We can all agree that the COVID-19 pandemic was hard on everyone. While no one will look back on those years fondly, folks who worked in caring professions – the people who were looking after those who were suffering the most – shouldered more than most. The social services professions were particularly challenging, with limited resources, increasing demands, and the limitations created by lockdowns. At Mennonite Community Services (MCS) in Aylmer, they have decided to invest in building their staff members back up, so that they can continue to do the valuable work they do in their community.
Mennonite Community Services (MCS) exists to link resources with the needs of newcomers to Aylmer and the surrounding communities. They focus particularly on supporting Mennonites with social, ethnic, information, and educational services as they resettle in the area. Settlement services help newcomers adjust to life in Canada. MCS is able to provide the support and cultural understanding to make it easier for the newcomer to access information and services. Often this involves offering family support that connects the newcomer families with appropriate religious, cultural, and legal services.
Coming out of COVID, staff were burned out from the tremendous need in the community. Clients who had previously been self-sufficient didn’t have the technical skills to cope when everything went online in March of 2020. Staff worked tirelessly to meet this need, leaving them deeply tired and at risk of burnout even as the pandemic eased.
“We asked ourselves, how do we, as an organization, show our staff that we care about them, as they have cared about the community?” comments Anna Bergen, Executive Director at MCS. “How to we deepen relationships with each other and our clients, and how do we build resilience and de-escalate difficult conversations?”
To answer these questions, staff spent time doing personal development, team development and leadership training. This increased self-awareness helped staff members understand their own needs and relationship styles, increasing their skills in developing relationships with community members. MCS has also grown steadily over the past few years, and this day of connection helped the staff feel more connected with one another. “We could pour into our staff, so they can better pour into our community,” adds Anna.
Going forward, MCS will be working with the MCC Peace and Justice program to build workshops that will increase connection in the community through a peace lens, overcoming some of the divisions that had grown in the community during the COVID years. “We want to build bridges rather than walls,” says Anna.
Anna has already seen a noticeable increase in the self-confidence of her staff. They now have skills and tools to better manage the needs of community members. Kindred is pleased that our Charitable Fund has helped build resilience in MCS staff and improved community building and peace-making efforts in Aylmer.