Let’s meet Nancy Walters, Case Manager, Healthy Families, Viroqua!
Nancy started with FCC in November of 2021. Nancy’s start with FCC is interesting in that she wasn’t even looking for a position, much less looking at FCC! Nancy worked for Vernon County New Beginnings for 17.5 years. It was through this program that she made many contacts with partners in Vernon and surrounding counties. FCC’s Katie Rommes had contacted the Director of Women, Infants, & Children (WIC) to seek out referrals for Healthy Families Case Managers. Amy, WIC’s Director, happens to be friends with Nancy and referred Katie to Nancy. It took a few days for Nancy to respond, but she finally did and was intrigued by the job description. Nancy knew that Vernon County would greatly benefit from the Healthy Families program. Nancy didn’t have any referrals to give to Katie, but decided that SHE would like to help bring Healthy Families to Vernon.
Nancy starts her day at- wait for it- 3:00 am! Once I was able to pick myself up off the floor and recover from the shock of a 3am wake up call, I was in for a second huge surprise… Nancy has 3 jobs! Every morning Nancy wakes up at 3am to put in approximately 2 hours of book-keeping services for her and her husband Steve’s 2 businesses. They have a full eBay store and an industrial business. While Steve creates metal artwork and industrial machinery items, Nancy goes yard-saling and antique hunting. “I just have an eye for items that will sell” says Nancy, “I found a blown glass Italian gondola for a $1 and sold it on eBay for $30.” Not too bad, Nancy!
By 6 am Nancy has showered and depending on the time of the year she heads outside to water her plants before she leaves for the day. “My hair may get wind blown and messy, but my plants will always get watered!”
Nancy hits the road around 6:30 am and heads to her office.
Her FCC work days begins around 7:00 am. “My work schedule is flexible, especially right now with just four families, so I like to start my day early and put in some extra hours in the first part of that week. That leaves me shorter work days on Thursdays and Fridays and allows for more weekend time.” A usual Monday starts out with checking emails and voicemails and making plans for the week. Nancy puts together educational pieces for the families she will be visiting. Families are always seen at their houses- sometimes they’re home, sometimes they’re not. Home visits usually last around an hour, but can go longer. Home visits start off with listening to the client to learn what THEY need, and then gently guiding them in that direction.
Lunch is most often a banana and some almonds at her desk. Nancy doesn’t usually eat a large lunch. She does, however, occasionally take her clients to lunch for celebrations. This is something new that Nancy has started doing for her clients.
The rest of her day is spent on Healthy Families training and building up the Vernon County Healthy Families program. Vernon County Healthy Families currently has 4 families and one referral. Normally referrals would come from WIC, however WIC is not doing face to face meetings with clients and the referrals have not been coming in. Nancy has been in touch with Gundersen Health System’s Trisha Miller, and she had a meeting with Hersch Clinic nurses in hopes of securing more referrals. Nancy has also left brochures around local libraries.
One day per week is spent in La Crosse for Healthy Families staff meetings (2 hours) and supervision with Katie Rommes (2-3 hours) and another full day is spent in training.
Nancy’s work day usually ends around 4 pm. She’ll go home and fix dinner, then run errands if she needs to. Her most recent run was for groceries and gardening supplies. Nancy and Steve are currently building a raised bed around Hickory nut trees. Nancy and Steve live on 11 acres in a cabin, with a Whooping Crane sanctuary!
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“We love to create. My husband and I enjoy working on our “Cabin in the Woods” project. It is like a blank canvas that evolves every single day. Seasons dictate the current project for sure. Right now we are transforming our gardens to begin their blooming process. Our bats are getting 2 new residences and we are working on another outdoor sitting space to gaze and enjoy our creations. We are constantly thinking about, sketching out (planning) and hands on transforming our space. I can’t hardly wait to get there every single day!”
Nancy’s day ends around 9 pm when she heads to bed.