prayer meeting
Speaker:that your wonderful producer, Johan,
Speaker:was spearheading, where the focus
Speaker:was specifically focused for people who are working or who were
Speaker:looking for a job. Eventually, it kind of morphed. It
Speaker:also was for people who are going to school, and it was
Speaker:so encouraging because here we were,
Speaker:we were not a big group. We were not a fancy group
Speaker:or a well known group, but we were faithful.
Speaker:We were faithfully getting together and praying
Speaker:for our workplaces and praying for our coworkers, praying for our
Speaker:clients, and our patients, and our students. And
Speaker:every time that there was something work related that I was feeling
Speaker:was heavy, or I was, you know, wanting prayer, I could
Speaker:bring it to this group of people, and they prayed for me. They
Speaker:prayed with me. And that was really,
Speaker:really amazing. We are on a break, just, you know, seasons are
Speaker:they come and they go. But, say, find people who
Speaker:can pray with you. Well and I think that's a great,
Speaker:invitation actually for churches. Every
Speaker:church I've gone to believes in prayer. But sometimes we
Speaker:think we need to be praying for the quote, unquote missionary, the
Speaker:pastor, the ministry leader, the program that is under the
Speaker:church roof. But what if we flip the script? What
Speaker:if we prayed for those that are going into the
Speaker:marketplace, those that are going into the hospitals, into the courtrooms,
Speaker:into these places of crisis? You are an
Speaker:agent of care and compassion that we should be
Speaker:upholding. I love that idea. Can you give me other
Speaker:examples and ideas that churches could grab hold of?
Speaker:Or maybe there's a listener right now saying, you know what? I I'm part of
Speaker:a church, but I'm just not sure if I'm cut out for I couldn't do
Speaker:what Rebecca's doing, and I'm not a foster parent, and I'm just not
Speaker:sure. And yet you're saying prayer has been instrumental for
Speaker:helping propel you forward. Are there other ways that
Speaker:people in the church can support people like you
Speaker:in the roles that you're doing? I yeah.
Speaker:I'm off the top of my head, one way is just to
Speaker:ask them. Mhmm. Like, if you know a social worker, if you know a
Speaker:foster parent, if you know somebody who's working in a crisis
Speaker:service, you can ask them, how could I help you? How can I support
Speaker:you? How can I pray for you? Have them over for dinner.
Speaker:Just get to know them, build relationship with
Speaker:them, be a faithful friend. We
Speaker:all need more friends. And I think that would actually break
Speaker:down some barriers as well because a lot of people in
Speaker:society, all they hear about a social worker is
Speaker:taking children and and being part of the system
Speaker:and and all of these things that are so untrue of
Speaker:who you are and is a disservice, if they would only get to know you
Speaker:and hear your story and your your heart of compassion, they
Speaker:too would be enriched, wouldn't they? I certainly think so.
Speaker:Yeah. Yeah. If if I had a nickel for every
Speaker:time I tell people I'm a social worker, oh, that's really
Speaker:hard work. Like, all jobs are hard.
Speaker:All jobs have rewarding parts to them and hard parts to them,
Speaker:and god calls us all to different roles. And I think that
Speaker:we all have a role to play when it comes to loving children and loving
Speaker:families. And just encourage you, ask the Lord, like, what is
Speaker:your role? How can you be part of the story that he is
Speaker:writing in the lives of children and families that are around
Speaker:you in your church community? Get connected with Carry
Speaker:Impact. Like Yeah. And that's what we're passionate about at Carry
Speaker:Impact is to come along and connect and equip these churches to care
Speaker:because we believe everyone's called to care. Mhmm. And there's ways that
Speaker:we can do so, not all trying to emulate who you are and who
Speaker:God created as you, but we believe that everybody has something within them to
Speaker:give. But sometimes we just need the tools and the connections
Speaker:to to be able to do so effectively. One of the ways
Speaker:we've seen actually a shift in thinking, I would
Speaker:say, here in Winnipeg as we've, engaged
Speaker:churches to care for those in need, and we've been
Speaker:bridging the church into connecting them with social
Speaker:workers, particularly in child welfare here in our
Speaker:city. We've seen shifts in thinking
Speaker:to, oh, gotta stay away from CFS
Speaker:because they take children away or hearing some
Speaker:some hard stories, because there's a lot of hard stories. Right?
Speaker:To, oh my goodness, having a a heart of compassion
Speaker:for those workers that are in it day in and day out. And we've seen
Speaker:churches not by our own initiative, rallying together those
Speaker:that are responsive to the care portal that we, needs that
Speaker:we make available, saying, how can we love
Speaker:our social workers? How can we care, for them? And
Speaker:asking that question to social services and the
Speaker:cards and the the cookies and the treats that are brought there,
Speaker:I've never seen such delight in social workers' eyes
Speaker:than to receive a simple thank you, a simple we see you,
Speaker:we're here for you, and we care. That is
Speaker:amazing. That 100% that does not
Speaker:happen. Mhmm. Just day to day people,
Speaker:particularly, I would agree in child welfare specifically, but
Speaker:lots of different places where it's really thankless.
Speaker:Mhmm. And so for somebody to say, I see you. I see your
Speaker:heart. I see what God has placed you
Speaker:in this space to do and acknowledging that,
Speaker:that's so beautiful. I remember one
Speaker:particular social worker as we were just giving them thank you. Just
Speaker:a very simple thing and some gift cards for Tim Hortons or something
Speaker:like that. Tearing up and say, you know what? We
Speaker:have been called a lot of things. We're used to receiving the f bombs
Speaker:and being sworn at on a daily basis, but we don't even
Speaker:know what to say when the church stands up and says thank you.
Speaker:And I'm like, wow. That's such a simple way to show
Speaker:compassion and fill the batteries up of those that are giving
Speaker:day in and day out. Are there other ways that you wanna
Speaker:encourage our listeners? Maybe they're a social worker or considering
Speaker:it. Maybe they're wanting to support people like you
Speaker:in in the caregiving profession. Anything
Speaker:advice that you would like to give some lasting words?
Speaker:I really love that. I love the idea of just saying thank you,
Speaker:just acknowledging just like your words have so much power.
Speaker:Aside from connecting with them, building
Speaker:relationship and, you know, joining in with
Speaker:CareImpact in ways that you can bless people and bless social
Speaker:workers. A number of years ago, the AGM or
Speaker:the annual general meeting, basically, the large gathering of all
Speaker:of the people that I worked with was hosted by a
Speaker:church. And there were other events where
Speaker:the church opened up their space, provided food,
Speaker:and I was just blown away thinking,
Speaker:wow, the church is doing this for a bunch of social
Speaker:workers? And my
Speaker:coworkers who don't know Jesus. I don't know exactly what was
Speaker:going through their minds, but I can't help but think
Speaker:they were thinking the same thing. Wow. The church
Speaker:is doing this to support people who they
Speaker:don't know, who they've never met, who there's a
Speaker:lot of stigma attached to being a social worker.
Speaker:And that was really powerful.
Speaker:And I'm sure it cost the church money, it cost
Speaker:time to the people who made the soup and
Speaker:prepared the space and the food for us.
Speaker:It was time and money well spent, well invested,
Speaker:not just in blessing social workers, but being
Speaker:Jesus to people who otherwise may not have
Speaker:any really positive experience of
Speaker:what it looks like for Christ followers to
Speaker:actually do what he would do and to love the way that he loves. Well,
Speaker:I love that because I was there. I know you were. I didn't even know
Speaker:you then, but I was speaking there and and helps make that connection. That's what
Speaker:CareImpact does. You were like, you know, I was talking with the CEO and saying,
Speaker:you know what? You're finding a hard time finding places. There are empty church
Speaker:buildings and people who care. I put myself out on a limb, and
Speaker:churches showed up. Thank you, churches. Mhmm.
Speaker:And they were blown away. And out of that act, it was co
Speaker:created. Social services needed to trust me
Speaker:with the church, and the church needed to trust me with social services.
Speaker:And I saw this beautiful dance happening, and people were
Speaker:confused and emotional, because
Speaker:they were being cared for so well. But out of
Speaker:that, we had around those tables, we I I asked and I
Speaker:challenged the social workers. I said, at your desk right now, you have things
Speaker:on your desk that community needs to help you with. We can't
Speaker:do your job. We don't want your job, but there are ways that the community
Speaker:can be supportive. Can you write down those things
Speaker:that right now you could you would really benefit from the
Speaker:support of a compassionate community? What would that look like? Let's dream a
Speaker:little. So they were around their tables. They were they were all abuzz, and
Speaker:everybody was talking and writing this down after, they they
Speaker:collected all the papers, and somebody put them all together and synthesized
Speaker:all the same answers together. And out of that, over 90
Speaker:different recommendations of how the community could care for them
Speaker:and for their families to make their job a whole lot better and
Speaker:to make the outcomes that much better for community. Out of that
Speaker:came the invitation to sit around their table, and out of
Speaker:that came the opportunity for wouldn't it
Speaker:be cool if we had technology and care sharing technology came into
Speaker:Canada as a result of that because the social services
Speaker:allowed the church to care for them, and the church dared to
Speaker:care for those, that were serving these children and
Speaker:families. And that's part of our story. You're you're telling part of
Speaker:our story, and it gets me excited because God has
Speaker:allowed us to utilize this care sharing technology for
Speaker:big systems that are have so much needs
Speaker:day in and day out, and here's a practical way they can enter in a
Speaker:need. I just saw one today. There's a a youth who is wanting
Speaker:education, and he is new to Canada, living on
Speaker:his own in assisted living, and needing a desk and a chair. And now
Speaker:it's going out to all the churches and say, who has a desk? Who's a
Speaker:chair? And how can we make this connection possible so that this youth knows
Speaker:he's cared for and this social worker knows she's not alone? And so
Speaker:I get pretty jazzed up about that, and I'm so grateful and
Speaker:so thankful for you as a social worker and what you bring to
Speaker:our city, to Winnipeg, to the church, and for what you
Speaker:are sharing with our audience here today. Thank you so much for coming on to
Speaker:the podcast. Thank you, Wendy. That really means a lot.
Speaker:Thank you for joining another conversation on Journey with Care, where
Speaker:we inspire curious Canadians on their path of faith and
Speaker:living life with purpose in community. Journey with Care is an initiative
Speaker:of CareImpact, a Canadian charity dedicated to
Speaker:connecting and equipping the whole church to journey well in community.
Speaker:You can visit their website at careimpact.ca or visit
Speaker:journeywithcare.ca to get information on weekly episodes,
Speaker:Journey with Prayer, and details about our upcoming events and meetups.
Speaker:You can also leave us a message, share your thoughts, and connect with like
Speaker:minded individuals who are on their own journeys of faith and purpose.
Speaker:Thank you for sharing this podcast and helping these stories reach the
Speaker:community. Together, we can explore ways to journey in a good way.
Speaker:And always remember to stay curious.
