Direct Care Work is Steele’s Passion

Advocates senior outreach clinician was recently featured in the Provider's Council newsletter  after winning the first Outstanding Human Service Professional Award presented in honor of Bill Taylor. Read the story below.

Barbara Steele, a senior outreach clinician in Advocates, Inc.’s mental health division, draws from her spirituality, personal and professional experience to gain the trust of her clients and inspire coworkers to match her patience, compassion and skill.

Steele, who has been with Advocates for 10 years, often finds herself in the position of working with supervisors who are less experienced than she is, but prefers to continue with direct care work over advancing to supervisory or a larger management role.

Steele works with clients in the community residential services program, providing support so individuals may start building the life they want for themselves.

“What I admire most is her ability to not give up and the way in which she can keep working with such grace,” said colleague Robyn Woodhouse. “She has worked through some challenging situations, (including those) that another staff person would have probably wanted to walk away from; but not her.”

Steele’s greatest strengths are considered to be her patience and her ability to build relationships with people who are reluctant to be receiving services. She understands the value of meeting people where they are at and building at each individual’s pace and in the direction they want to go. She has, among other things, helped people avoid eviction, see the value of good health care and even find a new source of hope after an overdose attempt.

One woman who Steele works with said she had previously felt comforted by others doing things for her and so she would avoid doing things for herself. In working with Steele, she started to realize the value in doing things for herself and experienced how good it feels to accomplish a goal.

Earlier this year Steele was recognized with the first Outstanding Human Service Professional Award presented in honor of Bill Taylor, the late Advocates CEO.

“She truly lives the philosophy and values that Bill Taylor represented,” said colleague Glenn Malloy.