At The Matthews House, one of our greatest assets is our staff! Our compassionate and resourceful direct service and administrative staff work every day toward our overall goal of disrupting cycles of poverty and abuse. Nicole Armstrong, Executive Program Director, has been with us almost since the beginning. She started as a direct service worker herself, so she has seen all sides of working with our youth and families. Here’s a look into her experience seeing The Matthews House grow and develop since 2008!
As of March 2020 we’re proud to have Nicole Armstrong as our Executive Director!
“I have come to understand and appreciate the true value of my journey and experiences and that these are woven in the fabric of the agency. It is a complete honor to work at an agency that has been instrumental in changing the landscape of how human services are rendered in Northern Colorado.”
How have you seen the vision of The Matthews House evolve over the past 11 years?
I have had the incredible opportunity to have joined the team when it was still in its infancy and been provided the opportunity to grow professionally and personally as the agency grew. When I started with the agency, our goal and mission were to serve youth in transition. Through continued work to expand and understand the needs of the youth and families in our community, we have had the opportunity to continue to expand with intentional programming and opportunities. This has ensured our community is healthy and all youth and families feel supported and part of our community. We continue to explore and understand the needs in our community with intentional work to ensure we are honoring what is needed for the youth and family we serve.
We have 35 full-time staff now; how many were there when you started?
7 employees – I now supervise more than that!
Did you have any idea The Matthews House would become what it is today?
Oh, no… I had no idea. Our journey has been one that has been a gift to be part of. I feel respect for the journey.
What do you find most meaningful about your work?
The youth and families we work with. For someone to be vulnerable and allow you to walk alongside them during some of the hardest times of their lives, is humbling and honoring. We often are planting seeds and sometimes we get to see them grow and other times, you don’t get to see them bloom. Some of the youth and families come for a short time and other times they stay for longer times. All of the youth and families I have had the opportunity to meet and work with bring so much meaning to my work and have truly shaped who I am as a worker and parent.
