Name: Erin Creal
Position: Executive director of Room in the Inn
Best part of the job: “Getting to see lives transformed. We provide the basics someone would need to survive, as well as case management, giving life skills and structure to their lives. A lot of times, they’re not quite ready for the program, but there are others who come through and they make a complete 180-degree turnaround in their attitude, and their focus and their ability to get along with others.”
Worst part of the job: “Paperwork.”
Biggest challenge of the job: “Getting the clients to decide to turn around and make different choices. We reinforce the rules and the structure of what they need to be doing in order to be self-sufficient and help their kids adjust well. Sometimes they’re not interested … and it’s up to us to convince them that that’s a better way. Some go ahead and move out to permanent housing, but we don’t consider them a graduate. Others, we wait and we wait, and finally they get it, and they start really working earnestly toward their goals.”
What she’s learned: “Don’t sweat the small stuff. The things that used to bother me when I was 25 don’t bother me at all anymore. You have to consider, ‘is this going to make a big difference if I react a certain way?’ If there’s nothing you can do to change a situation, you need to let it go.”
How to make a career of it: “Have nonprofit experience. Ever since I was 20, I’ve been working in nonprofits. That helps, that life experience. Have some public administration education and management skills.”