At PAIRIN, we are honored to work with workforce programs across the country that are transforming the lives of disadvantaged populations every day by helping their clients build skills, obtain employment and change their trajectory to a life of self-sufficiency.
We sat down with one of our newest clients, Dream Centers, to learn more about the important work they are doing to help their community. We got to interview Janet Lee who is the Family Advocate of Mary’s Home at Dream Centers. Their work inspires us, and we hope it inspires you too.
Q: Janet, tell me about what Dream Centers does in the community.
A: Every day, we see families experiencing the dangerous street-life of homelessness and uninsured patients burdened by needless suffering. They experience insurmountable obstacles to the point that identity is shattered, and they feel hopeless. Dream Centers creates healing places where supportive communities meet world-class programs.
Dream Centers Women’s Clinic offers free women’s health and professional counseling, and Dream Centers Mary’s Home offers families a high-support, high-challenge program where they can rebuild their dreams. These families and patients become healthy and hopeful people who create healthy and hopeful communities. In a healing place, with a supportive community, everyone can experience hope that leads to beautiful change!
Q: Wow, it sounds like you provide a lot of amazing services. Tell me more about your organizational structure.
A: We are located in Colorado Springs, CO and have 18 total employees plus 180 active high-caliber volunteers.
Q: I know you are getting ready to really implement PAIRIN’s tools into your work in 2021. Why did you decide to use PAIRIN?
A: In our five years of building, learning and adapting the program at Mary’s Home, we have become convinced that addressing soft skills is more important than teaching and building other skill sets if our goal is to affect transformation and life-long situational change. The work and research of PAIRIN has helped us to validate these discoveries and provide tools to help us achieve success.
I love how PAIRIN’s tools present the opportunity to change in a way that is positive and empowering—change in ways that are transformative for who the person is and how they relate to others. It is not just a way of validating strengths and eliminating weaknesses.
We originally thought of PAIRIN as a very important career development tool, but now that we have learned more about what it can do, we are seeing all kinds of applications both for our residents and our staff. We are not only evaluating how to effectively introduce PAIRIN into our program, but are already utilizing it as a tool in our application process, staff hiring and our evaluation of how an individual is advancing in the program. Our plan is to begin using the curriculum in a few months too!
More about Janet:
- Name someone you look up to. Mother Teresa
- What is one skill you are currently working on developing? Emotional Self-Awareness
- What do you think the future of work will look like? Working remotely will continue to grow and evolve, and industries will need to facilitate community as “going to the office” is not as essential.
- What did you want to be when you were a child? Teacher
- What’s one of your bucket list goals/dreams? To visit every continent except Antarctica. I need to get to Asia and South America!