Welcome to a new blog series where we take a peek into the daily lives of Nellie’s staff members. First up is Jennifer Santicruz, our Community Support and Outreach Program Coordinator. In her role, Jennifer helps organize our five regular community programs: senior socialization, food bank, Women on the Move (for women with disabilities), WEAV (Women Ending Abuse and Violence), and empowerment self-defense.
Morning routine: “It’s always coffee first. I just sit for a few minutes and then I start talking to my birds.”
Coffee may be a typical morning kick-off for many, but Jennifer also starts her day by chatting with her two parrots, Marley and Jahjah. At 14 and 15 years old, Jennifer’s had these majestic birds for their whole lives — and those aren’t the only members of her menagerie. Jennifer also has more than a dozen fish, a shrimp aquarium, and one crab. On top of all the animals, she also has two kids: a daughter aged 11 who lives with her, and a son aged 30 who lives in the Philippines.
No two days look the same: “Nellie’s is a home. And when you come to Nellie’s as staff, this is our second home also, so the clients are like your family.”
Without a doubt, Jennifer has a natural gift for caregiving — she has a long history of working in social services, from mental health work, to palliative care, to addiction and harm reduction management. Here at Nellie’s, Jennifer’s work varies from day-to-day through the different programs she runs in our community.
In-office days: “I always leave our office door open because I like to see everybody walk by and say hi.”
On Mondays, Fridays, and every other Thursday, Jennifer is typically at the Nellie’s office prepping for the program days. Alongside her CSO colleague Antonia, the two women share ideas and collaborate on the development of each program. Jennifer also handles the logistics, including contacting partner organizations, securing transit tickets for participants, and making reminder calls. On Mondays, the day before the senior socialization group meets, Jennifer calls all 35 to 40 participants to remind them about the next day’s events, and then follows that phone call up with a text or an email as well. “[The program] is something for them to look forward to in a week, and it helps with their mental health,” Jennifer explains. “They need that purpose of something to go out for during the week.”
Program days: “The women are just very happy to be there. They appreciate the program and don’t want to lose it.”
Every Tuesday is our senior socialization group, on Wednesdays is our food bank program, and on every other Thursday is our Women on the Move program. To give us a peek into the rhythm of one of these days, Jennifer walks us through what a typical Tuesday looks like for her:
- After her morning coffee and chat with the birds, she walks from her house to the subway. Our seniors program usually runs at either East End United Regional Ministry or at WoodGreen Community Services, both of which are on the Danforth.
- Ahead of going to the program space, Jennifer stops at the nearest grocery store to pick up light snacks for the attendees.
- Before 10am, Jennifer is at the program space setting up chairs and tables, and many of her eager participants are there ahead of time to help out — some of the women show up as much as an hour early.
- Once it’s time to start, the first part of the program is always a warm-up exercise, like Tai Chi or stretching. Two of our clients lead the exercises for about 15 to 20 minutes, and the participants always love this part.
- Then they begin the main activity of the day, whether it’s a craft, a game, or a workshop, which Jennifer and Antonia will facilitate together.
- After the main activity, the participants do a little more exercise before they leave — sometimes it’s meditative movement like Tai Chi or Qi Gong, while other times they do some Zumba-style dancing.
- The program wraps up after about two hours, and Jennifer hands out PRESTO tickets to the participants to help them get to and from the meetup each week.
- Spending time with these women is a highlight for Jennifer, who really values the relationship she’s created with them. “You have to be genuine. If you’re going to fake it, you’re not going to survive,” Jennifer explains. “People will feel if you’re very fake in your approach — even if they can’t speak English, they will know if you’re faking it to make a connection.”
Off the clock: “When you’re holding a fishing rod, you’re staying calm and collected. Your brain is still trying to be busy, but it balances you, that quietness and stillness of it.”
At the end of a long day, Jennifer doesn’t need much to help her decompress — although she’ll never say no to some fried chicken, or a chance to connect with friends. On the weekends, however, her favourite way to unwind is fishing. She loves how peaceful and quiet it is when she’s fishing, something she has very little of in her daily life. While Jennifer usually fishes close to home, she’s also travelled to different parts of the Caribbean to cast her line out.
Thank you, Jennifer, for sharing your daily life with us, and for your time and service to Nellie’s.