Today we’d like to introduce you to Candace Thompson.
Candace, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I am a proud native of Dallas, Texas trying to live my best life! Dallas is my home sweet home. My story is rooted in family, love, faith, and a commitment to community. My grandparents moved from South Dallas to Oak Cliff in the early 60’s to start their new journey as parents. My parents were high school sweethearts and I was their gift after graduation. Marriage proved to be quite the challenge for two highly intelligent people graduating at the top of their class. They amicably separated to pursue different life paths. As the first grandchild I grew up spending a lot of time and having a very close relationship with my maternal grandparents.They planted seeds of unconditional love, compassion, education, rooted in unwavering faith in my life that have harvested in my life today.
In order to pursue better education opportunities, my mother and step-father moved us from Dallas to Red Oak and we eventually landed in Plano. Although, Central Expressway separated us, I would spend my summers in Oak Cliff with my grandparents where I enjoyed sitting and gleaning wisdom, good food and conversations with our neighbors and family friends. Their house was my North Star. I graduated from Plano East Senior High. While in high school I was active in theater, Peer Assistant Leadership (PAL), volunteered with the Boys and Girls Club and initiated the first affinity club specifically for African-American/Black students and hosted a Black History Program for our campus. I went onto to study and graduate from the University of Texas at Dallas with a degree in Psychology. At the time, I did not know what I wanted, but I knew it involved working with people and trying to make things better.
I’d worked in banking since my sophomore year in college and did not feel the love for the community in that industry. In 2004, I uprooted my life (quit graduate school) and signed on to do a year of service with Catholic Volunteers in Florida an AmeriCorpsprogram. I would be based in Jacksonville, Florida. I never heard of Jacksonville, Florida! I had no family in all of Florida! Truly, it was a leap of faith that I left my family, a good job, and security for the southeast coast with the promise of housing, health insurance, $450 monthly stipend, and an education award. I don’t know if I would be so trusting now as I was then, but I am so glad that I made that move and tried something new.
The move to Jacksonville shifted my worldviews of people, poverty, religion, friendships, and relationships. The move set in motion my first phase of “adulting.” I lived in an intentional faith community and worked as a case manager for families experiencing homelessness for Community Connections. It was during this time, I checked my privilege and developed a deeper understanding of love for all and an identity separate from my family and friends back home. I learned to walk with families in crisis while simultaneously working case plans. After my year of service, I was asked to be the Program Director of Catholic Volunteers in Florida and I stayed in Florida for a total of six years. I returned to Dallas in April of 2010 to be the primary caregiver for my grandfather as his health was declining.
A short time after my arrival, I re-enrolled in graduate school for social work and public administration and started working for the Housing Crisis Center as a case manager working with families in transitional housing until I was recruited by Jubilee Park & Community Center in 2012 to lead their community outreach efforts. Working at Jubilee Park allowed me to blossom professionally, enlightened me to systems at work in communities and to reconnect to some family roots I was not aware existed. I was embedded in the community and they quickly became my family. After five years of working with residents of Jubilee Park to revitalize the community through a comprehensive community development approach, I accepted a position with Baylor Scott & White Health and Wellness Center (BSW HWC) at Juanita Craft Recreation Center. My responsibilities now include oversight and on-going development of a faith-based PEERS health ministry program, cultivating and nurturing relationships with churches, residents and community partners to increase the visibility and reach of BSW HWC in Southern and South Dallas communities; and connecting BSW HWC members to available community services to enhance quality of life.
Dallas has been good to me and I am thankful for the doors that have opened for me on this journey.
Has it been a smooth road?
I am who I am because of the many people who have loved on and poured into my life. The road has not been easy, but I am thankful that I have traveled it. I have had my fair share of challenges and then some like many others. The loss of family has been the catalyst for many of my life movements.
My grandmother passed two months before graduation in 2002 and that shook my world. We had an understanding like none other. We spoke so much in our silences and our eyes. I felt lost. However, in that lost feeling I discovered so much about myself in moving to Florida. My brother was killed on Father’s Day June of 2010, just two months after I moved back to Dallas. Nothing could have prepared me for his loss because we had big life plans together. My grandfather passed away in February of 2012, one month after starting my position at Jubilee Park. He was the epitome of a great father. The beautiful thing is that I ended up being adopted by several grandparents in my work while developing senior citizen programming. The loss of my grandmother, brother and grandfather have molded me into the woman I am today. I am grateful to have my mother and my precious nephew.
I have struggled at times to ensure that I have a healthy life and work balance. Working in community is a ministry, life giving and transformational, but there is the need to recharge and to make certain there is something to give of yourself to your loved ones who need you as well. Working for change in communities can be frustrating because change takes time, lots of conversations, lots of relationship building, alignment of priorities, and many collaborators working towards the same goal.
My advice for young women is to seek to be grounded and rooted in love. People will know if you love them by how you treat them and other people who may not be able to promote you. Be open and willing to learn new things. Practice self-care. For me, it is having a devotional practice, reading, disconnecting from social media, exercising, hanging with family and friends, music, poetry or a really good movie with my partner. Make certain you have a circle of support of friends and mentors to bounce around ideas and to lovingly check you when needed.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with your business – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
In my role as Community Outreach Manager for BSW HWC, I have the distinct pleasure of working with a team of 25 community health workers, a chaplain, and two coordinators to promote health in Southern and South Dallas. The foundation of my work is rooted in intentionally grounded relationships.
Without relationship, our work is non-existent. This work includes building strong relationships in every sector of community be it human service organizations, City of Dallas, churches, hospital systems, neighborhood associations, school districts, daycares and more. I work to reduce barriers to care by ensuring we are reducing health disparities by addressing inequities and negative perceptions that healthcare is inaccessible.
Additionally, I do a lot of listening to what the community identifies as their health needs and work to ensure a platform and that we seek to meet the stated needs. Much of my work requires me to be out of the office and present in a variety of community settings.
There’s a wealth of academic research that suggests that lack of mentors and networking opportunities for women has materially affected the number of women in leadership roles. Smart organizations and industry leaders are working to change this, but in the meantime, do you have any advice for finding a mentor and building a network?
Be open and receptive to non-traditional mentors. I think it is important to identify people you see doing the kind of work you are interested in and to work to build a relationship with that person. I have a different mentor for each interest and the relationships are all unique.
There is always something going on in Dallas. Sometimes, I attend meetings on subjects that may not be directly related to my personal interest, but I remain open to learning something new and seeing where things intersect. Understand, there are good mentors and not so good mentors. I think it also important to be willing to step out of your comfort zone to embrace a person that may be opposite of your personality, gender, race, sexual orientation, or age. Also, understand you are also able to be someone’s mentor as well.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Twitter: @CMT4Good
Image Credit:
Candace Thompson
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