Meet Jodie: Part of our first Response Team

“Hello, it’s Jodie calling from My Sisters’ House…”

Jodie started at My Sisters’ House back in March. At that point, most of the staff were still working from home and we were only able to offer face-to-face appointments to those in the most urgent need. But that didn’t mean we were short of work – on the contrary, the reason Jodie was taken on was to help us deal with the massive influx of women who made contact with us for the first time this year – some 250 of them in the first three months of 2021.

Jodie is part of what we have come to call our “First Response” team. You’ll find her in the corner of the big keyworker office, headset on, talking to women about what they need and what we can offer. She spends time carrying out crucial risk assessments, but she also listens, spending time with each woman before offering suggestions about what might be the best way for us to work together.

Jodie grew up in Berkshire, and her first job after school was in the housing department of Croydon Council, which was based in Ascot(!) Her introduction to Sussex came when her parents retired from being publicans and moved to the Witterings. She got used to visiting them at weekends and decided she liked the area, moving down herself about 18 years ago.

In Sussex she worked for Chichester District Council – at first in revenues and benefits and then as a team leader in the contact centre dealing with housing and planning. From there she moved into IT, with a focus on telecoms. And for a brief period, she was Assistant Manager for parking services.

While she was working at the council, she was also starting work on a new career – in hypnotherapy. “I have always been one of those people that everyone seems to go to with their problems, so I thought I might as well make it official!” She took a counselling course, and particularly enjoyed the module on hypnotherapy: “It’s a really quick way to get rid of some of the trauma and change the feelings.”

So she went on to train as a hypnotherapist – alongside working and looking after her young son. She then set up her own business, specialising in anxiety and trauma, and eventually left the council to concentrate on that work.

Then there was Covid. The restrictions meant that Jodie couldn’t continue doing her hypnotherapy work in the rooms she had been using. She did manage to do some work online, but in any case, being in lockdown made her realise that she didn’t want to be working on her own all the time. “I need a connection with something bigger.”

And so to My Sisters’ House. It’s not an easy job, especially just now, when it’s so busy, and there is a waiting list for one-to-one keyworking. But Jodie thrives on the busy-ness, and her colleagues tell me she doesn’t ever stop, making one call after another all through her shift. She says it’s made easier by the fact that, “we have so much to offer people, they aren’t just left in limbo while they are waiting for keyworking – which is so much better than the situation in most organisations.”

It’s clear that for Jodie, it’s her passion for making a difference that keeps her going – and we are very glad to have that passion working for us!