Good morning,
I pray the day finds you well.
Yep, you guessed it; I've titled this after a Jelly Roll song. My wife says Jelly Roll is my dopelganger.
I have discussed my journey with you and the importance of counseling within it. This however is not about that journey.
This is something different. I am going to talk with you about how the YMCA comes alongside those who need just a bit of help as they journey the path of life.
As a chaplain, I have been called to a number of tragic and traumatic situations. When I get "on scene" the first thing I do is an assessment. In my world, we call that CISM (Critical Incident Stress Management).
One year there was a drowning in a local river that our Y staff responded to. It was a child who had drowned and there was more than enough trauma to go around. I had two lifeguards, one camp director, the family, and a number of ancillary people who just happened to be at the scene when it happened but were not involved with the incident (collateral damage).
It became apparent to me rather quickly that I needed to get trauma counselors involved quickly. I made a call to one of my resources and had two Psychologists available to talk to the lifeguards within the hour. I had multiple counselors on standby if needed.
We made it through this tragedy. People got the help they needed and while there are still lingering effects from it, for the most part, people are doing better.
We had a brand new CEO at the time of this event. He asked me if I could help him find a mental health partner for his staff. He said that he had been looking for a partner for over a year, with no luck. I asked him what he was looking for.
He said, "I have two main criteria."
- That it be timely (At the time it could take up to 3 months to get into a counseling service)
- It can't be expensive for the staff.
I said I would help.
Within a month I had a meeting set with a counseling service. We brokered a partnership, created an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding). Successfully creating an EAP for the organization. The counseling service agreed to get a person in front of a counselor within two weeks at a cost of around $15 to the staff.
How did I make this happen you might ask. It is simple, I came into the right relationship with the organization, built trust over time, and when I made the ask about partnering they were more than willing to help.
When the YMCA comes into a community, we start by listening to the community's needs. We then work really hard at filling any void that may be there so that we can build strong kids, strong families, strong communities. Sometimes the community we are helping is our own internal community.
You see, as the Y works in the community, the staff come across some pretty narly things, and sometimes they need a little extra help. The staff are part of the community too.
The funny thing is, while I was able to help broker a deal for the Y. Because of the impact I was able to utilize this service for others that need it as well.
Let's just say, I am keeping them very busy.
People come out of the counseling and when I ask them how they are doing many times they will say, "I'm not ok, but everything's going to be alright."
A hope and a future. Somebody said that once, I wish I could remember where I read it.
If you need a little extra help, contact a chaplain at the Y. They will be more than willing to lend a hand.
Something to ponder.
Blessings,
Roger