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Shoestring
Staff Profile:
ELIZABETH SPANN
 One
of the great things about Operation Shoestring is the way
we establish lasting relationships with people in the community.
Those who spend time with us tend to stay with us. That
applies not only to the families we work with, but also
to our volunteers and staff.
Take, for example, Elizabeth Spann. Elizabeth – or,
as everyone calls her, “Miss Spann” – has
been associated with Shoestring since 1983, when she worked
as a volunteer at the Shoestring-affiliated Grove Hilton
day care center. Two of her children have been part of
Shoestring’s programs, and she is effusive about
the role it has played in her life.
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"Shoestring
helped both of my daughters meet a lot of people that they
wouldn’t otherwise have gotten
the opportunity to meet," Elizabeth says. "Keisha
played on the basketball team and got to go on the Martin Luther
King civil rights trip to Alabama. Deanna was in the art class
and just loved it. They learned discipline, computer skills,
and a lot of other things."
Elizabeth was born in the nearby town of Raymond but grew up
in the neighborhood near Shoestring, attending Johnson and G.N.
Smith elementary schools, Lanier and Brinkley high schools, and
Utica (now Hinds) Junior College. She moved to Atlanta for a
few years in her 20s but then returned to Jackson.
After
her stint at the Grove Hilton day care center, Elizabeth worked
at Shoestring for four years as a VISTA volunteer in the
Christian Children’s Fund (CCF) program. In 1993, she came
on board full-time at Shoestring and has worked as interim afterschool
director and as a caseworker in the Even Start and (currently)
CCF programs. She does everything from paperwork to actual home
visits, and she helps manage the food pantry.
Elizabeth is adamant that Shoestring helps not only the children
who take part in our programs, but people like her as well.
"Operation
Shoestring has helped me a lot," she says. "I’m naturally quiet and shy, but Shoestring
helped bring me out of my shell. It’s a people place, and
you really learn a lot from day to day. I love working with the
children and the other people here. And I see the difference
Shoestring makes in the daily lives of the people in this community.
It’s a safe place for children as well as adults.
"I’ve
been here so long and people say to me, 'What is it about Operation
Shoestring?' I always tell them it’s
a place that empowers people to get beyond where they are now."
If I could pick another career: "I’d
like to work in a day care center, taking care of children."
Career
I wouldn’t want: "Cooking!"
Role
model: "I’d say two of my co-workers: Dr. Ivy
Lovelady, because she’s a well-rounded, educated, and good
person. She’s easy to get along with. Also Ada Robinson,
because she’s a real girl scout! [laughs] She’s a
people person and I like that."
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