Jaymes Sime

• Connect with James on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaymessime/
• Learn more about the Child Saving Institute: https://childsaving.org/ 

Jaymes Sime: 

Change your thoughts, change your life. 

Announcer:

Welcome to Agency for Change, a podcast from KidGlov that brings you the stories of changemakers who are actively working to improve our communities. In every episode, we’ll meet with people who are making a lasting impact in the places we call home.

Lisa Bowen:

At KidGlov, we have the privilege of working with many nonprofits, but some of my favorites are those who serve children and families. One nonprofit that helps children and families in need of additional support during challenging times is the Child Saving Institute, also known as CSI. They’ve been serving the Omaha area for 130 years and have big plans to continue because the need for support isn’t going away anytime soon. They have a bold vision for all children to have homes where hope is kindled, and dreams can be achieved. They work towards this vision by offering program as diverse as the needs of today’s youth. Services include early childhood development, prevention, intervention, and healing from child abuse, neglect and trauma, mental health services, parenting support and education, and an emergency shelter to name a few.

Hi everyone, this is Lisa Bowen, vice president, managing director at KidGlov. Welcome to another episode of the Agency for Change Podcast. Today’s guest is Jaymes Sime, president and CEO of the Child Saving Institute. If you’re a regular listener of our podcast, you’ll know that this isn’t the first time we’ve talked with CSI, but we wanted to give Jaymes an opportunity to tell his story. He’s been at CSI as the leader since October of 2021 and has some exciting news to share and we’d love to get his personal thoughts on the direction of the organization. So, thanks for joining me today, Jaymes.

Jaymes Sime:

Absolutely. Thank you so much for having me.

Lisa Bowen:

So Jaymes, I always like to start by learning a little bit about our guest, and I know you have a very interesting story and a passion for nonprofit. So, can you talk a little bit about your path and your passion for working for nonprofits and how that started and what really sparked that for you?

Jaymes Sime:

Absolutely. Well, as you know, sometimes you have these draws or desires that in your youth or as a child and you really can’t connect the why behind some of that until you’ve navigated the path a little bit. But really my family situation growing up, times weren’t easy, grew up poor. I think that might even actually be embellishing the situation a little bit. We spent some time actually without housing for about six months and just really struggled with a single mom, six kids, just navigating all of those life challenges.

So, at some point in time, early on I just knew that I wanted to help people and I thought the way that I was going to go about doing that was actually some type of law enforcement. So, I set course, went to the University of Northern Iowa. Criminology was my major, sociology was my minor, and I thought, yeah, I got this thing figured out, right? Life is laid out in front of me. And then I had a professor and a mentor, really, looked at one of the projects I had did where I had to interview an adult offender at a residential correctional facility in Waterloo, Iowa. And I didn’t know it was outside the norm. I thought it was a very strange situation, but I’m about five minutes into interviewing this person and they start crying and as a college student, I’m like, “I don’t know how to deal with this.” But I went through the hour session, and I turned my tape over to my professor. It was basically his acknowledgement that maybe I could have better impact working with youth. And that’s just really changed the arc of the whole thing.

So, threads of my personal story, going back to how we benefited as a family from nonprofits and the community really wrapping their arms around us, to like most folks, you have an adult come in your life, give you a nudge or suggestion, you kind of take that and here we are in 2023.

Lisa Bowen:

Wow, that is amazing. I really appreciate you sharing your story. I’m sure that’s going to be impactful to many and it really speaks to why you do have the passion you do. I can confirm that you are definitely helping people in a different way. It might not be law enforcement, but you definitely followed your dream, so congrats on that.

Jaymes Sime:

Yeah, certainly. Thank you.

Lisa Bowen:

So, the Child Saving institute’s been around for a while, 130 years in Omaha serving families and children in need. From your perspective, what’s the most important thing for the community to know about your organization?

Jaymes Sime:

Hey, just know about our organization, for one, I think that’s one opportunity that we continue to find daily is just letting folks know that we’re here. We need to do a better job at that. And so, hello, come learn about us if you’re not aware. But really 130 years, geez, we’ve really adapted and changed as the needs of the community have. So, we’re really just here to help children and families.

One of our agency values is we do what’s best for kids and that’s what we’ve tried to do for 130 years. So that doesn’t mean that we meet every need or provide every service, but the service incident supports that we do provide, we ensure that they’re high quality, that they’re informed by best practices and our experience, and we take really seriously hiring some of the best staff to deliver those services. And in other areas we can partner with our nonprofit friends. Sometimes it’s best to deliver services that way where we can refer to somebody else who’s the expert in the area and lean on their expertise. Basically, we’re here to help. We adjust to the community’s needs. We’ve survived now a couple pandemics, so we’re not going away, and we invite people to definitely learn more about us.

Lisa Bowen:

Awesome. So, you talked about one of your big win would just be having more people know about you, but I know from working with CSI in the past that one of your biggest challenges is just helping people understand the depth and breadth and everything that you do as an organization. Can you attempt to sum that up for us?

Jaymes Sime:

Yeah. Attempt is going to be the best word. We are currently in a process where we can do this more thoughtfully. But I think for people to understand, when you look at the mixture of programs and services, it’s the simplest ways that we do multiple services because we want to meet families and children where they are. The needs of a four-year old are different than the needs of a 14-year-old. The needs of a single parent are different than the needs of a two-parent household. That just means we want to have a lot of programs and services at our disposal to try to meet those families where they are across a continuum. So, some families just need a one quick touch, maybe that’s quickly through a parenting class and something clicks with them and they need no more support from the organization.

Other folks, they may be enrolled in our early childhood center, and we might be a long five, six years of involvement if they have one child go through our center and across that course of serving that family, that child may have some social-emotional needs that we can support with other programs and services. So, you can just kind of see the varied approach. We want to have as many options available to meet the families where they are. That’s not a quick summary. It is still complex to get down to a handful of words, but I think we’re addressing complex issues. It’s never really going to be like a ShamWow commercial, I guess. It’s far more complex than that. And the best way again is to dig in, dive, ask questions. We’re trying to do our part as well. Sometimes we are experts, so therefore we talk as such. And sometimes we need to use different language as we’re communicating externally to our friends and the community and we’re trying to make an intentional pathway as an organization to do that.

Lisa Bowen:

Great. So, we’ve heard a little bit about a big project you’re working on, which I know is consuming a lot of your time and energy right now called Campaign for Hope. Can you tell me a little bit about the campaign and what the impact the end result will have on the community is?

Jaymes Sime:

Yeah, and I’m so excited. It was actually one of the things that was a huge draw for me to consider this opportunity as the CEO of CSI. The board of directors and previous CSI leadership, let me first say that they were really thoughtful and methodical really. Where we are in Omaha at 46th and Dodge, that’s a great location, highly visible but difficult to acquire property to address any expansion needs. It took a lot of years to acquire a property to our east and to our west, hats off to previous leadership. There were a lot of conversations. I’ve looked through some meeting minutes. I just want to say that is a very important part of the process because then the last 16 months talking about more of the master planning and you can’t do that unless you have the property in hand.

The Campaign for Hope as a whole, we went through a really thoughtful strategic planning process just before I was hired where I’d identified some areas of opportunity for the organization to grow to meet that community need. And so, once you have the programs identified, really then it goes to an actual master planning process. Early on in 2022, we engaged TAC Architects, we brought project advocates on the team. We hired Kiewit as a contractor. We went through program area by program area to say, “What’s working in our facilities? What would you change if you could?” And just looking at the whole ball of yarn, unraveling it all and basically trying to put it back together while increasing our capacity.

Through that process, we identified that we would do an addition to our building. And so that’s what we’re working on. So, we’re doing about a 57,000 square foot addition. We’re renovating the 50,000 square foot of our building. The goal is to expand outpatient mental health services. So basically, doubling our practice. Just for a frame of reference, last year we were able to serve about 405 children and families through that program. It’s anticipated once this project’s done, that number will grow to over 800. We’re going to expand our early childhood center, adding four traditional classrooms to the current 12 classrooms we have, and then adding a small program that we’re calling our Supportive Early Education Program. And that’s to meet some needs of some children who are having some behavioral concerns due to some trauma that they’ve experienced.

And then our current youth shelter really isn’t the desired facilities. It doesn’t currently meet the needs of the youth that we’re serving. We’re adding some recreation space, adding a classroom space, being more thoughtful and trauma informed in our design. The combination of those really three core programs, our adolescent and youth mental health services, our early childhood education, and our youth shelter. And then the rest of the building, because things are changing, we start renovating certain areas. So, the building blends together, capturing some opportunities to replace carpet, paint, lighting. All the stuff that sounds less exciting, exciting than program expansion, but for operating a business is absolutely necessary, that’s the bits and pieces, and it’s a big project, right?

We’re raising $46 million to achieve those goals, but the exciting news is hopefully we are starting on the addition within the next five months, which is pretty amazing to think about. If we can achieve that goal, that means we would’ve hit the 80% fundraising threshold and in about a year’s time. That’s pretty amazing and really is a testament to our chairs, Cindy Heider and Melanie Hecker who are co-chairing that as well as to the community and their support for our mission and them coming around and knowing that there’s a need.

Lisa Bowen:

And it speaks volumes to you and what you guys do at CSI and all of your staff there. People know about the great work you’re doing and want to support that. So speaking of that support, how can listeners support the campaign if they would like to?

Jaymes Sime:

Yeah, absolutely. We’ve talked about getting curious. Just popping on our website, childsaving.org. Chelsey, our marketing director and Katie have done a great job putting that information at the forefront, just clicking on that website and navigating some of our case statements. As you can see, some of the renderings that we’ve called out, we’re hopeful that we can upload some videos in the coming weeks, really just learning more. And obviously, if folks want to make a financial contribution, please reach out to anybody at CSI and they will put you in touch with our chief development officer, Lori Bechtold or myself, always invited to do that. But one of the best ways that the community can get involved is learn more and get excited. We want there really to be a buzz in the community about this. It is a heavy lift, and we hope that building itself is a physical representation of the organization, evolving to meet those community needs and also hopeful that it can do some marketing for us and take advantage of this location within Omaha.

Lisa Bowen:

That’s great. Great. Well, best of luck with the campaign and hopefully this’ll help get the word out a little bit more for you.

Jaymes Sime:

Absolutely.

Lisa Bowen:

So being in the nonprofit sector for a very long time, there’s lots of misconceptions. Do you come across any for Child Saving Institute, and what are your solutions for overcoming those?

Jaymes Sime:

Yeah, it’s like you’re inside my head a little bit. This is something, and it isn’t unique to CSI. I’ll just say this is common across the sector, right? First and foremost, nonprofit is not a business model. It is a tax status. I say that to say that if nonprofits make profit, those profits are invested back into doing the work. Versus a for-profit, if profits are made, those go back to shareholders. And those shareholders could be a variety of people who have invested in the mission of that for-profit business. I think that’s just an important distinction to make.

As a sector, we’re constantly fighting capacity within each organization. And I think the crux of all of that is if you’re always shooting just to break even, the thresholds in margins for error are so thin. When you don’t hit that baseline threshold, you just get into this cycle. It’s not a positive cycle if you miss your revenue projections or your cash flow projection. Nobody wants to be in that case when they’re running a business. When you’re a nonprofit and you’re already behind the market for salaries, wages, benefits, operating that way is just a recipe for chaos. I think that’s a very, very important part. And really most of the time our customers cannot pay for our services, at least not the full cost to provide those services.

So essentially, what we’re doing when we’re fundraising, asking for in-kind contributions, putting on events, is asking people to subsidize the true cost of providing those services. And that’s what is happening at the background. There is a cost to do these things, and that’s how we ask the community to step up. We’re very fortunate that the community steps up in a big way, but the sector as a whole is fighting those things.

And then finally, as another hat I wear as the board president for the Nonprofit Association of the Midlands, I think it’s very important and people are often unaware of this fact that nonprofits across the country employ over 12 million people. It’s roughly 10% of our workforce. If nonprofits aren’t thriving and doing their work, it has an economic impact. And guess what? If 10% of employees across the country are underpaid, that means they’re not participating in the local economy in the way that is positive and productive as well. So, they can’t buy houses, buy cars, invest in their retirement, go on vacation. It’s important to say yes, providing crucial services, employing a lot of people. And the opportunity is if we can get out of that cycle of starvation and really have more nonprofits thriving, that’s better for the global economy as well.

It’s complex, nuanced. My peers and I have that conversation all the time, and I appreciate the opportunity to explain a little bit. There are literally books written on the topic, and I just love when people get a little bit curious. Sometimes folks as the CEO of the organization, you run into some folks where it’s like, “Yeah, but you don’t know what it’s like to run a real business” and I sometimes have to just stop and pause and like, “Oh, I wish I was just selling a good or a service charging what the cost was and building profit into that transaction.” This is a little more complex. Not to say that the work of a for-profit business isn’t also complex, but there’s an increased complexities when somebody who’s funding the service is not the direct customer. We have to bridge the gap. That’s why we have to be able to tell our story. That’s why we have a mission and that’s why we do amazing podcasts like this so we can share with the community.

Lisa Bowen:

Awesome. That is such a great perspective. And I get it 100%. I’ve worked in the for-profit and nonprofit arenas, and I know what you’re talking about. Very important work you’re doing. My next question, you mentioned 10% of people work in nonprofit right now. What advice do you give for young people contemplating like, “Hey, I want to do good. I would love to work for a nonprofit, but can I survive, and can I raise a family?” And those are real things that I think people struggle with. What would your advice be?

Jaymes Sime:

Yeah. I think just for young folks in the sector, we want to retain you and people who are considering a career. Generally, for young professionals, if you’re in this sector and you are in Omaha or Lincoln, get involved with the Young Nonprofit Professionals network. That is one thing that’s relatively new to our community. I was part of the early founding board of The Young Nonprofit Professionals Network of Greater Omaha. That is set to be a kind of relationship in peer builder, but you’re not navigating some of those issues and challenges in isolation. And as a young professional, we also need young professionals who will continue to use their voice to elevate some of the challenges that they’re experiencing as a young employee within the organizations. It’s a both end scenario.

I, as the leader of the organization really do appreciate when young professionals, I still kind of consider myself a young professional, I’m in the waning years, but my door really is open, and I need the feedback and we need to be held accountable to our aspirations as an organization as well. We really want to pay competitively. We want to make it really hard for people to choose the exit button on us as CSI or us as the sector. Unfortunately, we’re not there yet as an organization, and the sector is significantly trailing behind.

And so those are realities. There are different nonprofits, different avenues and different ways to still get involved, even if you’re not formally jumping into the nonprofit employment pool. Volunteerism is a great example of that, and certain nonprofits have built their model around being able to compensate better. We need to shake the cycle that I talked about earlier on and focus on real sustainability as organizations has healthy competitive compensation at the core of that, because at the end of the day, we don’t deliver programs and services without people, and people need to be compensated fairly for the incredibly challenging work that they’re doing daily. I know those things matter to our young professionals. Absolutely. They don’t want to start the game of life any further behind the eight-ball than they are with all the challenges with student loan debt, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

Lisa Bowen:

Absolutely. Absolutely. And I’m so glad that you’re out there advocating for that change and representing those young professionals. You are still a young professional.

Jaymes Sime:

Thank you.

Lisa Bowen:

I’m not unfortunately, Jaymes.

Jaymes Sime:

Well, young is… Who knows? Who writes definitions? We can write Webster and change that. I don’t even think it’s limited to that. Some young professional groups are like, “Oh yeah, if you feel okay,” I’m like, “You’re being really too kind here people.”

Lisa Bowen:

That’s awesome. Yeah, I think that what you’re doing is great. I’m really happy that you mentioned that you don’t have to work for a nonprofit to get involved with a nonprofit. There are so many seats that need to be filled on boards and so many volunteer opportunities. So, I’m really glad that you mentioned that as well.

Jaymes Sime:

Yeah, absolutely.

Lisa Bowen:

So, I know there’s lots of challenges you’ve faced on a daily basis as a leader of an organization that does difficult sometimes heart-wrenching work. How do you do it? What keeps you going? How do you get by day to day when some of the stories you’re hearing and some of the things you’re seeing I know are challenging?

Jaymes Sime:

Right. I think we’re all navigating the external pressures of inflation and a prolonged pandemic. And really the task of a leader and removing the title from that, I do believe in that purest essence that we all are leaders. You have to, they say, put on your oxygen mask first. If I don’t have some ability, even if I drift from my center, some ability to land back with my routine and the things that ground me, that’s very, very important. And so having a routine, whether that’s you focus on gratitude, which is something that I try to do. I have to have my workout routine. Some weeks are better than others. I have to give myself grace when I fail on those opportunities. And so, it’s the mixture of all of that where having a routine in a way that gets you back to a baseline because at some days your cup is drained a little more than others.

If you’re a leader like me and not everybody shows up the way I show up, not that the way I show up is any better or different, it’s just I tend to lead with a lot of passion and energy, I have to be mindful of that. If my energy is not there, that is very visible from the team. So, I’m really intentional and guarded about what my morning routine looks like. Giving myself enough time to wake up to do a little activity in the morning, to focus, to come in, provide a little bit of levity, to provide a lot of energy. Yeah, imperfect. I’m still figuring it out. If anybody were to answer a question like that and say, “This is the book and this is the final chapter,” they’re wrong. Growth and renewal is a day-to-day, week-to-week, year-to-year thing. And every day as I’m listening, reading articles, things I’m incorporating into that routine which I’ve talked about, vague because it’s not locked in.

I mean, literally a month ago I changed what I’m doing in the morning, just getting up 15 minutes earlier, allowing myself 15 minutes on the Peloton, 20 minutes in the sauna where I’m drinking my coffee. The benefit has been enormous. I was still being productive in the morning, but not like that. And just that much more intentionality, then when I walk into the door at CSI, I’m fully present, I feel like I’ve already accomplished a couple things and I’m ready to give the organization my all.

Lisa Bowen:

That’s great. Great advice. Take care of yourself first.

Jaymes Sime:

Absolutely.

Lisa Bowen:

So, I’ve heard that you had the chance to meet Christopher Gardner whose story is a basis for the movie Pursuit of Happiness. Can you tell me a little bit about how that happened? And is he as inspirational as Will Smith portrayed him in the movie?

Jaymes Sime:

Yeah, that’s a funny story. I think I want to tell as much of that because I think there’s a lot of advice to be picked through. And so, I can’t tell you the year this even happened, but it was one of those days where I had this event on my calendar. It’s an after-work event. It’s a ribbon cutting for Operation HOPE Inside. They have opened a location at Mutual of Omaha. It was one of those long days where you’re looking at this post-work thing not mandated by anybody, and you’re like, “Ugh, I could just cruise right by Mutual of Omaha on my way home.” At the time, my brain is telling me that’s the choice, right? But I didn’t.

So, I showed up at the thing and then John Hope Bryant is the person who started this HOPE Inside and he has this forum called the HOPE Global Forum that he hosts in Atlanta every year. So, he gives this speech and it really resonated. His personal story resonated with my personal story, which then compelled me not just to attend the event, it’s like, “Gosh, if I can wiggle my way to the front of this room and meet John…” Like, I’m just feeling synergy. I don’t know what it is, but something tells me to try. I wasn’t going to stock in the parking lot or do anything like that, but if there was an opportunity, I was going to take it.

And sure enough, had an opportunity, I said, “Hey, John.” At the time I was running another organization called MICAH House. We were doing a thing on Thursday nights called Transformation Thursday, which was all about positive psychology. I told him a little bit about that, a little bit about my story. And in a three-minute interaction, he pulls out his business card and he says, “I would love to invite you down to our HOPE Global Forum. Reach out to our assistant.” I don’t even know what it was.

So, I did and they provided. My ticket was covered, I had to get down there and pay for accommodations. And then I almost missed the opening keynote because the travel didn’t go as planned and I arrived to Atlanta a little later. And so, I rushed to the hotel, dropped my bag off, disheveled in Christopher Gardner speaking. If you’ve seen the Pursuit of Happiness, you know there’s a lot of synergy there. The story really resonated as somebody who persisted through a lot of challenges and a lot of times just this self-belief because both folks in the circle weren’t really providing that. We can have a whole conversation about your social supports and why those matter, but in absence of, you need to have self-belief.

And so, he does this great thing, gets everybody fired up and opening keynotes done. Well, Jaymes didn’t have a chance to eat because the flight and the things. I run up to my hotel room. I wasn’t going to go find a late-night burger in a suit. I was going to at least be comfortable. And as I pop back outside the hotel, there’s Christopher Gardner. And again, same thing. Part of me is like, “Yeah, I could wave a nod.” But the random set of events that have now led me to this opportunity, I go over there, and he does have folks with him. So, if I approached that wrong, there was a chance of me being body slammed. I avoided that reality.

I just reached out my hand and I said, “Hey Chris, your story was very impactful to me.” At the time I was using this really quippy kind of thing as the formerly homeless child who now runs a homeless shelter. His face lit up and he stood up right away. And as I was extending my hand for a handshake, he gives me a giant bear hug. He’s a pretty big guy. The conversation was relatively brief, but the essence was “Keep up the work. That matters too. Your outcomes or impact might not be massive financially.” Chris has achieved a pretty significant success on the business side of things.

So long story short, wow, for all of those things to happen the way they did, I had to be just motivated enough to do the thing that I knew would add value long term even though my mind was saying, “The couch is calling, Jaymes. Go sit on it and write,” and then every step along the way. It’s a great story, but it’s a testament to everything I know and believe. I know not every time can you be affirmed like that when you make that decision. But again, when you look back and connect the dots, that doesn’t happen If I don’t go to that event. That doesn’t happen if I then don’t have the courage to talk to John.

Delta Airlines had a little impact in all of this too. So, thank you, Delta, for delaying my travel somewhat for the meeting. But it’s funny how that works out. And I will say, and I’m sure you’ve had similar experiences, if you reflect on some of these, whether they’re a challenge or an opportunity, gosh, the insight that’s laid out there. Sometimes that really does create a roadmap for future things, future opportunities. And so, I’m always trying to be somewhat aware as I’m in the moment because as soon as you become self-aware, you can really capture everything that’s meant to learn from those experiences.

Lisa Bowen:

Yeah. And you have to put yourself out there. You could have been body slammed, you’re very right.

Jaymes Sime:

Yeah.

Lisa Bowen:

But you weren’t, right?

Jaymes Sime:

Yeah. These people were like, “Oh no. Oh no.” I was like, “Ugh.”

Lisa Bowen:

That’s great. What an awesome story you have to share there.

Jaymes Sime:

Yeah.

Lisa Bowen:

So you seem like a pretty inspirational guy. I’m wondering, we like to hear quotes from people, original quotes. Do you have a few words of your own to share with us?

Jaymes Sime:

Yeah. I don’t know if you’ve… Original quotes are really hard to come by now in the age of the internet.

Lisa Bowen:

Right.

Jaymes Sime:

But I do think this is somewhat original and definitely original and authentic in its intent. Going back to that Transformation Thursday, as we were developing that program, really the essence that we are trying to create for people who are experiencing the crisis of homelessness in the shelter is, “Yes, that’s a situational challenge and here are the things that we can help you work with tangibly to address that need.” But also, everyone, not just folks who are experiencing that crisis, like the ability to change our thoughts.

So, the quote was, or the tagline that we put on that was “Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life.” This is something I talk about even to our staff at CSI. We had our all staff meeting on last Friday, our, what we call First Fridays. It’s a theme that I’m bringing forward to our employees is, if you can recognize, and there’s science to back it up, that 80% of our thoughts are negative, 90% of those thoughts are repetitive, meaning we’re thinking the same negative thoughts day in and day out, which is forming our belief system about ourselves and the world that we’re operating. If you know those two statistics and you know how thoughts really do rule the day, and you talked about that opportunity, I wouldn’t have been in Atlanta to have that encounter had my thoughts won the day, there is opportunities even if you could eat into 5% significant opportunity upside and how you navigate and view the world.

I think we can all understand if we interject a little… And sometimes it is interjectfalsely and sometimes it feels performative, but you need to do those things because the media, because everybody is operating in these same scenarios. And there are real challenges that we’re navigating. Not to say that you can be 100% positive. But if you interject a gratitude journaling practice, if you take time to develop intentional relationships focused on the positive aspects of those relationships, those are the things that really are a needle mover. And so, I do tend to be stereotyped as an energizer bunny and overly optimistic if there is such a thing that’s not my state all the time. I do struggle with the self-talk. I do struggle with all the things that people struggle with. It is really my routine, my awareness. And I know when I’m not there and not being authentic and true to who I am.

So, change your thoughts, change your life. Once you start to understand that dynamic and start to build in processes to change that, I just think you just show up better in every facet of your life. If there’s a part of your life, whether that’s personal or professional that needs improving, understanding what’s going on between your years is very important.

Lisa Bowen:

That’s awesome advice. I do also believe that a positive attitude can change everything. And negativity is so exhausting also, isn’t it?

Jaymes Sime:

Really. And both of those things will consume all the oxygen in the room. It’s what you are allowing to. So, negativity will consume all the oxygen and positivity. I think what you’re describing is I’d much rather be in a space where positivity is consuming the oxygen because both are also infectious. So, I think positive thoughts, build momentum. We’re trying to build a culture around some of the… It’s hard. It’s really hard. We’re working on a big project. There are so many opportunities to be stressed, to be frustrated, but that’s where our mind wants to go. We are not building in opportunities then continuously or consistently enough to celebrate even small wins. And from an organizational standpoint, it’s a heavier lift than an individual standpoint, but winning the game person by person and then hopefully we can develop the mechanics as an organization to be there as well. Because the work in the question earlier on is really heavy.

And so, some of that negativity is there for us to deal with and process. We don’t need to layer on any additional.

Lisa Bowen:

I’m sure your colleagues enjoy that positive energy you bring to work every day. So, thank you for doing that.

Jaymes Sime:

Sometimes. I think they’d prefer if I cut the coffee out of the morning routine, but that’s not happening.

Lisa Bowen:

Nope. Then you’d be truly a different person, I bet, right?

Jaymes Sime:

Absolutely.

Lisa Bowen:

Awesome. So, you’ve talked a lot about the great work that you do at CSI. For people who want to learn more about what you do and how they can support you, can you remind our listeners the best way to do that?

Jaymes Sime:

Yeah, the best way is go to our website, childsaving.org. Click around. Currently, 2023, it’s an imperfect website, but that’s also something we’re working on as an organization, to improve that experience. But just click around, learn more. We’re doing a lot. Attend an event. If you want to come in for a tour, reach out to somebody. Send us a message through the website, we’d be happy to have you. Really, we appreciate when people get curious about our work, ask thoughtful questions, come in for tours, volunteer. We really want to be a part of the community and the way you do that is invite the community into your work. And so that invitation is open and extended. If there’s anything that I can do as the CEO of the organization, please do reach out to me as well. I will try my best not to drop the email. I think I’ve said multiple times on this. I am imperfect though, so if it takes a second email, grant me a little grace and I will reply to that second one.

Lisa Bowen:

Awesome. I know there are lots of volunteer opportunities at CSI. Our team, I think it was last year or maybe two years ago, did a drive at Christmas for some kids. It was so rewarding, and our team had such a great time doing it. So, I would encourage others to look at opportunities to support what you’re doing.

Jaymes Sime:

Thank you for sharing that. Drives are oftentimes some of the easiest and most impactful things we can do because the nature of our work, sometimes getting direct client access because of the nature of the work and the systems that families or children are involved with, just really doesn’t allow for it from a trauma-informed standpoint. But there are tangible goods that we are providing all the time. And so based on a group’s desires or interests or CSI’s need, depending on the time of the year as you alluded to, there are a variety of different options from getting clothes for youth that we’re serving in our ILS program or diapers for expecting mothers that we’re serving in our teen and young parent program. Really it is a wide spectrum of in-kind items that we can get directly to clients. And so, thank you. That is a tremendous way that folks can get involved.

Lisa Bowen:

Very rewarding. So, we’ve talked about a lot today, so I’m going to ask you to sum it up here by saying, as we end our time here, what’s the most important thing you want people to know about CSI?

Jaymes Sime:

Most important thing is just continue to trust us to do the work that we’ve been doing. 130 years. Not a lot of businesses last that long. We’re fortunate that the community really has trusted us for that long. They’ve joined us in partnership. And really as we continue to figure out that balance or that dance, that’s how we succeed. And so please do find ways to bring us into your heart to support our work, whether that’s through volunteerism, making a contribution or simply sitting around a dinner table and telling a friend about the organization. Sometimes it is as simple as that. And so, thanks for your trust. I hope a little bit of this is folks understanding a little bit about Jaymes. We are really earnestly working to expand services in a high-quality way and position ourselves as an organization that’s going to be here for the next 130 years.

I’m sure the things we’re doing at that point in time will have changed. Who knows? ChatGPT might be doing everything for Jaymes, so I might be out of a job soon, but that’s not lost on me. Even though I’m new to the organization, the 130 years and the weight that brings, it means something for every employee here at CSI. So, we’re just thankful that the community has trusted us for so long and continues to trust us. This Campaign for Hope is just another prime example to see how the community really rallies around us.

Lisa Bowen:

Awesome. Well, Jaymes, thank you so much for taking time today to tell us a little bit about yourself and CSI and the great work you’re doing. And thank you for continuing that 130-year mission of great work. I wish you the best with your campaign. I’m glad it’s going well, and I look forward to a tour when you’re all done.

Jaymes Sime:

Great. Thanks so much. Welcome anytime, Lisa.

Lisa Bowen:

Awesome. Thanks, Jaymes.

Announcer:

We hope you enjoyed today’s Agency for Change podcast. To hear all our interviews with those who are making a positive change in our communities, or to nominate a changemaker you’d love to hear from, visit KidGlov.com at K-I-D-G-L-O-V.com to get in touch. As always, if you like what you’ve heard today, be sure to rate, review, subscribe, and share. Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you next time.