Who helps the helpers?

A few weeks ago, Dr. Suzy Ismail from Cornerstone Marriage and Family Intervention led a session hosted by the Network that was open to the public titled “Working through Secondary Trauma for Refugee Service Providers: Caring for Yourself and Your Clients.” She shared frameworks for us to understand our own wellbeing as service providers and actionable ways we can ground ourselves and nurture our health in all senses of the word. One thing she said really stood out to me:

“You might know Mr. Rogers and his saying, ‘Look for the helpers.’ What happens when YOU are the helper? What happens when you are the one that clients look to?”

From our headquarters at Hello Neighbor in Pittsburgh, we love Mr. Rodgers. The acceptance, compassion, and neighborliness he cultivated in young people is a cornerstone of what we hope our programs bring to Pittsburgh and the U.S. A few years ago there was an article in The Atlantic that argued the idea of looking for the helpers was really intended for kids and not adults. I don’t entirely agree, I do think it’s a useful framing for adults too though incomplete…

Our Network members and other community leaders and organizations across the nation are feeling the fatigue that comes with being a 24/7 helper, especially in the context of migration crises of families fleeing destruction in Afghanistan and at our southern border where Haitians have come to seek safety and have been met with violence.

The piece that’s missing from that quote from Mr. Rodger’s mother is what Suzy points us to, the importance of the helpers caring for themselves with routine, rest, grounding, silence, play and mutual and professional support. (These are all things Mr. Rodgers practiced too, by the way, like his routine of swimming a mile each day slow and steady.)

The Network is one place where we look to help the helpers by sharing resources, tools, and most importantly creating a community of mutual support like we did at the event last week. In just a few months we’ll bring another group of helpers into the fold. I know many of us in the nonprofit space can use that kind of support, if that’s you I hope you’ll join us.

Learn more about the Hello Neighbor Network. The Hello Neighbor Network accepts applications for Fellows every fall. Sign up for our newsletterto be the first to know when applications open.