As a Home Visitor with Closer to Home’s Healthy Families program, Marion is always on the go. Working with about 14 clients every week, Marion teaches new parents how to enhance their parenting skills, improve their knowledge and understanding of child development, and improve overall family functioning, all while increasing their connections with the community in an effort to raise a healthy, happy family.
Marion has always enjoyed working with people, having previously worked in a casino where she met lots of new people on a daily basis. Now, she can’t imagine not working in a field where she’s helping others.
“If I wasn’t working as a Home Visitor, I would probably be working with the public somehow – maybe with seniors or helping people in some other way,” she says.
This altruistic spirit is common across the agency, Marion says, and it’s a part of what makes Closer to Home so special. “The people who work in this organization are people who love to help others,” she continues. “They all go above and beyond to make sure kids are safe and families are supported in any way they can. And for me, as an employee, I always feel supported and treated with respect.”
Thinking back on her most memorable success stories over the past 5 years, Marion recalls working with a single father who was raising five daughters. “He was struggling, and Children’s Services was involved,” she remembers. Some of his biggest challenges were staying organized and asking for help. Dad was in the program for five years, the final three of which he worked closely with Marion.
“By the time we closed his file,” Marion says, “he was keeping his appointments, planning ahead for rides to get to where he and the girls needed to be, and the girls were all happy and thriving.”
“It’s awesome to see parents take the skills we teach them and learn how they can be successful independently,” she says.
Stories like this dad’s inspire Marion every day, knowing that she is giving her all to the families in her care. “That’s success, for me,” she says. “To know that I gave it my all, no matter what the outcome. And hopefully, to see a family leave the program healthy and happy.”