Megan & her sweet baby Aubri

Megan Rundle, MS:

Serving Young Parents and Young Children with Commitment & Skill

By: Sarah Fitzgibbons & Laurie Valentine

Recently we realized that although we have many extraordinary staff we don’t slow down often enough to highlight their skills and contributions to SPCC and the community. We would like to start taking the time to do this more regularly. As a start, SPCC would like to highlight one of our counselors in our Building Healthy Children (BHC) program.  Although she is preparing to leave SPCC due to a shift in funding, Megan Rundle, MS truly exemplifies the passion, commitment, skill and energy that SPCC often brings to our relationships with families.

Megan was inspired to join the field of human service because of her own mother’s work as a passionate school counselor. She describes her mother as a “great role model who showed me the difference I could make in kids lives”. Megan quickly found her academic and career path, earning a Master’s Degree in counseling. Starting in 2008, Megan completed two internships in two different programs at SPCC during her Master’s program, and after she graduated, Building Healthy Children program snapped her right up for employment!

In describing her experience at SPCC and her professional growth during her time at the agency, Megan had this to say:

 I have had an incredible learning experience at SPCC. Over the past five years, I have learned so much about the field of clinical work, and about myself. I feel incredibly lucky that through my work with children and families, I have learned so much about being a good parent. I learned the important nuts and bolts of parenting through the models we use (Incredible Years and Parents as Teachers) but I learned the heart of parenting through my work with families. I have seen such strength in the girls I work with. They face so many barriers and obstacles to their goals of success, but time and time again make caring and loving their children a priority.

There are many things about Megan that SPCC and our clients will miss. Staff at SPCC are eager to describe all of the wonderful things that Megan does and is in her professional role. Supervisors, colleagues, community professionals and clients describe her as approachable, having a strong and passionate work ethic, committed and passionate. They speak often of her professionalism, reliability, and her seemingly never-ending energy and willingness to say “YES!”.

Megan’s willingness to say “yes”, and go above and beyond in donating her skills and time is exemplary. As she faced the difficult task of saying goodbye to her clients, colleagues and agency, she also donated countless hours of skill in other programs at SPCC, in addition to her job responsibilities in Building Healthy Children.  Megan often jokes that she needs an assistant to hold her “yes, I will volunteer” arm down in meetings as her passion keeps motivating her to assist in everything client related! “I donate extra time because I truly have passion for the families that we work with, and try to keep a focus on them”, Megan says. “A little bit of extra work or time can make all the difference”. Megan worked extra hours in SPCC’s Supervised Visitation Program this summer, supervised by Lisa D’Orsi.  Lisa shared, “I was so impressed with Megan’s willingness to help another program. She jumped right in to her work here, and I knew that both visits were in great hands. One of the family’s Megan worked with included a very active, young boy with developmental delays; Megan was patient, kind and supportive to the whole family. We have been so grateful for Megan’s commitment to teamwork!”

Anyone who is in the field of clinical work knows that saying goodbye is a complex and challenging process for the clinician and the client. As she prepares to leave, Megan has had to say goodbye to all of the families on her case load. Because so many of the young parents she works with have experienced extreme loss in their lives, Megan worked hard to facilitate a ‘healthy goodbye’ process for each of them- some young women have seen Megan in their homes every week for three years. She says, “Saying goodbye to all of my clients has been one of the hardest things I have faced in my career”. Megan points out that some of the young women have not even been able to meet with her after hearing the news, “I know that for some of them, saying goodbye is just too hard”.

In wrapping up her time at SPCC and her current work with young parents and children, Megan wants her clients will hold on to what Megan believes in her heart:

You have what it takes to achieve your goals and dreams. 

Even though life can get in the way at times, keep pushing and you will get there.

At times, you will lose sight of your goals.  Do not see this as a failure. See it just as a speed bump.  It is never too late to get back on track.

Hold on to the idea that your children are the most important thing in your life.  Yes, they may be challenging and frustrating at times (and don’t feel guilty on the days you want to run away!), but remember that you will never get this time back with them.

The most important person you can impact is your child. And this is a powerful, powerful thing.

 Please join us in celebrating all that Megan Rundle has done and been to SPCC, the community, and to the Building Healthy Children program. Her grace, commitment, skill and passion are irreplaceable. We wish her the best.