Joanne Rice 

Everyone's unique in this world and everyone has needs and everyone has gifts. I look for that too, in other people like, what is it that's something that maybe they don't see. And kind of focusing on positive, rather than so much of the negative of things. Because it really does make a difference what you pay attention to. You know, if you have a positive outlook and there's hope. I think that's a huge piece in service too is there is hope. Always.

Paul Meunier 

Hello, I'm Paul Meunier, the executive director of the Youth Intervention Programs Association, and I'm a youth worker at heart. How lucky am I, I have the privilege to meet youth workers from around the globe and learn their stories and share them with the entire world. I'm glad you're listening because together we'll learn how their life experiences shape their youth work. As you listen, I encourage you to consider how your experiences shape what you have to offer young people. Welcome to this edition of The Passionate Youth Worker. Hi, everybody. For our regular listeners, you know that we are mixing things up a bit by sprinkling in stories of our own team members here at YIPA. There's so many ways to fulfill a passion for youth work and your friends at YIPA definitely are passionate just like you, our listeners. So, it only seems fitting to share our stories too. For this episode, I'm proud to introduce you to our member satisfaction specialist, Joanne Rice. Joanne dedicated more than 20 years of her professional life in direct support of our young people before joining the YIPA team. You'll learn that she didn't always know she wanted to make a career out of helping others. But given her first opportunity to work with young people, she knew she loved it. Joanne is the producer of the show. Thanks for turning your mic on today and telling your story on The Passionate Youth Worker podcast.

Joanne Rice 

You're welcome. Thanks for the invitation.

Paul Meunier 

Yeah, it's gonna be a lot of fun. Joanne, you worked with a YIPA member organization for many years and over that time, you filled many different roles and you just kept being promoted. Can you briefly just talk about your time with Tubman to start this episode off?

Joanne Rice 

Oh, sure. Well, I started with Tubman a long time ago. And I was hired as a child specialist. So, I worked with everybody, zero to 18 and the families, the whole family in a household. So, I started doing that. And then I was moved into women's advocate. And of course, over time, we changed titles, to family advocate and different titles doing advocacy. And then I moved into operations lead for the shelter program. And then we had a merger. So, then I was operations lead for three shelters that we had at the time, and division assistant, and then my last position at Tubman was shelter manager.

Paul Meunier 

So, you really did move around a lot. And throughout that whole time, did you always have a chance to interface with young people or did you ever move up the ladder so high that you never got to talk with young people?

Joanne Rice 

Oh, that's a great question. I mean, it wasn't obviously part of my specific role. I mean, there was always lots of other things to do. But I still was able to interact because I worked where people lived. So, my office was in the shelter program. And I think that's what I loved about not only learning other roles and other ways to impact young people and their families, because there's a lot of things behind the scenes that people don't realize that go on in that do impact young people, you know, what kind of programming? What kind of partnerships, are we having, you know, all those types of things. So, I definitely was able to interact with people still which I loved and even part of my role I could even ask them for feedback, of course. So, that way, as we were making decisions, you know, tell me, what do you think about this? Or what do you think about this? Or what's something you really need? Or what are we missing as advocates? That was always my favorite question to ask people was, what are we missing? Like, what else can we do? Because that's how we got this far, is getting people's feedback. So...

Paul Meunier 

Yeah well, it's a good thing that you were always able to interact and seek feedback from young people because I know that you care so deeply for them. That's one of the things that when you get to know you, Joanne, you realize just how sincere and honest you are and how much you really care about people so it's great that you had the opportunity to do that no matter what your role was in your previous world before joining the YIPA team. And when we were getting ready for your episode, we talked a little bit about your work before helping young people and you didn't always know you wanted to be a youth worker, that at some point you came to the realization but what did you want to be or what were you thinking you're going to do when you grew up before helping other people?

Joanne Rice 

Oh, well, when I was really young, I wanted to be a nurse, like my aunt and my grandma. But then as I got older, I can't handle medical emergencies. So, that was out. And then as I got older, I thought, Oh, I'll be a travel agent. That'll be fun. You know, I get to travel and help people have fun and take care of themselves. But yet, I still wanted to go to college. So, I went to college and, and that's how I got connected with the AmeriCorps program in college. They had a program for students. And so that's how I got connected with youth work.

Paul Meunier 

Yeah. So, you were going to be a travel agent, travel the world all over, visit all different cultures, take in the fashion and take in the experience of the life of all these different places. But yet, you went on a completely different path because of an experience you had in college. Can you talk a little bit about that? What was that experience and what was that like for you?

Joanne Rice 

Yeah, well, it was my senior year of college. And that was the first year that AmericaCorps was offered as something for college students to do. So, it was 900 hours. So, it wasn't a full time like VISTA program. So, I interviewed with three programs. And the one I picked, picked me to be a child advocate AmeriCorps volunteer. And so there was a group of us that were working there in the shelter in Des Moines. And I just fell in love with it. I was like, wow, this is what I want to do. You know, I I knew about unhealthy relationships. But I didn't know all the details about domestic violence and trafficking. So, part of it was just like, wow, just a huge curiosity about oh, my gosh, how can we help people that are going through situations like this, even if we haven't been directly in a situation like this ourselves? And I just fell in love the people. Everybody had just such amazing stories, and they were just such amazing people too. So, I don't know, I just loved it. I worked again, with all the kids as a child advocate, zero to 18 and their parents. And I also did some community work, working in elementary schools and offering support groups for young people that were dealing with domestic violence at home. And so, the school social worker had reached out to me at several different schools to come and do a support group for those kids. And again, that was just eye-opening. And I just loved it. And again, the staff were amazing, I learned so much. They were so encouraging, even though I was new. I mean, I think back to that time, like oh my gosh, I was amazed they were so patient with me just learning something brand new.

Paul Meunier 

Yeah. Like you, I had that experience, where I was first introduced to working with young people and I kind of fell in love with it as well. It just struck me as so fascinating. And so interesting to hear the stories and how complicated so many of them were. And so, I share your introduction into youth work. That's kind of how it was for me, too. I never thought I would do this either. But my first exposure, I just knew this was the right thing for me. And I've spent the rest of my life doing it, just like I think you probably are on that trajectory as well. So, you have this inherent, I think, ability to connect with people and to just care so deeply for others that I think that is your super strength, is that you are so empathetic and genuine in your care for other people. Where did that come from? Did your parents also have this kind of service attitude and did they do professions that gave back to other people as well?

Joanne Rice 

Absolutely. I think back of course, now that I'm a lot older, I think back to yeah, my parents, my mom was a Diaconal Minister in the Methodist Church and she focused on Christian education. So, she worked with youth and young people during her career, and my dad worked at a mental health and chemical health state program here in the Twin Cities. And so, as admissions counselor, he worked with people who are dealing with lots of challenges. Yeah, I mean, just service was there. I mean, my grandma was a nurse, and owned a nursing home for a while. And my aunt was a nurse, and she moved up and ended up moving to Anchorage, Alaska, and was the director of organ donation for the state of Alaska. So, I think about all of the role models I had in my immediate family. It just, it's really no surprise at this point, you know, to think back, I mean, I just was surrounded with service, you know, even going to visit my grandma, you never relaxed. You were either cooking or baking or sewing or quilting or in the garden or visiting people and taking them all these things that you're making. So yeah, it's definitely I think part of what I was exposed to.

Paul Meunier 

Yeah, it seems like you were groomed for this kind of work, whether that was intentional or not. And your family was also very supportive, close knit and you guys talked about a lot of things. Everything was on the table all the way from politics to business to you name it.

Joanne Rice 

Yep.

Paul Meunier 

How was your family in terms of communication? Was it real intentional, or was it just natural that all these conversations kept occurring?

Joanne Rice 

Hmm, that's a good question.

Paul Meunier 

Thanks.

Joanne Rice 

Wow. I guess I'd say it's both. I mean, it was definitely intentional because my parents really wanted to instill, you know, critical thinking. And being curious in life, like asking questions, asking tough questions, not just taking things at face value and making judgments. Yeah, I think it was definitely intentional. And it was just who they were, I mean, as people. I mean, certainly, as I grew up, you know, I could certainly change my mind or change my views on things. But then as I got out in the real world, I saw Wow, this is what my parents are talking about, or my aunt or my grandma, you know, who lived through the Depression and how many pandemics she lived through. You know, I mean, it's just thinking about their experiences.

Paul Meunier 

Yeah. When you look back at your early childhood and think about the exposure that they gave to you, do you think it's possible that you could have done anything else other than help people because I also know that you were raised in the Methodist tradition, and religion and spirituality are a big part of who you are. And you not only just talk the talk, you are a person who just really genuinely lives a life of service. I just can't imagine you selling insurance, Joanne, or you know, a buyer for you know Macy's, clothing. I just can't imagine you doing anything but giving back to other people. When you look back, do you think like, Yeah, this is just perfect for me?

Joanne Rice 

I do. I really do. Yeah, I mean, I think back to again, when I started college, and I still thought I was gonna be a travel agent. So, I took business classes, management classes, and I thought, This is so boring. Like, there just wasn't the pieces of service and giving back.

Paul Meunier 

Yeah,

Joanne Rice 

Yeah.

Paul Meunier 

 How does your religious beliefs how do they play out in your daily work and your daily life?

Joanne Rice 

Hmmm, well, I would say for me my spirituality and my religion is just when I think back how at how it formed throughout my life, it's just a place to center and be peaceful. And I was taught early on that you're no better than anybody else. And everyone has worth, whatever other people's beliefs are. And so, I think that just helps center me. And it helps me stay grounded too. You know everyone's unique in this world, and everyone has needs and everyone has gifts. I look for that too in other people like what is it that's something that maybe they don't see, you know, some other gifts that they have that maybe they don't realize either. And kind of focusing on positive, rather than so much of the negative of things. Because it really does make a difference what you pay attention to. You know, if you have a positive outlook, and there's hope. I think that's a huge piece in service too is there is hope. Always.

Paul Meunier 

Hard to believe we have to take a quick break. But when we come back, I'd like to follow up with what you said about the message that you received that you're no better than anybody else because I think that's really interesting. So, we'll be right back after this short break.

Jade Schleif 

No matter how you support our young people, The Professional Youth Worker, powered by YIPA, has your training and learning needs covered. Visit training.yipa.org. That's training.yipa.org to see for yourself, and then join the 1000s of youth workers around the globe who learn from our easy to access exceptional trainings. From our blogs to our podcast, The Professional Youth Worker is your go-to resource for tools to help you keep going, keep learning, and keep growing. Members enjoy free unlimited access to Live Online and On-Demand trainings, and a preferred discount pricing for our one-of-a-kind certificate course. Annual memberships are ridiculously affordable for individuals and organizations. Visit training.yipa.org today to learn more. That's training.yipa.org.

Paul Meunier 

Joanne, right before the break, you mentioned that your parents made sure that you understood that you're better than nobody else. And it seems to me like it was just a lesson in humility. I think that's a wonderful lesson to teach people because it's so connected with your faith and so connected with what the purpose of being a human being is, is to see what you can do to make the world a better place. And I think that's kind of our responsibility. But I also know that you are so giving of yourself and that in a time when there's so much vanity going on with social media everybody's posting here's what I'm eating, here's where I went tonight to watch a movie. You know people are so into themselves and you're so into other people. Do you find that it's hard to keep that focus? Do you want to have that attraction towards pay attention to me versus your normal attitude is I'll pay attention to you? How is that in today's world for you?

Joanne Rice 

It's very different. I mean, I think back to gosh, if there was social media in high school, Oh, no. Or college. Because I looked back. And I did go through a phase where as you know, all about me and oh, maybe just naturally. But I do not like the limelight. Like I don't, yeah, I don't like the attention. I mean I'm certainly not the life of the party. I'd much rather just, you know, meet other people and find out about their stories. And you know, what makes them go. Yeah, I'm always more interested in other people, I think. There's so much still to learn, you know, and even as I learn things, as I get older, it's just like, oh, my gosh, I never knew that, you know? So, there's just I don't know, I would much rather focus on other people, I think, yeah.

Paul Meunier 

Yeah. And that's what makes you so good at this, Joanne. And you know, that comes through so clearly. When anybody interacts with you that sense of humility, that need or that willingness to never be the focus but to always get the focus to somebody else, is what makes an incredible youth worker and somebody who's dedicated to helping other people. So, I'm so glad that you ended up in the career that you're in. And you also are such a calming presence. I know you sometimes describe yourself as the calm in the storm. And I think your role here at YIPA, and working with other people is just perfect. So, what is it about now that you're with YIPA, what do you like most about being a YIPA team member?

Joanne Rice 

Hmm. Gosh, there's a lot I love about being a YIPA team member. I mean, first of all, the team is just so amazing and supportive. And I had quite a learning curve learning all these new technology platforms that I had never had to use before, you know. So, I certainly didn't have a lot of knowledge in those areas. But I think for me is I just love reaching out and working with the members. I mean, now I have the opportunity to meet with members that I've worked with before in the community, member organizations, but also around the world. And just again, meeting new people hearing like, what is their story, what is youth work at their organization. What challenges are they facing? A lot of times, it feels like I can relate to some of the challenges, you know, that they're facing, because I've experienced them in my work over my career. And also hearing all the exciting new things too, new programs, new initiatives that members are working on. And also being able to tie that into YIPA, like, okay, how can we YIPA support your organization in moving forward and making sure we're doing the best for young people?

Paul Meunier 

Yeah. I know you loved working with young people, you love talking with them, you liked helping coach other people and mentor other people to get good at that. With YIPA you don't directly serve young people. And I'm wondering, how is that transition been for you? Now, our clients, so to speak, at YIPA is the youth workers. And how has that transition been for you?

Joanne Rice 

It's been different. However, some of the other roles I had before too were similar. I mean, it wasn't direct service every day, it wasn't doing facilitating the support groups, things like that. But again, I still feel like this is more of a macro level opportunity to work with people. And again, learning from them and helping, you know, encourage them and support them. And, you know, is there anything else that we can do here at YIPA to support your work? And it's celebrating all the exciting new opportunities that they are going through too. I think that's really been fun to do as well. But yes, I mean, certainly I do certainly miss, you know, supervising my team and working with people directly, of course. But I feel like I've kind of come full circle, in a sense too in my work, and a new way to serve.

Paul Meunier 

What do you mean by that, coming full circle? Because I'm interested in what, how you think about that?

Joanne Rice 

Oh, yeah. Well, again, when I started in the field, I was working directly with youth. And as time went on, I was working, the focus was more on the whole family, even though it certainly was working with everyone that was staying in the shelter, even as a child advocate or youth specialist or child specialist, whatever the title was. But it felt like, certainly as shelter manager, you know, then I was working a lot more with the head of household folks. But again, a lot of them were young, too. So, I feel like I'm back to working and serving youth, even though it's in a different capacity, if that makes sense.

Paul Meunier 

Yeah, that's really interesting. I feel the same way. Even though we're not directly interfacing with them. Every decision we make is about the well-being of our young people. And it's so exciting to be at that level, even though we're not directly serving with young people, because there's so many ways to help and support their well-being. It doesn't have to be direct service. Earlier, I kind of brushed over something I wish I wouldn't have. I describe you as like the calm in the storm, the person always remains calm. How can you do that? I know, I've worked with you and I kind of get frustrated or get like a little overwhelmed. And you're always just smiling go, well, whatever. How do you do that? How do you stay so calm? Where does that come from?

Joanne Rice 

Oh, that's a good question. It's certainly something that I heard over the years. It's like, wow, you're a calm in the storm. You know, of course, working where people live. And of course, there was lots of crisis, from time to time. Sometimes more than others, sometimes multiple crises at a time. And I just learned well, I think part of it is just my style, you know, I'm more laid back. And, and I'd like to listen and observe rather than just immediately jump in to trying to solve everything because I think it's important to hear from the person that's upset or angry or hurt, like, what's really going on? Like, what can we do? What can we do to support you? So, I think that's, I don't know how to explain it. But I think it's just part of who I am, and how my approach is. You know, rather than over-talking somebody and okay, here's what we need to do. It's like, no, let's take the time and give them a moment to talk about what's going on. Whatever that looks like.

Paul Meunier 

It's a wonderful skill to have. And I'm sure that that was very beneficial and your direct service, and it's clearly beneficial here at YIPA. You're so good at connecting with our members and just hearing them out and learning from them how things are going. It's a great way to help our members feel like they really are cared for when they belong with YIPA so it's great that you do that. In your experience all the years in direct service and with the YIPA, what is one thing you've learned about yourself that you think has been connected with your work of helping other people?

Joanne Rice 

Hmm. One thing I've learned over the years is how more comfortable I am in challenging situations, I would say. Which was a big surprise, because I know when I started some of my roles, I'm like, Oh, I don't think I could do that. And they'd be like, Oh, yes, you can. Here's how you do it. And I was like, Oh, I don't know. That's, that's challenging. That's hard. So, I think that's one thing is just learning that I can do more than I think I could do. And really challenge myself in working with challenging situations. I mean, I remember being an advocate for the first immigrant family, and I thought, Gosh, how in the world, I've never been an immigrant. I don't you know, I don't know what that's like, I don't know, all the barriers, you know. But again, I had amazing supervisors and team members that helped support me and help teach me and that's one thing I really loved was working with complicated cases and situations. And helping people through that, even though I had never walked through their shoes. I had never gone through that specifically. But again, okay, who do we need to call? Who can we partner with? You know, what can we do to help support you?

Paul Meunier 

Yeah, your sense of humility, your willingness to learn, and you're okay-ness with not having to have all the answers right away really sets you up to be successful at so many different things that you do. It's really quite impressive. When you think about young people, what do you think a youth worker needs to be really good at to be effective with a young person?

Joanne Rice 

Hmm, that's a good question, too.

Paul Meunier 

I'm full of them today.

Joanne Rice 

You are full of good questions! I would say first and foremost, you have to be aware of how you're showing up. I know that was one thing I learned early on working in shelters is the people I'm working with are essentially inviting me into their home. I'm working where they live. And certainly when I was hired at Harriet Tubman Shelter, I also thought like, every day I went into work, I thought, You know what, I'm being invited into their lives and into their home.

Paul Meunier 

Yes.

Joanne Rice 

And I don't look like them. And so, I need to make sure I'm on point and I'm being welcoming and respectful and curious, like, Okay, tell me more like what does that mean? Or what is it that we're missing as youth workers or advocates? And just being genuine because they, anybody can tell if you're not being genuine. Young people can tell if people aren't really there, you know, mentally if they're not engaged in the work. People can tell no matter what age they are, and young people in particular, because they're really authentic. I mean, they won't hold back. They'll tell you what they're thinking. That's one thing I love about young people is they are, they're authentic. They're not going to be fake. And they're going to tell you how it is and what the reality is.

Paul Meunier 

So, over your years, you've supervised a lot of youth workers. Now you spend most of your day talking with youth workers. What do you think a misperception about youth workers is in society? What does the general population not understand about youth workers from your perspective, Joanne?

Joanne Rice 

I'd say from my perspective, well, I think back to the things I was told when I started, Oh, that's great. You know, you're hanging out with kids or, or you're babysitting kids. And it's like, no, I'm not, like, I'm doing crisis intervention. I'm doing de-escalation. I'm doing support groups. I'm doing community building, I'm doing advocacy groups with the school on behalf of young people. So, I think the number one thing is they just don't really feel as it's a profession. You know, I mean, I was told well, that's great until you get a real job. And I thought, this is a real job, like this is a profession. I mean, there's so many different areas of this of youth work, whether it's in the schools, or in shelter programs, or criminal justice, or juvenile justice, there's, there's lots of different ways that people can be youth workers. And I think that's the one misconception is, is it's, that's nice. And people just don't really think about the value of youth work.

Paul Meunier 

I think you're right. And that's why I am so thrilled that you ended up in this profession as a way to give back to other people because, Joanne, you are so sincere and you really do care about other people. And you are the epitome of professionalism. You're always courteous, you're always polite, you always get done what you say you need to get done. And it is a profession. And it takes a lifelong journey to get good at this. And I know you're committed to learning, and I'm just really happy that you are a YIPA team member and bigger than that, I'm really happy that you've put your skills to use and all those lessons that your parents taught you about giving and service and your faith how they all just are seamlessly interwoven. So, thank you for doing all that you have done and continue to do for young people. And thanks for being a guest on The Passionate Youth Worker.

Joanne Rice 

Oh, thank you. Thank you. Thanks for your kind words.

Paul Meunier 

Joanne, you know better than anybody before we go the last question I ask is what words of wisdom or inspiration would you like to leave with our guests today?

Joanne Rice 

I would say just be kind. And be curious, be authentic. Because in order to build relationships with young people, or their families, you have to be authentic and you have to be approachable. I think that's so important just to build those connections, so that you can support them. And also remember that they're the experts in their situation. You may know some of the pieces if you work with them for a few days or a few months or a few years, you're still not going to know all the pieces that they're dealing with maybe so just be curious and follow their lead.

Paul Meunier 

If you would like to share your passion for youth work, we'd love to spotlight you as a guest. If you have feedback about the show, please let us know. Just visit training.yipa.org, that's training.yipa.org and click on the podcast tab. This podcast is made possible in part due to a generous contribution from M Health Fairview. I'm your host, Paul Meunier. Thanks for listening to The Passionate Youth Worker.