We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Tiffany Ladd. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Tiffany below.

Tiffany, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We love heartwarming stories – do you have a heartwarming story from your career to share?

I would like to share the story of my friend Jake. I met Jake when I started doing homeless outreach a little over six years ago. Jake was a Marine Veteran who struggled to find his place in this world. I made it a point to build a relationship with Jake and we quickly became best friends. I was able to connect Jake with his daughter in Illinois whom Jake had not had contact with for a while. Jake was living in a motel for a short period of time before he went to live with his daughter Sam in Illinois. Jake was a man that was going to do things his way, and he returned to Nashville. I sent Jake back to his daughter three different times over the last few years. In December 2021 I finally secured housing for Jake. I thought Jake would finally be at peace, he would get to start living and reconnect with his family. Jake was in his apartment for five days, and I would get the call that Jake was on life support and it did not look good. I was able to sit in the hospital room and be with Jake when he took his last breath. Jake was a Marine veteran and the VA did not want to give Jake the full benefits,I had to fight hard, but Jake finally got the proper burial that he deserved with military honors. I received Jakes’s flag, and it sits in my office to remind me why I fight daily. Jake changed my life forever.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am an outrech worker who serves in the city of Nashville. I serve the unhoused population with YAIpak Outreach. I got into outreach when I went out on a cold night with the found of YAIpak outreach Sherry Nicholson. Sherry invited me to do cold patrol, which is where we pick up the unhoused through out the city and take them to a shelter for the night. I realized that night that the unhoused are misunderstood people who just want someone to notice them, see their dignity, and remind them they are apart of our society.

I am most proud of the relationships that I build with the people I serve in the city of Nashville. I am able to sit with the broken, step into their mess, and help them find the way into healing. I believe that everyone deserves kindness, love, and most of all hope. It does not cost anything to be kind to someone, notice someone, and offer a hand in their time of despair.

I want people to know that the unhoused population is so much more than the surface-level stereotype the world has given them. They are beautiful humans who are someone’s daughter, son, mother, father, brother, and sister, Trauma is the root cause of someone being unhoused and often people just need a friend. I will always take the time to sit and listen to someone’s story, because you never know when it could save someones life.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I have learned that engaging the unhoused population can look different for everyone, but it is possible if you put in the effort. I met a gentleman that really did not want to engage with me due to being hurt by the system, The only way that I was able to get him to engage with me was to buy him McDonalds cheese burgers weekly. He knew that he would get a meal, but he also found safety in knowing I would show up. The biggest part of my work is you have to meet people where they are, you cannot expect them to come to you. The McDonalds cheese burgers led to the gentleman being housed.

If you could go back, would you choose the same profession, specialty, etc.?

I have a bachelor’s degree in Public Relations and I thought I would be working for a nonprofit help them raise funds for their agency. I had all of the motivation to utilize my degree after I graduated from Austin Peay State University. My last semester of college I realized that I no longer had the passion for public relations, and my heart was with social work. I wanted to go to graduate school at Austin Peay, but a professor told me that I would never make in their program so I did not need to apply. My heart was crushed because my plans were ruined, and I longed to be a social worker. I applied for the social work program at Campbellsville University, and I am proud to say I have a Masters of Social Work degree that I obtained in May during a pandemic.

I would choose social work over and over again, because it has taught me that brokenness can be turned into beauty. I am thankful that I get to love people, fight for them, and fight the system daily.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tladd1106/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FFAlover1106
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tiffany-ladd-860b2614b/