Today we’d like to introduce you to Abigail Swafford.
Hi Abigail, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
When I first started my working career after college, I began as a paraprofessional at a therapeutic special education school in the suburbs of Chicago. I worked in the school’s high school and middle school, supporting children with learning disabilities and behavior disorders. I loved my work and eventually went on to get a master’s degree so that I could be a lead special education teacher. Following graduation with two master’s degrees, I worked in the Chicago public schools as a Special Education Teacher, learning firsthand the struggles that many of the families and children face in the inner city of Chicago, especially with not being given access to a fair and equal education. In 2017, I moved to Kansas City, where my family was located, and began working for the Park Hill School District in their Early Childhood Special Education program. I loved my work and truly felt that I was making a difference in children’s lives by providing them with early interventions. In my free time, I became involved in the Junior League of Kansas City. I took the leadership courses, became the Committee Chair of the Healthy Family Meals Program, guiding that program through the 2020 shutdown by doing grocery bag handouts in the east side of the city. The following year, I served on the Junior League’s Board of Directors as Director of Community, where I learned a great deal about our city and the incredible work of nonprofits across the city. In the Summer of 2022, I gave birth to my first child, my daughter Charlotte, and was looking for a job that would allow me to be more available to her. I applied to a position at HopeKids Kansas City, an organization I was familiar with from my time at the Junior League. In my application and interview, I emphasized the skills I had developed at the Junior League, including budgeting, program management, team leadership, volunteer engagement, and strategic planning. I got the job as Program Manager. HopeKids Kansas City is a community of support for children with life-threatening medical conditions and their entire families. My job as Program Manager was to plan and put on over 300 events a year that would bring the community together. After only one year on the job, I was promoted to Executive Director of the organization. I have now led HopeKids Kansas City for a year and a half and have made the organization more financially stable, grown our image in Kansas City, enrolled over 100 new families, and grown our fundraisers and programming. I love working for HopeKids. I have always felt like I want to work with children, which is why I became a teacher. I am glad that, even though I left teaching, I am still able to have a positive impact on the lives of children, especially those who experience hardship at a young age.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The road of life is always full of bumps and potholes, and mine had been no exception. When I left Chicago in 2017 and moved to Kansas City, it was due to extreme burnout. I felt like I was leaving a failure. I had served 2 years in an inner city school that was failing on every level. I had a hard time connecting with the students and teaching them life skills like kindness and compassion, and having it resonate with them. I felt defeated. I was working with older students, who I didn’t seem to be having an impact on. I felt like I had to start over. That is when I moved to Kansas City. I also chose to move to an earlier grade level, preschool. In my Early Education Special Education classroom, I was able to work with children who were just starting to exhibit signs of behavioral disorders and help them learn skills to overcome these behaviors and correct them. I was able to see so much more success in my days in early childhood. It is a good reminder that the earlier we can influence children with disabilities, the greater the chance of success they have.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am the Executive Director of HopeKids Kansas City. This amazing organization works with children who have life-threatening medical conditions to provide ongoing events that inspire hope and community among these children, their siblings, and their parents. HopeKids Kansas City is part of a larger national organization, HopeKids, Inc. There are 8 chapters of HopeKids around the country. HopeKids Kansas City was started 8 years ago. Last year, we served 475 families, representing nearly 2,500 individuals, through 365 events. All of our events are entirely free to these families, giving them the opportunity to enjoy life, connect with others, and make memories without worrying about the cost. We provide events such as tickets to sporting events, craft and game nights, pizza parties, private movie screenings, an annual Fairytale Ball, ice skating parties, a fall festival, and our most significant event of the year – our Christmas party!
When I became Executive Director a year and a half ago, our chapter was in financial distress. By choosing to accept the position of Executive Director, I was taking on a massive task of cleaning up the mess. When I inherited the chapter, we were only 40% funded, which means we only brought in about 40% of the money to cover our annual expenses. Within one year, I was able to increase that number to almost 70% funded. We hope to be 100% funded by the end of this year. For the past two years, we have hosted our three annual fundraisers, and each year, these events have brought in record fundraising numbers. I have successfully created a culture of collaboration and acceptance among my staff, ensuring they are valued and feel encouraged to contribute. I feel like my greatest accomplishment in this position is the financial gains that this organization has made, as well as the incredible team dynamic that I have been able to foster.
What does success mean to you?
I define success in my role in two ways. One is making sure the staff I oversee and the families that are in our program are taken care of and feel heard. I want my staff to feel valued and know that I am open to hearing their ideas. I want the families in our program to feel comfortable coming to us with requests and concerns and know that we will take them seriously
The second way I measure success is by being able to fund our amazing program. I want to be able to continue to offer our amazing events and not worry about how we are going to pay for them. Reaching fundraising benchmarks and becoming self-sustaining and fully funded will be a huge success for our chapter
Pricing:
- A donation of $50 to HopeKids provides a calendar of free events for one family for one month
- A donation of $600 to HopeKids provides one family a calendar of events for an entire year.
- A donation of $250 provides Christmas presents for a HopeKids family this year
Contact Info:
- Website: https://hopekids.org/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abigail-swafford-b43234225/
