Meet Brittany Shutt: A Community Health Worker
In the heart of St. Vincent’s Preventative Family Care, Brittany Shutt, a Lead Care Manager, dedicates her life to serving the community. Her journey is one of resilience, transformation, and an unwavering desire to help those in need.
Following Family Footsteps and Finding Her Path
"I work with St. Vincent’s as a Lead Care Manager," she begins. Her motivation? "My mom was a nurse. My sister was a nurse. Everybody was a nurse in my family. So, I followed in their footsteps." However, her path wasn't straightforward or without its challenges. She faced personal battles, grappling with substance abuse to numb the pain of her mother's terminal illness.
"Unfortunately, I got lost in drugs," she admits. "I used because I needed to numb myself. And I used because I used. It was one big circle." Today, she stands proudly with thirteen years staying clean, soon to be fourteen in August.
Experiencing homelessness firsthand, she realized she could apply her personal journey to helping others. "Being able to talk to people that are stuck out there... I wanted to help them," she says. "I didn’t even know that Community Health Workers were a thing. I thought you had to be a social worker." Discovering this accessible career path was an eye-opener, and it allowed her to leverage her lived experience to connect with and support others.
Stepping into Community Health Work
Despite being relatively new to the role, she feels like she's been doing it her entire life. "I've been doing this for five or six months," she shares, "but it feels like my whole life." Her dedication is evident as she talks about handing out clean socks to those in need– she is driven by her understanding of the challenges faced by people living on the streets.
Challenges and Approaches
One of the toughest parts of community health work is changing behaviors, building trust and getting people to accept help. Fortunately, Brittany fully understands that mindset and has empathy for people because she’s walked in their shoes. She finds that being consistent and continuing to show up makes a difference, even though it may take weeks or even months of following up and tracking people down. Her approach involves motivational interviewing, reflecting on what people tell her and building on their strengths. "You can't say, 'This is what you're gonna do.' They have to tell
you their plan," she emphasizes. Her training at The Leon Institute has equipped her with the skills to handle these conversations with humility and respect.
It’s More Than Just a Job
The rewards of her work make all the challenges worthwhile. "When people call me back and say, 'I walked across the street today,' knowing they haven't left their house in five years... it's incredibly fulfilling," she says. Helping people realize their importance and potential brings her immense satisfaction. "I actually changed that person's life, or maybe helped change their behavior".
The Leon Institute Training and Panel Discussions
Reflecting on TLI’s Community Health Worker training program, she appreciates the camaraderie and shared goals of her peers. "The class was really good. It was frightening at first... but we were all there to help people. The instructors provided a lot of healthy discussion and collaboration. They touched on things that I never thought of before. It's nice to have that kind of clarity and that sense of direction too, because if you don't have that, it can feel really overwhelming.”
After completing her training program, she was asked to return and lead a panel discussion, transitioning from a learner to a leader. "It was cool to be able to give back and say, 'This is what I've been going through and how I applied what you're learning.' Everything the Leon Institute taught me, I was able to apply."
Advice for Aspiring Community Health Workers
Her advice to other community health workers is rooted in compassion and self-care. "Be accepting, compassionate, and trauma-informed, but don't let what other people are going through overwhelm you." As we wrap up our conversation, she expresses her gratitude. "I'm very thankful to be in the position I'm in right now. I see a lot of myself out there and would love to help those like the person I used to be.” Her journey is a testament to the power of resilience, empathy, and the profound impact one person can have on their community. She continues to inspire, heal, and bring hope to those she meets every day.
About The Leon Institute: The Leon Institute exists to transform the health and wellbeing of vulnerable populations and under-resourced communities by equipping them with knowledge and skills to create meaningful and lasting change. We do this by providing quality, evidence-based and community-defined training, connecting diverse groups of people to address urgent health challenges, and conducting and disseminating research to improve care delivery.