April 2, 2024
Meet Debbie Scora: A Q&A with a Dedicated Professional
SF: Okay Debbie, let’s start with your name, title and how long you’ve been at St.Amant.
DS: My name is Debbie Scora and I am the Manager of Case Management Services. I’ve been here for 21 years: since 2002.
SF: Wow, that’s a long time. Awesome! What was your career path at St.Amant?
DS: I began working at St.Amant in the Family Care Program, which is a short term intensive social work program for families who need extra support. We support families to a point where they can manage on their own by providing information or training, access to resources, counselling, helping them develop their support network and almost anything else we can support with. After my second maternity leave I came back as the Coordinator of the Community Support Program which included community clinicians in a variety of disciplines. Then around 2014, we brought all clinicians together under Clinical Services and I became coordinator of social work so I over saw the social work team at St.Amant. After my third maternity leave, I went back to the Family Care Program in order to work part time, and then, in December of 2022, I was approached about the Case Management Program so I moved into this position.
SF: Wow! That is quite the career at St.Amant!
DS: Yes, it’s really nice that you can move into new roles and get new challenges all within St.Amant!
SF: So, how has the change to the Case Management Program been for you?
DS: It’s been amazing. I miss working directly with families but this has been so energizing. That’s what I love about St.Amant, as soon as you want a change, St.Amant lets you follow your passion. In the last year, we’ve hired 21 social workers, two admin staff and a supervisor and taken on over 2,700 families. It’s a lot of work but it’s an amazing opportunity to learn and grow.
SF: What does a typical day look like for you?
DS: What I do right now is answer a lot questions because the Case Management Program is not just new to new staff, but it’s new to everyone: families, staff, myself, St.Amant! While we’ve done a lot of training there is such a steep learning curve. I spend a lot of time with my team and connecting with family members to walk them through the changes and navigate and make sure they feel supported. It’s a lot of connecting with people and ensuring our program follows St.Amant values so families feel supported.
I really take time to consider how each step along the way of a families experience with St.Amant is a positive experience. It’s about really understanding what the families are feeling and why they are feeling it and then problem solve along with them. It’s fun because it’s about finding those ways to really assist the families we support and make things work and make them comfortable. It’s about listening and learning what gaps there are and then being responsive and innovative. And even when there is “no answer” there still is an answer because we can advocate for change.
SF: Now that we know your “what”, what is your “why”? What drives your passion for St.Amant?
DS: When people ask me, I like to tell them my background. I grew up in a small town of 900 people and didn’t have exposure to a lot of professions. I remember speaking with my guidance counsellor who suggested psychology or social work, but said social workers just want to ‘save the world’. So I pursued psychology and one of my first jobs as a student I worked at MDC. I liked it but saw that advocacy was still needed. I was only 19 years old at the time and didn’t feel like I had the tools to change systems, but I realized that I was passionate about making the world a better place and that social work would give me the skills and opportunities to do this, so I did pursue social work. There’s the quote about when a plant doesn’t grow you don’t blame the plant, you look at its environment and what you can change so it will thrive. That’s what brought me to social work and St.Amant: we have the opportunity to change a piece of the world to make it more accommodating and welcoming. If we can all do a bit to change the system, it will change for the better and create a world where everyone is welcome and understood.
SF: That is so inspiring! But I’d like to point out that in my home, I do in fact blame my plants. Green thumb is not my forte. So, do you have any inspiring, interesting or fun stories about your work at St.Amant?
DS: What I think I’ve learned along the way in 21 years is that the people here are SO fantastic. Everyone just goes above and beyond every single time. I’m just so impressed with everyone who’s been here for forever and then also new staff that hit the ground running with the support of everyone else and all other programs. The collaboration to make Case Management happen in such a short time and so well has been incredible. I think St.Amant’s workplace culture is as great as it is because your opinion and experience is always valued no matter who you are and what role you play and because we are all working together for the same reason and this comes through in all that St.Amant does. It’s just really nice to be in this atmosphere.
SF: Can you pick one person to give a shout out to at St.Amant and tell me why?
DS: No.
SF: Okay, interview over then lol?
DS: No, I mean I don’t even know how to pick just one person haha! I really want to give a shout out to the entire Case Management team. They have such high demands and they are amazing. There are 23 people on the team supporting over 2700 families and I know that they value EVERY family and they are doing this as they are trying to learn the system and do their jobs and I just so appreciate each one of them.
SF: Well, ok, communications is not known for their math skills so, why not, give me all 23 names and well shout out every one of them.
DS: Perfect!
- Miranda Alarie
- Jessica Beaudin
- Lisa Bissett
- Colleen Bourns
- Devan Correia
- Meghan Demare
- Adetoro Eludipo
- Sara Erickson
- Michelle Fillion
- Ritka Ishaku
- Stacy Joyal
- Hanna Melville
- Randi Marshall
- Kim Parks
- Cherish Payjack
- Chance Peloquin-Epp
- Chanique Phillips
- Alex Poitras
- Mila Rowe
- Paul Schmidt
- Susan Sousa
- Kirsty Telford
- Ashleigh Williams
SF: You know I love putting little Easter eggs into these interviews so, what question do you want staff to answer internally at the end of this written piece that would make for odd answers in the comment section?
DS: Tell me what your favorite comfort food or drink is. Mine’s a chai tea latte!
SF: That’s a perfect question given the unruly ‘spring’ weather we’re having right now. Think we all need a bit more comfort! Thank you so much for chatting! It was lovely getting to know you a bit more!
DS: Thank you!