A holistic approach: Helping team members develop personally and professionally

In our first HopeWorks blog post, we filled you in on what ServiceMaster by Stratos is doing in its partnership with the nonprofit. Stratos and eight other local companies are assisting team members in overcoming professional and personal challenges that keep them from performing their best with the help of a success coach. Now, let’s get to know Keva Irvin-Edwards, Stratos’ success coach!

Keva, a former lead social worker for the Shelby County Public Defender-Juvenile Unit, joined the HopeWorks team in February to further the mission instilled in her by her mother – serving others. Soon after taking on her new role, she was assigned to Stratos to serve as the success coach for our service partners. The Memphis native keeps her eyes and ears open to what is going on in and around the city and visits Stratos every week to share these beneficial things to make lives easier.

“With it being summer, childcare is a huge issue for many of my clients,” Keva said. “Luckily, free City of Memphis summer camps returned for the first time since 2007, and Shelby County Schools offered free summer activities as well, giving parents the chance to rest easy while they were at work making money to provide for their families.”

Six months into the job, Keva is making a big impact by giving service partners renewed hope for a brighter future. She works hard every day to equip Stratos service partners and their families with the tools, knowledge and opportunities to grow personally. That helps them not only be the best they can be for themselves, but also for their families and employers. Stratos has already seen the fruits of this labor. It has changed one of the company’s processes to forge the relationship between service partners and Keva. For example, if a service partner now asks for an advance, he or she must go through financial counseling with Keva to receive that advance.

“This is another touchpoint that is not transactional,” said Stacy McCall, CEO of Stratos. “It’s developing a relationship that impacts our service partners’ lives in more ways than one. We’re expanding communication opportunities through our benevolent acts by bringing Keva in to counsel on the financial health side of things. This is impacting our culture and communication in ways bigger than even we imagined.”

“I’ve been called to serve here on earth,” Keva said. “I am the hands and feet of Jesus right here. I’m a change agent. We’re changing lives one challenge, one purpose and one problem at a time.”