Over the past few months we’ve shared the stories of some of Johnson Service Corps’ biggest supporters. This month the spotlight is on Janice McAdams, Executive Director of SECU Family House, who supervises the JSC corps member serving there this year.
This is the first year for SECU Family House at UNC Hospitals to be one of those fortunate enough to partner organization with Johnson Service Corps. And when the opportunity came up this spring to re-apply to be a placement a corps member, we did so immediately.
The mission of JSC is aligned with our view of outreach to our house guests: while we don’t use the term servant leadership with our staff and volunteers, the Family House care, concern and support for our guests and their families is a close overlap with the servant leadership concept.
As we interviewed potential corps members their variety of gifts and interests astounded us. Young adults looking for a year to learn about themselves and be ‘of service’ to others certainly hooked our hearts. In the end we were assigned Henry Kennelly as our corps member. Do you remember your first week with a new roommate? Yes? Well, that’s exactly how we felt with our new corps member. And now, just a few months later, it feels like he has been at Family House and in our lives and hearts for ages.
Henry has worn many hats so far in this 7 months, a few we trained him for (front desk manager greeting our new guests and interacting with our volunteers), others he came to us with (his energy for any job, like painting or cleaning a guest room, creating a DEI information deck for our board meeting). The common feature in each of these roles is Henry’s open heart attitude and skillset.
The support and resources that Johnson Service Corps offers their corps members is critical to their growth. I joined a servant leadership course as a guest during the fall and was immediately drawn into the depth of conversations and training offered. How fortunate for each corps member and what a treat for me!
The investment that JSC makes in their interns has caused me to wish I had that experience in my 20’s. Having a time for guided introspection and growth will impact these young adults throughout their lives. Not only will Family House continue to partner with Johnson Service Corps but I will support this program myself!