Jesse and Esther Dansby-McClain
When Jesse and Esther Dansby-McClain got married they knew they wanted something different. “We wanted an adventure,” Jesse explains, “something new that we could do together.”
The couple met at Kentucky’s Berea College where both were studying biology. Jesse had heard of RedCliff earlier. After earning their Bachelor of Arts degrees the couple headed west to give life as field staff a try.
“I wasn’t the outdoorsy type,” Esther admits with a laugh. “It was really stepping out for me. I didn’t know what to expect.”
“I’m definitely more outdoorsy than Esther,” Jesse acknowledges. As a boy, Jesse says family camping trips were common for the McClains, although they usually involved using tents and gas stoves.
As a head instructor, Jesse says the fact that RedCliff students are struggling with life is one of the things that drew him to the job. “I could see myself in them a lot,” he says. As a teen he often wished for someone to talk to about the challenges he faced.
Esther says her experience as a residential hall assistant for three years helped give her a glimpse of what it would be like dealing with adolescents. But the RedCliff training was by far the most valuable. She says learning about ego states and transactional analysis were important tools.
Both McClains say RedCliff staff play a critical role in working with program therapists to help students grow.
“Sometimes there are interesting dynamics,” Esther notes. “Students may tell a therapist what they think the therapist wants to hear, but then they behave differently.” She says staff document daily how a student is actually behaving and then pass that critical information on to the therapist.
“Sometimes it’s a challenge to see all the nuances and details that we see,” Jesse adds. “The therapist ultimately has the final say. We talk to them going into the field at the beginning of each shift and they tell us how the kids are doing and how they would like us to interact.”
Besides behavioral notes, field staff are also keeping careful records of any medical issues. “There are usually no more than three students to one staff,” Esther explains. “In a group of six there might be two staff and each of us are personally responsible for checking in and talking regularly with the students and taking care of the paperwork. We all work together and share information.”
Although they’re married, the McClains have only worked the same shift about three times since they joined RedCliff. “We’re generally away from each other for the eight days of the shift,” Esther says. “Working together takes work,” she adds with a laugh. “I miss him more when he’s away.”
Jesse teases right back. He says working together at RedCliff, “You definitely get to see the whole personality of the individual.”
The couple says their RedCliff experience is good preparation for becoming parents themselves. “In our job we realize that a lot of the time a student that is having problems, it’s not just their problem. Their parents have problems too,” Esther says. She adds, “Some of the tools that we’ve been given to deal with the students daily will be valuable to us as a couple and to any children we have in the future.”
Someday they plan on returning to school, perhaps in an accelerated nursing program. Jesse says they are interested in working and living outside of the United States, possibly in crisis areas of the world or disaster scenes.
“I feel like this job has stretched my limits in a whole lot of ways,” Esther says. “While I’ve always enjoyed helping people, now I’m doing it in an environment that is not always totally comfortable. I’ve struggled and I’ve conquered.”
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Gracie’s brown eyes look sober as she considers the question. She’s already panting and the hot weather is still weeks away. She stretches and then sits up, scratching her ear.
She looks deeply into my eyes. It’s as if she’s saying, “I’d really rather not talk about my past. I had a family once. But they gave me to a shelter. It was awful there.”
She shakes her head. “They were kind enough to me. But it wasn’t like I had a home, like I belonged to anyone. Then I met Kena. We’ve been together three years now.”
Gracie’s roots are hard to mistake. Her brown hair and eyes, her somewhat square head and larger body are definitely Lab. But there’s that little bit of wave in her hair that hints at Golden Retriever.
She returns my gaze and sits patiently. “I never started out to be a therapy dog,” she seems to say. She looks at Kena with devotion. “I just always rode along when Kena would go out to the field. Everything smells wonderful out there!”
“I’d mosey around camp while Kena worked with a student. Sometimes I’d come and lie down and listen in, but it’s not like I was eavesdropping. I just have really good hearing. And sometimes a student would scratch my belly or my ears while they talked.”
She cocks her head again, “Do you think that was unprofessional?”
Gracie stretches out on the floor, her head on her paws. “When Kena decided we should team up and become certified as a therapy team, I was all for it. I like people. I’m really good with strangers and nothing really upsets me.”
“Kena had to go to a workshop on her own. I think they wanted to make sure she could cut it. Then I came the next day and we worked as a team. Now I’m officially certified through Intermountain Therapy Animals.”
Gracie watches as Kena concludes a phone call. “I’m allowed anywhere a regular service dog goes – hospitals, schools, even the bus. However, I don’t plan to use public transportation without Kena. I think we’ll do most of our work in the field right here at RedCliff.”
“Now that I’m certified, I have a special bandana and the tag on my collar identifies me as a therapy dog. I’ve never been much for designer clothes though so I don’t let it go to my head.”
Kena hangs up and Gracie sits up. She’s watching for Kena to get the car keys. “I love this job,” she seems to say, as her tail beats time on the rug.
“For the kids, it seems to bring a piece of home, a little bit of comfort,” says Kena Frey, a RedCliff therapist.
Kena is talking about having Gracie, a nine-year-old lab/retriever mutt, sit in on therapy sessions in the field. Gracie recently certified as an official therapy dog.
“As I was hearing back from students who had left the program, almost every one of them were asking about Gracie,” Kena says. “They would say how much they missed her and how they loved seeing her.”
Gracie usually tagged along as Kena visited the field. While Kena initially brought the dog along just so she could get some exercise, Kena began to realize there might be some therapeutic value to having Gracie on hand.
“Gracie is really good at just recognizing when people need something. If students are having a difficult session they can sit there and pet her and get a little calming,” Kena explains.
Kena had heard of therapy dogs used in hospitals and rehabilitation centers. She decided to investigate the possibility of having Gracie go through the certification process as well.
“I found Intermountain Therapy Animals, a volunteer program,” she says. “The group doesn’t have anyone in the St. George (Utah) area and they were hoping to expand. The dogs have to be very well trained, well mannered, and really good with strangers.”
Kena was required to attend training sessions, once without Gracie and once to demonstrate how she and the dog worked together. “They want to teach you, as a handler, how to actually use your pet.”
The pair will have to re-certify every two years to maintain their therapy dog status.
As a licensed clinical social worker, Kena plans to look for new ways she can use Gracie in the therapy she currently provides. “I’m really excited!” she says. “I ordered some additional books and I want to look for every opportunity I can to use Gracie.”
What about students who may not like dogs? “Any time a student comes in I make sure they’re OK with dogs in general,” Kena explains. “One girl said she really didn’t like dogs so Gracie sat by me. But within a couple of weeks the student was asking to have Gracie sit by her.”
She adds, “It’s really amazing what can happen with an animal. She brings a little more comfort and security into a session. Students are opening up a little more.”
“RedCliff was a turning point in my life.” For Tony G., (he asked us not to use his last name) it’s a fact, not an opinion. “I made a lot of bad choices as a youth,” he says. Those choices landed him in trouble with the law for drinking and dealing drugs. Just months away from his 18th birthday, his family sent him to RedCliff.
That was six years ago. Today Tony has earned his high school diploma, an Associates degree in automotive technology, and is currently working on a Bachelor’s degree in business. He also plans to get a Master’s degree.
“You can’t really succeed without an education,” he explains.
When he looks back at his RedCliff experience, he says staff made the difference. “The staff genuinely cared,” he says. While he’d spent time in previous youth programs before RedCliff, he got the impression personnel there were “just 9-5 staff. RedCliff staff really tried to help me,” he recalls.
Tony says time in other programs was spent swapping “glory stories” with adolescents facing similar problems. “In wilderness I spent most of my time hiking and doing productive things. It put my mind in a whole different state,” he says.
“Another part of RedCliff was doing things I didn’t think I could do – like hiking 15 miles with a huge pack or climbing a huge mountain.” Standing on the summit he realized, “Wow! I did this! I realized there’s nothing I couldn’t do if I put my mind to it and just kind of trucked through it.”
While he hated the cold nights, Tony says “Everything else I’d do again in a heartbeat. If I hadn’t gone to RedCliff I can guarantee I’d be in jail or dead by now. RedCliff is just good people and a good environment.”
Tony is currently working with an Internet marketing firm and doing some automotive repairs on the side. Besides school and work, he spends time working out. “The physical activity that we did at RedCliff helped set a precedent for my life. It keeps me feeling good about life and everything. If you feel good about life you’re less likely to use again.”
He adds, “It’s definitely a good feeling to know that you’ve risen from what you were to become a better person.”
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