Jess Kell, Kids-A-Part Parenting Coordinator, is the winner of the 2019 Jeff Small Pioneer Award. She was celebrated for her commitment to being the voice for a population who in so many different ways is voiceless, her grit, her tenacity and her quiet, unwavering adherence to what is right. (Jess, pictured right with her partner Shay and middle son Phin)
Jess has worked at Lund for 8 years and came to the agency with the Kids-A-Part program when Lund took it over from the Vermont Children’s Aid Society in 2011. The heart of the work Jess does is finding ways to lessen the impact of parental incarceration on the family, be it through weekly supportive phone calls, supporting a mom to skype with her newborn from her office in the prison because a trip from Bennington is too far to travel but mom is desperate to see her baby. It is training volunteers to staff Storybook, a service where moms record themselves reading a good night story to their children. And it is bearing witness to the heartbreak and love that comes with staffing Kids-A-Part visits- the eager and excited hellos and the most difficult of good-byes between moms and their children in the prison. Jess manages a case load of sometimes 60 mothers with competing needs, but needs that all boil down to how they can remain in contact with their children. Jess does not let anything stand in the way of this. Walls, security protocols, policies, politics, precedents, naysayers, the unlikely partnership of public safety and family centered care – none of this stops Jess. Through this Jess has lead the way in shifting an entire system with how they approach the victims of parental incarceration- the children.
In the time honored tradition of the Jeff Small Pioneer Award winner interview, Jess took on the following questions.
Interviewer: What did you have for breakfast?
A gluten free pear and pomegranate muffin.
Interviewer: What pie are you near?
I am not a huge pie person. I am not real near pie. Pie and I are not like this (shows interwined fingers). We usually have a crust less, gluten free pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving, like a pumpkin pudding.
Interviewer: Describe the color yellow without using visual references,
It’s bright, it’s warm.
Interviewer: Who is your favorite pioneer?
I am going to go with a current event pioneer – Greta Thunberg. Because that young person speaking truth to power on a global level has been nothing short of extraordinary. To watch that happen, to watch her sail across the ocean to deliver a message and to keep speaking her truth is remarkable.
Interviewer: If you had to unload a 747 full of jelly beans, how would you do it?
I would invite all of the preschoolers in Vermont to the airport to help me unload the jelly beans. Jelly bean by jelly bean. One bean at a time, well probably by the handful. One preschooler handful at time.
Interviewer: How many cows in Canada?
Many. Many vachon in Canada. At least in Quebec.
Tell me an inspirational story from your work at Lund
I find it inspirational that kids continue to believe in their parents. I find it inspirational that families can heal after tremendous impact. I find it inspirational that people can heal. That people can go forward after loss and find new ways to live. I find it inspirational that people volunteer to help with this work. That there are always people ready to stand up and say, “What else is needed to get this this done?”
Last night I sat on a panel about children with incarcerated parents alongside a mom and daughter who were former KAP clients. That young person never gave up on their mom and was sitting there to tell a room full of people how important it was for them to stay connected to their mom. That family is doing great. Those are high points. Supervising a visit with a mom and her 18 month old son that she hadn’t seen in 10 months. The look of joy on her face when she found out she was going to be having a visit and the joy in that visit. Those moments are remarkable. Even the moments that are heart breaking, they are remarkable too. Even when we are supporting people through things that are profoundly sad, we get to do that work. We get to have that human connection with that client. And to be present for them and to witness their experience and validate their emotions. Those are always high points, even when they are heartbreaking, those are always high points, to know that they weren’t alone during that moment.
