Q&A: Deysi Crespo
UHCL alumna Deysi Crespo is one of ten featured on The Signal’s 10 Most Fascinating People of UHCL of 2018 list. Read The Signal’s Q&A with Crespo below and see the complete list here.
Q: Can you tell us a bit about yourself, on both a personal and professional level?
I was raised in Huntsville, TX and moved to Houston at the age of 18 soon after graduating high school. I enrolled at HCC, but dropped out when I couldn’t make ends meet as a young adult. I then decided to work full time. At the age of 23, I met my now husband, Rom Crespo, whom I’ve been married to for 18 years. We have two beautiful children, Steven, 17, and Dominique, 16. I joined the UHCL family in 2007, knowing that I wanted to pursue my bachelor’s in social work. This dream of pursuing a social work career came about after working many years in the education system as a high school registrar. Being the first point of contact to so many people upon registration, I had the privilege of learning about their struggles and different life circumstance obligating them to make a move from one school to another. Many families even moved from city to city, with a limited support system and limited financial resources. What hit me the most, was when we helped displaced families from Katrina.
I remember sitting in my Intro to Social Work class when I learned one of the requirements for my degree was to complete 40 hours of community service at any non-profit organization by the end of the first semester. This is when I learned about Katy Christian Ministries, a non-profit organization very close to my own home. It was a loving place that became my other home since the beginning. My humble beginnings were volunteering at the resale store, facilitating support groups to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault, to becoming a paid staff member in the Crisis Center as a primary prevention specialist for sexual assault. I then became an advocate for sexual abuse victims, followed by leading the Crisis Center in 2012. In 2013, I advanced to a Grant Writer position, followed by being appointed the Executive Director in January of 2014. I continue to lead the organization with humility and genuine compassion to fulfill our mission of transforming lives!
Q: How did your time at UHCL impact where you are today in your career?
I can honestly say that UHCL is the best place to prepare you in this field. As I reflect today, I appreciate the Policy class that I wasn’t too sure I enjoyed back then. However, I’m forever grateful to Dr. Kanenberg! In my career today, I keep reminding myself that policies are always changing or are stagnant, yet needing attention, and therefore, I need to stay connected at different levels of how these policies will positively or negatively impact the vulnerable population we serve. I also have to be cognizant about how we are being impacted at high levels, affecting our programs, staff and organization as a whole. I will always remember the deep discussions around oppression and diversity.
In leading a human services organization, I have to remind my staff and volunteers that no race, ethnic group, status, age or gender is exempt from a traumatic event, financial difficulties, or situational life circumstances affecting the family unit or individual’s overall functioning. It was the Research and Evaluation class that to this day reminds me of the basics of how to implement programs and the methods and the importance of assessing outcomes. I reflect on the tools given related to theoretical perspectives and frameworks when working with families and individuals. I always believed in the importance of Self-Determination, Empowerment, Person-In Environment, Socio-Ecological Model and Strengths Approach to name a few. Today, I utilize these frameworks on a daily basis at a macro level. However, when processing cases with my staff, I also know that these frameworks are key in the assessment phase and intervention plan for families that come through our doors.
As a former SGA representative at UHCL during my time when I was involved with the Social Work Student Organization, I will never forget the day I had to present a need to SGA so they would fund a trip for students to the National Association of Social Workers Conference. I had a very limited timeframe to present the need and plead for funding. Where I am today, this is something I am doing all of the time, especially with foundations. So I’m thankful for the many opportunities at UHCL that helped build my self-confidence while doing presentations in my realm of work today! If I am only given 5 minutes to speak and defend a proposal for funding, you bet I’m going to give you my 2-minute elevator speech and budget allocations for the needed project.
Q: In your current position as executive director of Katy Christian Ministries, what motivates you to do the work you do?
What motivates me the most is helping families and reflecting on the testimonies shared when the families that come to us feeling hopeless, leave our building saying “I have hope now” as one client said recently. The feeling of making sure families have food on their tables for their loved ones by our food pantry; housing through our financial assistance provided by our Social Services Department, and mental health care and advocacy for victims of domestic violence by our professional team from our Crisis Center. This is what motivates me every single day!
Q: What are some achievements or challenges you’ve had this year and how have they impacted you?
An achievement this year, has been transforming our current food pantry to a 100 percent client choice model. This gives our clients the feeling that they are shopping at a regular grocery store. It definitely increases their dignity and respect by allowing them to choose the food items they want, rather than us bagging items ahead of time, not knowing if they will eat it or not. This vision was a year in the making and I am very proud of the labor of love by my Food Pantry team.
A challenge that continues is the need for funding to help address the basic needs for clients. Many families are coming in for gas assistance and other basic needs. While we address it the best way we can, funding for basic needs is a challenge every year. This means my development team and I have to work harder at seeking funding to help meet these needs. Let’s not forget all the families that were impacted by Harvey and are still trying to recover. It is my role to seek funding like any other leader in the non-profit world, but it does get complicated at times.
Q: What is the best piece of advice you have ever been given or would give?
I work with a Board of Directors and we go through the normal elections like many. There was one board member in particular who gave me the best advice as he was rotating out. He told me, “Always remember to share a testimony at board meetings because we get so caught up on the administrative part, that we tend to forget why we do what we do.” I took his advice to heart and I am our client’s voice. The advice I can give is always be true to yourself and do your very best without asking anything in return.
Q: Is there anything you would like our readers to know?
For those unfamiliar with Katy Christian Ministries – Here is a little bit more about what KCM, my second home is about: Founded in 1984, Katy Christian Ministries is a Human Services non-profit 501 (c)(3) organization serving the Katy/West Houston area. Contributions from the community provides us the opportunity to continue to alleviate poverty through our Social Services Department, address food insecurity through our food pantry, and provide immediate and long-term crisis interventions for victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse through our Crisis Center. All services are free and provided with dignity and respect. Full assessments are conducted to identify the need in every household, engage them in goal setting, and complete an intervention plan to help in their healing and recovery.
Also published on Medium.