By Deirdre Manning
“Quitters never win.” These words of Tiana Clemmons, Service Coordinator at the Village of St. Martha’s in Detroit, allude to the resilience, determination, and motivation that have led her to her current station in life, a member of our team.
Before I had the privilege of interviewing Tiana in March, I remember seeing her at our professional development training in Detroit in December when she first started with us. It was her gentle presence and warm smile that made initial impressions on me. After our brief conversation, I was able to learn about the people, choices, and motivation behind Tiana’s approachable demeanor.
Resilience and Determination:
As a child, Tiana struggled with some learning issues. Some of her teachers were not that supportive of her. Tiana was not encouraged to pursue higher education.
Tiana did not let this discouragement deter her, persisting and working her way through grammar and high school and college. Tiana received her BSW from Mary Grove College in 2013.
Significantly influencing Tiana’s ability to overcome the hurdles and obstacles was her mother, who, along with Jesus, is Tiana’s most important role model.
Motivation:
Grounding Tiana’s efforts are her love for others and her faith. Tiana offered another quote that guides her life: “I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). Tiana has put her faith in action on personal and professional fronts. As the older sister of two brothers (ages 10 and 8), Tiana likes to spend time with them, who look up to her. She also loves to bowl with her friends and to eat (her own version of shrimp and pasta especially). Perhaps we can add this to Renee’s pasta recipe.
Professionally, Tiana became a certified nursing assistant in 2009 and worked during college with cardiac patients in a hospital setting. She also worked as a home health aid for a brief period but soon after starting left the position. The reason, Tiana explains, was that her car did not have a GPS system, and that she got lost a few times. Not liking being late, Tiana realized this role was causing her too much undue stress. Tiana also has certification in CPR.
Exclaiming, “I love people,” Tiana smiles as she talks briefly about her previous work. “I enjoyed making my patients comfortable and doing whatever I could to make them smile.”
Tiana brings this love for people and her motivation to support and comfort them to her members as a Service Coordinator. Having the BSW training has equipped Tiana with the knowledge and skills of the social work profession, which looks at the whole person in his/her environment when providing advocacy and accessing resources. Tiana shares how she is getting adjusted to this new role with the goals of learning how best to support her members and keep healthy boundaries.
Wanting to develop her skills further, Tiana is planning on pursuing her MSW at Wayne State as an Advanced Standing student some time in the near future.
Whatever Tiana decides to pursue, her life so far reflects the strength and capacity of internal and external resources and the impact these have had in helping Tiana pursue her goals. With her values and sources of inspiration along with the support of her communities (family, friends, church, and Hannan SC’s), it may not be too long before Tiana Clemmons will be able to write after her name the three letters (i.e. MSW) that can mean and make a world of difference for the good of society as a whole.
