Her Story
About Andrea
I am an MYOI coordinator with the Michigan Youth Opportunity Initiative, where I work with youth ages 14 through 21 who are currently in foster care or were previously in the system. My position focuses on helping youth transition successfully into adulthood by providing them with trainings and events that equip them with independent living skills - everything from budgeting to car maintenance, housing maintenance, and cooking skills. I've been in my current position since September 2022, and prior to that, I was a foster care worker through the same agency. I will be celebrating 10 years in the child welfare field this October. The real reason I'm in this field is because I was previously in foster care myself. My hope, growing up, was that I would be able to go into this field to help other youth kind of feel not alone, having somebody understand what they're going through, and be able to walk alongside them and support them. I wanted to make an impact in the system that impacted me. I'm currently in the process of going back for my MSW because my hope is that one day I will become a licensed therapist and work with people that have been sexually abused and have experienced trauma. I would love to provide that safe space. I'm also joining the steering team committee for Michigan as a foster parent advocate, because I used to be a foster parent, and I'm helping build the gaps between the mental health system and the child welfare system.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Andrea
01What do you attribute your success to?
I think that I have a good support system that has always walked alongside me, because that's very important. I feel like I wouldn't be as successful to be able to maintain doing the level of work that I do without my support system. But then I also have that understanding and always knowing that, okay, if I had somebody, if I had the team that my youth have today, that I would have been - life would have looked differently for me. And so I always keep that in mind when it comes to walking alongside my youth. I'm trying to be the person that I needed, and I think that's why I continue to be successful. I was just nominated last year and won an award for my work that I have done. I understand the impact of the work that we do in this field does have on the lives of the families and youth that we work with.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say to be open-minded when it comes to working into this field, and just remembering that these are individuals' lives, and trying to always look at it in a different lens instead of looking at it as, like, a cookie-cutter lens. Come at it with compassion and empathy. But then also be willing to seek support yourself, because this is a heavy job - being in this field can be a heavy job. Self-care is very important because we can't pour from an empty cup, and you need to recognize when you do need to take that step back and take a breather, and have that balance between your personal life and your professional life. You can't give your best to somebody else when you're not giving your best to yourself. If I'm going to sit there and tell my youth that they have to work on their mental health, how am I going to do that if I'm not doing that myself? You have to lead by example.
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