Meet Faith Ahrens (they/them). To start their career, Faith had been working in more corporate roles, including banking and sales. That’s when they realized they wanted to find something that spoke more to them. Someplace they could make a difference. So, eight months ago, Faith joined Jefferson Center as a Virtual Office Admin.

While looking for a role, they said, “It just sounded like a good fit.” And it has been! Since starting, Faith loves being the person to welcome others to the Center. Many clients come from community partner referrals and often don’t know what to expect. Being in the virtual office allows Faith to be the friendly face and welcome people to Jefferson Center while also providing support for what can feel like a daunting process.

For many people, the decision to go into a mental health career is because of personal experiences. Faith is one of those people as they share their family has a history of mental health and substance use disorders. They share that if they can be part of just one person’s life and help change their mind about mental health care, then it’s all worth it. For Faith, it’s about getting people started on their mental health journey. Faith reflected on one person they helped, who came to Jefferson Center through a referral and was trying hard to get clean. This reminded them of family members who had gone through similar struggles and allowed Faith to connect on an emotional level with the person and help them know they were not alone.

Faith says this empathy – a core value of Jefferson Center – is the best gift they can give. It means seeing others as people with stories and histories and we can care for them as a person. They feel this along with the teamwork among colleagues and the desire to see people succeed, both staff and clients, is what makes Jefferson Center so unique.

“I like that the culture is to communicate in a kind and helpful way and we can see the positive impact of our work every day.”

The artist when not at work, Faith loves expressing themselves through their art. While other means of art such as animation, painting, and sculpting are part of Faith’s work, their preferred medium is ink, and they participate annually in Inktober. Inktober provides a word prompt each day through the month of October and they create an ink drawing (check out their incredible drawing from the word prompt “nest”)!

When not drawing or at work, Faith spends their time with her husband Zach. Some favorite past times include video games (Minecraft, anyone?), hockey, and playing Dungeons and Dragons on the weekends.

No matter what, Faith’s compassion and empathy shine through and their desire to help others in all aspects of their life is evident. These and so much more are why we are so happy Faith is on the Jefferson Center team!