Christian Community Service Center offers a chance to change lives
After three decades as a skilled nurse and seven years running her own business, Sandra Winzer was ready to expand.
“I always knew when I was younger that I wanted to be a nurse and take care of people who can’t take care of themselves,” said Winzer, who serves several senior clients.
“So many seniors are afraid to go to nursing homes,” she said. “I made the decision to help them stay in their houses.”
Winzer started Sandra’s Health Care Providers Service in 2014, and her daughter Cassandra Ferrow jumped on board. Ferrow has long admired her mother’s compassion.
“The care she provides for people, it’s just natural,” Ferrow said. “It doesn’t even seem like it’s a job. It’s something she loves to do.”
Then, Ferrow found a flyer for a new caregiver program at the Christian Community Service Center, 3434 Branard.
Both mother and daughter enrolled in the 50-hour training program last fall.
“It redefined how to be a professional caregiver,” Winzer said.
Topics covered technical aspects, such as bathing, cleaning, personal hygiene and fall prevention, as well as business skills, including creating a plan, taxes and marketing. Instructors cover legal regulations, meal prep, how to transition from a bed to a wheelchair, as well as setting boundaries with clients, providing quality care and ethics.
“We also learned how to build relationships with our clients and professional communication,” Ferrow said.
Already Winzer said she has applied what she learned to her business.
“I think this is a tool we can use to help make our business more consistent,” Ferrow added. “We know what steps to take.”
The program could also provide Winzer with employees when she is able to expand.
“We can help take care of more seniors,” she said.
Caregiver program at Christian Community Service Center
The caregiver program is a new offering at the Christian Community Service Center. Currently, the organization is offering courses focused on dementia and prevention of falls and fractures. Coaching is also available for caregivers. The full 50-hour vocational training program is slated to start again in January.
Caregivers, also referred to as nonmedical direct care workers or personal care aides, assist older adults and people with disabilities with daily activities.
“The research shows that there is currently a huge gap between families who need care and existing caregivers,” the center’s executive director Michelle Shonbeck said.
The goal of CCSC is to equip clients for professional success through an entrepreneurial focus.
“There’s a shortage in the industry,” Shonbeck said. “And we have an opportunity to make a difference.”
The Gulf Coast Workforce Board, a division of Workforce Solutions, identified that personal care aide is the region’s secondfastest-growing occupation.
Caregivers also have a variety of employment options, including working for an agency or working directly for a family. And CCSC is committed to providing free training and help with job placement.
Graduates of the caregiver program also can take advantage of the organization’s coaching program, computer lab and careerdevelopment services.
Teaching a man to fish
The CCSC started in 1977, led by diaconal minister Dean Robinson at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church.
Then five additional churches joined the effort — St. John the Divine Episcopal, St. Andrew’s Presbyterian, Central Presbyterian, Bethany Christian and St. Stephen’s Episcopal. It was incorporated as a nonprofit in 1980.
The founding congregations shared the vision to meet immediate needs of people in crisis.
“Our mission is really alleviating the effects of poverty,” said Stefanie Lopez, program director of employment.
As more churches joined the organization, the mission grew. Member congregations wanted to maximize resources, prevent duplication of services and expand outreach.
“They realized they could be more effective if they work together, rather than each one on their own,” Lopez said.
Shonbeck has been affiliated with the center since 1988, first as a volunteer, then program director and now at the helm of the organization.
“We bring 39 churches together,” she said. “We don’t debate theology. We don’t get involved in politics. We’re laser focused.”
The CCSC serves the poor, hungry and disabled, regardless of religious affiliation.
“Helping people with employment is obviously important,” Lopez said. “And, with our employment programs, we really focus on filling gaps for our clients.”
JobNet is one service that the organization offers, providing free, skilled coaching and computer training.
Then, in 2003, the Martha’s Way program was added.
“It started in the early 2000s, when some churches came to us,” Lopez said. “Traditional job searches did not meet the needs of their congregation.”
The CCSC developed a unique, free training program to teach housekeeping, as well as the skills needed to launch a business. That included bidding for a job, budgeting and marketing.
About 2,040 individuals have graduated from the program, which has become the model for the caregiver program, Lopez explained.
New program — amid COVID
The CCSC has sought new ways to grow its employment program for years. Martha’s Way led board members to question, “Could we offer something similar?”
“What else can we do? Is there another niche no one is addressing?” Shonbeck said.
By 2017, a volunteer committee was formed to research the idea and evaluate different occupations.
“They wanted to find a field that was growing, a field where CCSC could find success,” Lopez said.
They found the answer in home health.
“Caregiving emerged because it’s growing so quickly throughout the country and particularly in the Houston area,” Lopez said.
Baby boomers are aging, she added. And more and more people are interested in aging in place, staying in their homes instead of entering an assisted-living facility.
As the need grew, CCSC also saw an increased interest in job training.
By 2019, the organization decided to focus on home health care.
“From there, we identified experts in this work to help us write a curriculum, the topics we needed to address and the business components,” Lopez said.
The plan was to launch a
caregiver program in the fall of 2020. Then COVID-19 hit.
“We still accomplished our goal,” Shonbeck said. “We just had to pivot. We had to do it entirely virtually.”
After a short delay to change the formatting, 18 students graduated from the 50-hour training program.
Called to service
Focus groups are currently evaluating how the first session of the training went.
“We’re looking at other services that caregivers need,” Lopez said. “We’re also looking at how to support caregivers and help them find financial stability. Our goal is to help caregivers have success in their fields.”
Findings from the focus group will further mold the program in 2022.
“We believe anyone motivated should be able to find work,” she said. “We try to find options where traditional options are not a great fit.”
Serving people who are struggling financially and lifting them up is the mission of the CCSC, she added.
“We know if we can help someone gain skills in a growing field, they’ll be able to find success and achieve their dreams,” she said. In addition to helping clients find meaningful employment, Lopez said the organization is helping to increase the number of caregivers in the city.
“Families are looking for different options to care for aging relatives, and we’re excited to be a part of that,” she explained.
It’s a win-win for CCSC, Shonbeck explained.
“Addressing poverty in your community is something churches are called to do — to help people who may never even walk into your church,” she said. “You want to make your community better in every way possible.”
“That’s part of living your faith,” she added. “Our faith calls us to service.”
“Our mission is really alleviating the effects of poverty.”
Stefanie Lopez