Originally published in May 2020 Newsletter

Meet Janmarie Brown, who joined Hope’s Door in September 2019 to lead our Community Services department. She oversees all ten of the Community Services staff and runs a wide array of programs, including adult and children’s counselors, the High Risk Reduction Team, the Human Trafficking program, the Youth Prevention Team, the Family Justice Center, and the Next Step Economic Empowerment program.

In addition to counseling her own clients, she also shares with Assistant Director Maya Lloyd the supervision of all of the counselors in their own practices.

“During supervision, Janmarie always makes it a point to check on how I am doing, both personally and professionally. That is something I always appreciate and love about her. She strives to make sure her staff is happy and being the best version of themselves, every day,” says Stephanie Aguayo, one of Hope’s Door bilingual counselors.

From the first day she started working at Hope’s Door, where she was literally greeted by her entire staff fist pumping and chanting her name, she immediately established team camaraderie and trauma-informed client care as the prevailing norms of the department.  “Janmarie is a natural leader. She understands how to engage with each of us and always goes the extra mile whenever someone needs assistance. When I have questions about how to help a client, she gives the best advice to me,” exclaims Aguayo.

Brown grew up in the Bronx, with parents who struggled to live happily together. When she was 12 years old, her parents split, but for economic reasons continued to share the family home. At a young age, Janmarie was exposed to a wide array of social ills – at the time, her neighborhood was well known for sexual exploitation and dangerous streets. By middle school, Janmarie thought she wanted to be a psychiatrist. By her college years, she realized she was better suited to counseling individuals through difficult situations in their life.

There were some bumps along the way. “I was a typical teenager, rippin’ and runnin’ and doing whatever I wanted. When I went off to college, I took advantage of the new freedom, so much so that I lost my scholarship.” She also was experiencing intimate partner violence with her boyfriend, and reeling from living in New York through 9/11. It was at this moment that Janmarie realized she needed to change. She pivoted and began to take charge of her education, her relationships, and build a life she could be proud of. She graduated in 2004 and began her work with children on the autism spectrum. Shortly thereafter, she secured a Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy, and began working in a residential treatment center. By 2008 the recession had hit, and the grant supporting her work went away. She took a position at Gateways, working with victims of commercial sexual exploitation. She built a really strong relationship with her supervisor, and somewhat reluctantly took over the lead position at Gateways several years later. When the position was phased out in 2017, she went to Andrus Children’s Center in Yonkers, working with children facing challenges because of “trauma or stress, developmental issues such as autism and the accompanying emotional dysregulations.”

Throughout all of these positions, Janmarie saw that through therapy and hard work, those who have experienced trauma do have the ability to come out of it stronger. She is committed to helping her clients find ways to overcome the situations in which they find themselves, or at least learn to live more fully within their situations. The transition to Hope’s Door is a culmination of all her other work. Over the years, she has developed many contacts and strong connections throughout the County.  “Janmarie holds a wealth of knowledge when it comes to finding other agencies that can help support client needs. I had a client who was looking for a very specific form of counseling for their child; Janmarie immediately referred an agency that turned out to be ideal for the family,” said Alexa Kauffman, Youth Prevention Program Coordinator and Domestic Violence Counselor at Hope’s Door. Melissa Diodati, Hope’s Door Residence Director adds, “Janmarie brings so much information and knowledge from her work at a residential treatment center. She is certainly a great resource to us at the shelter.”

“I felt so lucky to arrive on my first day at Hope’s Door and find a cohesive group that worked well together and are so hungry to learn,” Brown said with a smile. She leads biweekly group staff meetings as well as conducts weekly one-on-one supervision sessions with each of her staff. “They are not afraid to ask questions and learn. Their ideas are what’s pushing us to grow and expand,” she adds.

When asked what about her work at Hope’s Door brings her the most joy, she said despite being surrounded each day by the trauma that her clients experience, it is knowing that people can come out of the darkness. “It’s often the little things. Individuals who come to us so distressed, yet go through counseling and secure their own safety. Perhaps they participate in our Next Step Economic Advancement program and get a driver’s license and then a job.” Often clients call their Hope’s Door counselor months later and let them know they have secured their own apartment.

We asked Janmarie what she finds most challenging about the work we do at Hope’s Door. She thinks for a bit before she quietly responds, “There are times when it seems we have a client that has the ability to leave and can’t. Every once in a while, I have to remind myself that we can’t help everyone right when we want to. The victim knows their abuser, and their own complicated situation, better than anyone else. Sometimes we just must be patient, and caring, and available.”

Everyone at Hope’s Door is working remotely and remains completely available to existing and new clients. But especially during the coronavirus crisis, we know that some victims who are living in close quarters with their abuser just cannot find the space or time to receive counseling from Hope’s Door. “We’re conducting much shorter counseling sessions – almost just a check-in call, as anything else may draw too much attention,” Brown says.

Typically, clients can call their counselor, or attend an appointment in our offices, on their way home from taking the kids to school, or while their abuser is at work. But with so many people confined to their homes during the New York State PAUSE, lengthy counseling sessions are just not possible.

Hope’s Door clients are also experiencing a high rate of financial and emotional abuse during lockdown. “Clients are being deprived of health care, either by being removed from the insurance policy or by their abuser just not making the monthly payments. Many of our clients are not being given money to purchase food for the children,” Brown adds. Several clients who did leave their abuser and live on their own, are now contemplating returning, because they no longer have enough income to cover their rent and food expenses.

During this pandemic, Janmarie has found the staff to be even more resourceful. She notes the Youth Prevention Team has been creatively and virtually maintaining contact with the kids in our STAR program. Collaborating with the Hope’s Door Development team, they are prominently messaging on social media about building healthy relationships based on equality and respect.

One counselor, whose client tested positive for COVID-19 and could not leave her home, went grocery shopping and dropped food at the client’s front door, so that she would not have to return to her abuser. “Everyone on staff is excelling and giving 150% to their clients during this crisis,” Brown concludes.