Working in the mental health field for 13 years, first as a secretary and then as a manager, Christine never imagined that the training she received in Mental Health First Aid, Trauma Informed Care, and Motivational Interviewing would one day become critical to her husband’s survival and her own. Years of loss and struggle took their toll, but Christine and her husband Brett are eager to share their stories and strategies as they seek to help others.
Starting in 2015, the Duncans entered a season where they endured a devastating life event once a quarter. Over the course of 4+ years, a pattern of deaths, illnesses, and other major losses left the Duncans without income, separated from most of their friends, and displaced from their home. For over 6 years, they experienced situational poverty. This compounded suffering took a toll, and Christine and her husband battled to maintain their mental health. Consistently unable to find effective professional help for either of them and barely making it through herself, Christine used her training to talk her husband through and keep him alive. In recent years Christine has realized that, knowing how much he needed her, helped Christine survive as well. Listen to their story of overcoming as captured in January of 2022 on Think Tank Inc.’s “Rethink Community” podcast – only 6 months after their situation stabilized.
Volunteering with poverty-eradicating efforts has transformed Christine’s life. When she began this journey, she had never lived through any form of poverty and approached the work with a typical “I am going to help” attitude. What she found were relationships, concepts, and challenges that would radically alter her perspective and approach.
Christine received training developed by Think Tank Inc. that encouraged her to embrace a strengths-based mindset: understanding that those who struggle are knowledgeable and insightful leaders who are exceptionally equipped to speak into their own solutions. Christine would live this reality more fully when unforeseen circumstances tossed her family into situational poverty and hidden homelessness. With the sudden loss of income, health, and relationships; Christine and her husband would be forced to move in with family to avoid bankruptcy and foreclosure. A number of people in Christine’s life would ask well-meaning questions or give advice intended only to help, but often she was left feeling unseen and unheard. Only now did she start to feel the fact that an individual’s perception is often more powerful than their reality – and how essential it is to listen well to a hurting person and walk alongside as they define their own solutions.
Ensuring we hear from those who have lived through either situational or generational poverty is a drumbeat that has lead to Christine’s involvement in Think Tank’s Change Leader Alliance. Her vision for ending poverty leans heavily on relationships, listening, and cooperative action. The Alliance generates unique opportunities to hear from those with the distinctive expertise of life experience: connecting them with influencers and decision makers. Christine is so passionate about fighting poverty in this way that she wrote a musical about it called Saving Cinderella, but she didn’t stop there. As part of the Alliance she is sharing her story and changing lives. She longs for you to join her in this mission: expand your circle, make friends across perceived boundaries, listen to those in need, and avoid assumptions. Learn more about the Change Leader Alliance by watching the video below and by visiting https://thinktank-inc.org/cla.