New Direction: Jo on Stepping Forward
Meet Jo
The room is a blur of pink, piled plastic drawers, and perfume; the floral scent surrounds Jo as she settles herself at her desk. She shows me several potential photos for the blog, unsure herself of whether the Minnie Mouse ears or glitter selfie would be better. While I begin to jot down notes, Jo pulls out a folder from a filing cabinet to point out Pinterest images and a giant jelly baby under the title Into Your Future.
It seems that Jo has a real knack for fluffing. Her office, paperwork, and personality are all colour, sparkle, and warmth. But it’s exactly Jo’s soft touch that makes stepping forward into education, employment, or volunteering that much less daunting.
Jo, the Step Forward Services Manager at My Sisters’ House since May 2018, supports a team of caseworkers who help women with moving forward. The new directions Jo leads others on span from moving towards getting qualifications to progressing along one’s self-journey. The need for fluff (big jelly baby and all) softens the process of stepping forward. Jo explains, ‘It adds this creative, fun flair to learning.
This teaching is delivered by Jo at My Sisters’ House through training and workshops, such as employability workshops, accompanied by interactive journals.
The journal Jo showed me, and the newest programme the Step Forward team are offering, is the Into Your Future eight-week workshop. This workshop, created by Jo and Jan, a complex needs keyworker, includes sessions on employability, goal setting, and mindfulness. Jo comments, ‘A lot of women require motivation, confidence, and a better sense of self-worth. Sometimes the stepping forward is progressing within themselves.’
Other services the Step Forward team, which consists of Jo, Jan, Caroline, a complex needs keyworker, and Katie, the team Administrator, offer are Play Sessions with families for struggling parents, Craft Sessions, and visits from Northbrook College to offer My Sisters’ House’s clients qualifications.
But Jo assures that the services the Step Forward team have access to are for ‘Any woman who wants to move forward.’
Working previously for the Royal British Legion Industries, Jo found that while she enjoyed helping people who were unemployed find work, she thought her role was too focused on job starts. ‘My Sisters’ House’s approach is a lot easier,’ Jo nods from across her desk. ‘Women are allowed to move forward in their own time.’
At My Sisters’ House, the Step Forward team not only focuses on emotional, physical, and mental progression, but creating support networks with peers. Jo attributes this to the team who work at MSH, ‘The support within work is amazing. The team pull you through your own personal problems.’
It is the team’s kindness and support, and their own experiences which guide the help that everyone at My Sister’s House offers. Jo explains, ‘We’ve all got our own real-life problems. In a lot of the sessions we deliver, we draw on our own struggles to help others. We have this personal understanding of what they’re experiencing, we get it.’
Always seeking to help others, Jo confesses she feels privileged to be a part of My Sisters’ House. ‘I’m just honoured to work here. At My Sisters’ House we change people’s lives on a daily basis.’
While the thought of progression can be intimidating, Jo’s variety of workshops, practical advice, and personal understanding of the difficulties that lie ahead for many on their new journeys makes the direction change that much more manageable. The colourful images, playful fonts, and all-round fluff are just the bows on top of the pink, perfumed package that is Jo Steels.
