Strengthening a Welcoming Workplace

Presbyterian Children’s Homes and Services believes a welcoming workplace enables each staff member to serve at their best. After all, as a faith-based Christian organization, PCHAS follows Christ’s commandment in Matthew 22:37-39,  

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Recently, David Thompson, president of PCHAS, invited Jeanine Watson, vice president of human resources, to form a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Team in order to strengthen PCHAS’ programs which provide “care and support to children and families in need.” President Thompson shared, “As we strive to serve like Jesus, we are mindful that Christ called (and through the Holy Spirit) continues to call, all people to be his disciples. Likewise, PCHAS benefits from having an increasingly diverse board and staff that represent the diversity of those we serve. Our primary models of care, TBRI® and The Strength Model, follow Christ’s example of building trust with people by welcoming them as they are, focusing on their strengths rather than their challenges, and helping people focus on their future rather than their past. (Think of Jesus’ ministry to Zacchaeus, the woman at the well, and the blind man by the pool of water. Think of the kindness of the Samaritan and the empathy of the inn keeper).

The DEI Team, chaired by Vice President Jeanine Watson, includes six staff who were chosen to serve on this team based on a large pool of submitted statements of interest. The team’s goal statement is, "At PCHAS, our goal is to love like God, and to show God's love through fostering an environment that is supportive of diversity, equity and inclusion."

The six chosen staff, who will serve two-year terms, include:   

• Raina Bailey, a single parent family program coordinator
  
• Crystal Cruise, a foster care case management supervisor
  
• Catherine Duttine, a mentoring coordinator
  
• Jonathon LaGrone, a mentoring coordinator
  
• Karly Neubauer, a transitional living program lead youth care worker
  
• Stephanie Sneed, an assistant in accounting

To learn how you can join PCHAS’ professional family of servant leaders, visit our Careers page.