Leading with Purpose - Shawn Jenkins (August 2023)

CHIEF

SHAWN JENKINS

Having lived through equally challenging trials as those within our care and serving amongst our top members of leadership over 33 years later, Shawn Jenkins is an absolute testament to the phrase "Lived experience." As the Chief Operating Officer for WestCare's Western Region, Shawn oversees all our operations west of the Mississippi, including Arizona, California, Iowa, Minnesota, Nevada, Oregon, Texas, and Washington.

His primary responsibilities are oversight of all operations within those states, supervising the regional leaders, and working with them on managing their operations, budgets, and future growth. In his own words, "I am a connector of resources. So, I ensure we connect our states with WestCare Foundation and its different departments. I ensure that we're following our policies and procedures and are working together. Working together is what makes us; it's what makes things happen. We are not successful if we are siloed. As large as we are, we must have processes, and we need to have a way to do things. I want to ensure that the Foundation serves our regions and that the regions are collaborating with Foundation."

His journey to WestCare is probably different than a lot of other people's journeys It started in 1988 when he acknowledged that he had a cocaine addiction that was out of control. After his first semester of college and at the age of 19, he dropped out to deal cocaine for the Mexican Mafia. During the next five years, he was both a dealer and a user. As a result, he ended up living in a camper shell behind a diesel repair shop, and he found himself owing money to incredibly dangerous people.

Shawn shared, “I kept telling myself that I was going to make a lot of money selling drugs and get out, but that day never came, and it kept getting worse and worse. I finally realized I was headed either to a long stretch in prison or would wind up dead.”

In the six hours before he made the 3 a.m. phone call that saved his life in the summer of 1988, he snorted nine grams of cocaine. “I was getting to the end of my rope,” remarked Shawn, who called his mom from a pay phone and told her he wanted help

He expected to go into treatment in Phoenix, AZ, where she lived. His mother asked if he could make it to the airport which was about 50 minutes away to fly to Phoenix. He responded, "No," as he was looking around and behind him more than where he was driving. His mother asked about him connecting with his father, a crop-duster pilot who was staying only a mile from where he was calling They met up, and his dad took him to Fresno because of a relationship his aunt had with a program called The Third Floor, which would later merge with WestCare in the 90s to become what we know today as WestCare California.

However, his recovery didn’t unfold in a straight line. Shawn shared, "Four months into treatment, I called home and told my parents I wanted out. They responded with, 'What program do you want to go to?' I told them that I was done, and they responded with tough love by saying, 'Leave, and you’re on your own.' So I stayed. Six months later, I went to Arizona on a 72-hour pass, relapsed, and rekindled my connections with the Mexican Mafia. This is where my new life and old life collided. But I had made a 10-month investment in myself, and I had a much better awareness of who I was. So, I decided to go back into the program.”

Following his graduation from the program, his first job was weekend staff-on-duty. "When I came in, we had one residential program in California in a 56-bed coed facility. I would go in on Saturday at 8 a.m. and could sleep at midnight. The house manager would stay up, and I would get up at 4:30 a.m. with the kitchen crew. I would be off-duty on Monday after the staff meeting ended," recalled Shawn

Celebrate Good Times: Shawn with the WestCare California 1994 Graduation cohort.

Smiling Friends: Shawn with Lynn and Burnett in 1992 during a BBQ.

From the Beginning: Young Shawn (on the left in plaid shirt) with siblings, Sherry and Shannon, and father, Jim Jenkins.

Pictured in their teenage years, Shawn (on the left) and younger brother Shannon.

Following Shawn's humble beginnings with WestCare, he went on to later serve in a variety of roles, including Counselor, Senior Counselor, Operations Director, Deputy Administrator, Vice President, Senior Vice President, and Chief Development Officer before his current role as Chief Operating Officer for the Western Region.

Looking back on the many changes he has seen in our organization since he started, Shawn noted, "I'm proud of the growth that we've achieved in different regions and at WestCare as a whole. I was here when it was just Arizona, California, and Nevada. I've been watching us grow, and how that has happened is phenomenal. We are reaching out to serve more people and provide growth opportunities across the globe."

He continued, "I like bringing others along and watching their progress and journey into leadership. I like helping people. There isn't anybody that, at one point in their life, hasn't needed help. You don't have to have a substance abuse problem to need it. Everybody needs help at some point in time. That is why I always say, 'We're not everything to everybody, but we're many things to many people.' That is part of our mission and what we do. I'm proud of that."

Shawn personally defines success not by what he does at work but instead believes that life's a journey full of peaks and valleys and that the ultimate measure of success is how you learn from these moments, both good and bad. "I've made lots of mistakes, and I'm sure I'll continue to make mistakes, but mistakes are necessary for continued growth. Every day, I wake up and want to be better than yesterday. I'm not always successful at that. Some days, I'm not as good as I was yesterday. There are times that I go backward a little bit. So, to me, personal success is finding some peace and balance inside my soul."

Through his work, Shawn aims to always lead by example and will never ask anybody to do something that he is unwilling to do himself. "Many people have approached me, including employees, that will call me 'Mr. Jenkins' or something like that. I will always let people know that my name is 'Shawn.' I'm not more important than anybody else here. I may have a different position, but there are people here at WestCare that do jobs that are beyond me. If I tried to do their jobs, I would probably get fired," he remarked "I try to be a servant leader. If you treat people right, you'll get buy-in and when you get buyin, people want to work with you and help you."

Honor & Support: Shawn marching during 2019 Fresno Veterans Day Parade.

Thanking Volunteers: 2015 Teen Bible Academy volunteers earning awards, presented by Shawn.

2012 Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for Vet's Plaza

Shawn continued, "People are going to make mistakes, and if you've created a relationship with the people you work with, they will be harder on themselves for disappointing you than you need to be on them. I don't believe in raising my voice a lot because there's no value in it, and the lessons are often missed. At that moment, people think you're a tyrant, and you're just blowing off steam rather than saying, 'I'm disappointed in what you did, and you're better than that.' Hearing that is harder to swallow."

"If somebody tells me that, then I must look at myself. The only thing I can truly control is me. When there's a problem, whether in my region, with somebody I'm supervising, or in my personal life, I attempt to first look at myself and ask, 'What could I have done differently, and what can I change?' I can make suggestions for somebody else. I can try to help them, but I can't make somebody else change. So, I come at it and take responsibility for my part in whatever it is."

What Shawn enjoys most about working with WestCare is that despite all the stress, work, emails, and everything else, he and his team can still joke, laugh, and have a good time "I came to WestCare/The Third Floor in July of 1990. So, I've spent a good portion of my life working here. WestCare is my family and I take these relationships seriously. I feel responsible for the people that work at WestCare. When those that I work with hurt, I hurt."

While certainly dedicated to our organization, Shawn is also unwavering in his dedication to his children His oldest son, Dylan, 27, works for WestCare at the MLK Residential facility in Fresno, the modern-day predecessor to the original program that changed his father's life. His son, Giovanni, 22, is getting into the trucking business. Last but certainly not least is his 14year-old daughter, Jenna As a father, he likes to not just do things for them but with them, including going to the movies, taking his sons to a live UFC fight, watching the fight at home, working with Giovanni on his cars, or shopping with Jenna. Because he does it so much for work, he doesn't travel too much and considers himself a bit of a homebody who enjoys taking on home projects He does enjoy going to concerts from time to time

Reflecting back, he believes his journey has helped prepare him for service at WestCare. He's been both on the side of needing help and getting help. Witnessing what a hard worker his father was perhaps prepared him most for life "Dad instilled in me the value of working hard. It doesn't matter what your job is. You need to be the best. He would tell me, 'I don't care if you're a ditch digger; just be the best ditch digger'." With that advice, Shawn has stayed committed when he digs into doing things now "If I don't know how to do it, I will research it and figure it out and ask questions along the way. I've earned everything I've attained so far. It may have felt like it came slower than I may have wanted, but it came to me when it was supposed to," he remarked.

30 Years & Counting: As a gift for 30 years of service, Shawn received a custom #30 jersey.

Dedicated to Family: Watching UFC fights with sons, Dylan and Giovanni, & enjoying some time with daughter, Jenna.

Shawn has seen WestCare grow and believes it w continue to do so if needed. "I have seen ou organization expand from a substance abus provider to a worldwide behavioral health an human services organization with a variety o service domains, and I'm proud of that. It's been challenge, but it's been rewarding. We still hav work to do.

Shawn continued, "I don't know If I'm smart enough to know that I shoul I'm always ready to try something n program that will work and provide for those that need it. I ask the pe to do the same thing and seek ne for what else we can do as an orga chance and look outside of the box."

On an infrastructure level, Shawn ha big proponent of utilizing technolog and has made it a priority that there operational funding for both departm about trying to work smarter, no WestCare staff work hard. They're make the world a better place. It go we can also leverage technology to job easier, remind them of thing them. Having our own Electronic (EHR) is essential as well. Technology has ultimately made communication more efficient and more effective."

Regarding marketing, he understands the importance of remembering to celebrate our accomplishments "We need to tell our story and marketing does that for us. It takes a particular type of person to do this with a skill set that only some possess. Social media, digital media, press, printed items, collateral creation, outreach, events, and more are all a part of our marketing efforts. We have talented and passionate people onboard to help us tell our stories and share the great work that is happening in all of our regions. Without it, the people who genuinely need our help wouldn't know where to go or who to contact."

Awarding Talent: Presenting a CORE Award to Norma at MLK Talent Show.

Helping Hands: Collecting book donations with young helping hands at MLK Campus.

Telling WestCare's Story: Shawn speaking at the 2019 Fresno County Homeless Services Forum.

Meeting New Faces: Shawn visiting the FMCoC Homeless Point in Time Count in 2022.

When working together, he attests that technology helps make our jobs more accessible, and marketing tells our stories. He also recognizes that our staff enjoys seeing the acknowledgment of their work and seeing it out there on the web, in our newsletters, and on our social media pages.

When Shawn eventually assumed the Western Region,

"I've ensured that our regions work with all their teams, including IT, HR, Benefits, Marketing, Accounting, Legal, Training, Clinical, and Grants. I ensure that all of our contracts go through Legal for review. I start those conversations and serve my teams when they have questions or are struggling. That is what being at WestCare is about. That is what #WeAreWestCare, is about. We have a President, CEO, and other senior leaders, but they alone are not WestCare. It is the Board of Directors, Community Action Councils (CACs), and every staff member that makes up WestCare."

Everyone Say "Cheese!": Selfie with Shawn and the 2016 Fall Graduation cohort.

A Big Win: Leadership and Shawn (on the right) accepting a Steven Horsford check for WestCare Nevada.

EVERYTHING TO

WE'RE NOT

EVERYBODY, but we ' re many things to many people.

Shawn Jenkins