When Jessica Griggs talks about her role as a social worker at Hope House, her passion for her job fills the entire room. And that’s exactly what it’s like to work with her on a daily basis.
Griggs’ drive to help others by becoming a part of their lives and making a lasting impression, led her to Hope House. She started college as nursing major, but decided to switch to social work after seeing the long-term impact Hope House had on mothers. She loved what she did so much that she later received her master’s degree in social work as well.
As with most social workers, there is no such thing as a normal day. Griggs does anything from running different co-ed and women’s groups that deal with anger management, self-esteem, depression and anxiety, to helping those who are HIV-positive cope with their situation.
“There are days where I’m able to get out of the office, too,” said Griggs. “I really love to do outreach work. I think that’s more of where my passion is. I’ll go set up booths in different parts of town, trying to recruit clients to come into Hope House by talking about why it’s important to protect yourself, what HIV looks like and who has it. I try to break down stigmas in the community, so that our clients can reach those resources without being attacked or having that stigma attached to them when they walk through the door.”
There are plenty of hard days at work, and that can be tough for any social worker who’s just trying to do the best they can. Jessica explained that with HIV, it’s important to stay on the regimen the doctor gives you. If someone is constantly going back and forth between taking medications and not taking them, it reduces the power of the drug. And for the kids who have been diagnosed since birth, if they don’t have a mother who’s willing to give them those medications on a regular basis, then by the time the child turns 18, there are very few medications left to take.
“We have some moms who have experienced that in their past,” said Griggs. They are struggling to take several different pills at once to decrease their viral load. It’s hard just to take one pill one time a day, but to take several pills several times a day is a lot harder on your body and system. They get depressed about it – and rightfully so. It’s hard, and it’s hard to motivate them to take the pills.”
But she knows that her work is making an impact on others, and she especially loves seeing the progress that her clients make from the time they arrive at Hope House, to who they become years later.
“I just love seeing how, when people come through our doors, they feel like they are broken, and then six months or two years down the line, you see how much they’ve grown from the services that you’ve provided to them, or the services that you were able to link them up with,” said Jessica. “You might have someone coming in who is homeless, feeling worthless and depressed and not taking their medicine. Their health is deteriorating. You see them six months or two years later, and they have a house, they have a stable job. Their kids are happier, so you know that things are going better at home. Just seeing the smile on their faces from when they come in, to where they are a year later, makes me feel like this is all worth it.”
Jessica’s ultimate goal is to reach people outside of Hope House’s doors and in different zip codes. She recognizes that Hope House is continuing to grow and hopes that the organization can hire more social workers and provide the opportunity to do more additional outreach work.
“Sometimes social work is hard. People hear all the bad stories, but there’s a lot of good that comes out of it. Seeing the smiles on their faces, is how I know that I’m doing some good.”
Hope House Heroes: Jessica Griggs
When Jessica Griggs talks about her role as a social worker at Hope House, her passion for her job fills the entire room. And that’s exactly what it’s like to work with her on a daily basis.
Griggs’ drive to help others by becoming a part of their lives and making a lasting impression, led her to Hope House. She started college as nursing major, but decided to switch to social work after seeing the long-term impact Hope House had on mothers. She loved what she did so much that she later received her master’s degree in social work as well.
As with most social workers, there is no such thing as a normal day. Griggs does anything from running different co-ed and women’s groups that deal with anger management, self-esteem, depression and anxiety, to helping those who are HIV-positive cope with their situation.
“There are days where I’m able to get out of the office, too,” said Griggs. “I really love to do outreach work. I think that’s more of where my passion is. I’ll go set up booths in different parts of town, trying to recruit clients to come into Hope House by talking about why it’s important to protect yourself, what HIV looks like and who has it. I try to break down stigmas in the community, so that our clients can reach those resources without being attacked or having that stigma attached to them when they walk through the door.”
There are plenty of hard days at work, and that can be tough for any social worker who’s just trying to do the best they can. Jessica explained that with HIV, it’s important to stay on the regimen the doctor gives you. If someone is constantly going back and forth between taking medications and not taking them, it reduces the power of the drug. And for the kids who have been diagnosed since birth, if they don’t have a mother who’s willing to give them those medications on a regular basis, then by the time the child turns 18, there are very few medications left to take.
“We have some moms who have experienced that in their past,” said Griggs. They are struggling to take several different pills at once to decrease their viral load. It’s hard just to take one pill one time a day, but to take several pills several times a day is a lot harder on your body and system. They get depressed about it – and rightfully so. It’s hard, and it’s hard to motivate them to take the pills.”
But she knows that her work is making an impact on others, and she especially loves seeing the progress that her clients make from the time they arrive at Hope House, to who they become years later.
“I just love seeing how, when people come through our doors, they feel like they are broken, and then six months or two years down the line, you see how much they’ve grown from the services that you’ve provided to them, or the services that you were able to link them up with,” said Jessica. “You might have someone coming in who is homeless, feeling worthless and depressed and not taking their medicine. Their health is deteriorating. You see them six months or two years later, and they have a house, they have a stable job. Their kids are happier, so you know that things are going better at home. Just seeing the smile on their faces from when they come in, to where they are a year later, makes me feel like this is all worth it.”
Jessica’s ultimate goal is to reach people outside of Hope House’s doors and in different zip codes. She recognizes that Hope House is continuing to grow and hopes that the organization can hire more social workers and provide the opportunity to do more additional outreach work.
“Sometimes social work is hard. People hear all the bad stories, but there’s a lot of good that comes out of it. Seeing the smiles on their faces, is how I know that I’m doing some good.”
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