Staff Spotlight: Miranda Jackson
Today’s staff spotlight is on Miranda Jackson, one of our Under-a-Year Match Support Specialists. She has been with the agency for 5 years now, supporting Bigs and Littles in their first 11 months matched.
To relax outside of work, Miranda reads true-crime fiction and, recently, in an effort to reduce her screen time, she took up jigsaw puzzles. However, after spending two months completing a thousand-piece puzzle, she decided to take a break from this new hobby. Another two months later, she still has it displayed on her table, unable to bring herself to put away her masterpiece.
Although when asked about her hobbies, the first thing that comes to Miranda’s mind is napping, don’t be fooled. She is no stranger to adrenaline-racing activities. Not too long ago, Miranda went skydiving for the first time. Even if it was a bit panic-inducing, she would still do it again.
Miranda was just matched for the first time this past September, so that is another way she spends her free time now. Twice a month, the sassy and energetic Little Sister Wren ensures her Big Sister has an exciting and entertaining Sunday afternoon. The seven-year-old keeps her new friend on her toes, never a dull moment between the two.
Why should people sign up to volunteer?
Miranda: I quickly learned that it doesn't take a lot of time. I pick every other Sunday because I don't have anything to do. And then she's also free, and we’re together for two hours at most. So, it really doesn't take as much time as people think it does. So, it's definitely, definitely worth it.
Are there any unexpected ways you’ve grown with your Little?
Miranda: I'm an adult. I don't really go out and want to do all these kid-crazy things, but she helps me get that energy out and feel more extroverted and have fun.
This Match Support Specialist received her degree in human services through Purdue Fort Wayne. This degree provided the freedom and ability to go in many different directions to follow her call to help people.
Working with youth was always the plan, but there are so many ways to do so. In 2020, Josette Rider presented an opportunity to Miranda. Covid-19 restrictions were still underway in many schools, and online work was administered. BBBS hired Miranda to facilitate the “learning pods” at BBBS, which allowed students to safely work on their virtual learning, receive lunch, and access an adult for assistance. When restrictions were lifted, Miranda transitioned to the Program Department as an Under-a-Year Match Support Specialist.
In this role, Miranda works with new matches, which requires extra attention to maintain the utmost safety and foster bonding. As she points out, the program fosters a friendship between two strangers, so naturally, the first few months are delicate. Under-a-Year Match Support helps strengthen the match’s relationship early on and ensures they are a good fit for each other. This sets the match up for longevity.
Under-a-year matches have contact with the agency on a monthly basis. During these contacts, Bigs, Littles, and guardians seek advice, address concerns, and share how their match is progressing. Match Support Specialists take extra care to find potential concerns and enforce rules, along with sharing opportunities for the match to get to know each other better.
Match-ups are very special to Miranda: it’s the opportunity to take two strangers, who may not have met otherwise, and form a new positive connection. Oftentimes, as her own Little did, the Littles will bring a small gift for their new Big. Later, she gets to see the matches come in for match activities and witness how far they’ve grown.
What is your favorite part of your job?
Miranda: My favorite thing is seeing the matches come to the Match Activities and just seeing their interactions and how much fun they have together, how special this actually is for them. These are two strangers that just met one day, and now, I’m seeing them having a great time and wanting to be with each other.
Conversely, the hardest part of her job is when a match has to come to a close for various reasons, especially if it had been going well at first. No one wants to be the bearer of bad news, especially in a program meant to give joy, so these calls are difficult to make.
If there is something Miranda has learned over her five years as a Match Support Specialist, it is that this program may seem simple to adults, but it can be a huge moment for children.
What is a story about a lesson you’ve learned on the job?
Miranda: I think I really learned not to take the little things for granted. I was talking to one of my Bigs, and she took her Little out for ice cream, just something real simple that you wouldn't really think about. But her Little loved it because it's not something she and her family can do… That's something that we can do whenever we want to, but you don't think that for these kids, that is something really special.
When Miranda thinks about mentorship in her own life, the first person to come to mind is her grandma, who leaves her with a bit of grandmotherly wisdom at the end of their weekly phone calls.
- Don’t settle.
- Lock your doors.
- Be safe.
Whom do you consider your own mentor?
Miranda: My grandma's one of the people that I talk to the most, just because I know she's always there to listen to me once a week, and I always have something to tell her anyway. I think she would be the person that I guess I would call a mentor.
Thank you, Miranda, for always providing quality, in-depth support to our new volunteers and families!
