Her Story
About Phaedra
I have been working in the field of advocacy for women and children for about 8 years. My journey into this work began unexpectedly when I was laid off from my previous job and started searching for volunteer opportunities to make the best use of my time. I came across a young lady on Facebook who was a director at a pregnancy center, and though I didn't fully understand what she did, I reached out and began volunteering. The pregnancy center helps women, particularly single women, who are facing challenges with obtaining materials and raising children. This experience opened my eyes to the needs of vulnerable women and led me to discover maternity homes, which provide shelter for pregnant women and children. I became very interested in helping women and children navigate their time in transitional housing. Now I work at Guiding Star Ministries, a maternity home where I help residents during their 18-month program. My typical day involves empowering and encouraging them, being a mother, a sister, a friend - whatever they need during their transition. I help with postpartum care, guide them through the challenges of womanhood and single motherhood, assist them in searching for jobs, and connect them with resources to help them be in a better position when they leave the program. The biggest challenge in this field is dealing with young women who have been exposed to significant trauma. Before I can teach them skills like budgeting or parenting, I first have to address the hurt little girl inside of them and work through layers of pain, disappointment, and rejection, as well as the many mental and emotional challenges facing young people today. What helps me succeed is having a heart of compassion, being empathetic, and genuinely caring about each person. I see so much of myself in many of these women, and my life experiences allow me to relate to them on many levels in a way that textbook education cannot. I am able to be relatable and transparent so they can see that I am the evidence and example that what they have gone through does not have to identify them or determine how far they can go. I am also a minister affiliated with the Church of Christian Compassion, and I work with organizations including the Pro-Life Union, which owns Guiding Star Ministries, as well as Catholic Social Services.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Phaedra
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to having a heart of compassion. You need to have compassion, you need to be empathetic, and you need to genuinely care about the person. What assists me is having a heart of compassion for the women and for their children, and genuinely wanting to see them be better versions of themselves. My life experiences also play a crucial role because I see so much of myself in a lot of the women I work with, and I'm able to relate to them on so many levels. I can be relatable and transparent so that they can see that I am the evidence, I am the example, that what they have gone through does not have to identify them, and where they have been does not have to determine how far they can actually go.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
My advice for a young professional that was interested in helping women in transition would be to be open and be patient. Even at times, be vulnerable, because you're going to need that vulnerability. You also need to have balance and mercy, because there are some times that you're just going to have to give mercy, and you're going to have to give grace in order to deal with them on a day-to-day basis with the emotional challenges, the hormonal imbalances that come with motherhood, and that comes with postpartum, and things of that nature. It would just be to have mercy and grace for these women.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The challenges within this field are dealing with young women who have been exposed to so much trauma. Before you can even teach them the skills of budgeting or teach them the skills of parenting, you first have to deal with the hurt little girl inside of her. You first have to deal with the layers of pain and disappointment and rejection. And then you have to deal with so many emotional and mental scars that need to be taken care of and addressed, as well as the many mental challenges that we are faced with young people today. So that would be the most challenged part of it, dealing with the mental challenges that so many of our young people have been exposed to.
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