Meet Alisa Hunter of Wediko Children’s Services

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alisa Hunter.

Alisa, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
My life to date is a summation of the quote ” A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step”.

I’ve dedicated my life to the service of children and families in my community. I was born and raised in Boston and received all of my education in and through this city.

While I don’t love the weather, and wish it was warmer, this is home, because the people I love are here. I have lived in Roxbury, Dorchester and Mattapan and feel most connected to these communities. So, when I say “my community,” these are the areas I am referring to.

The formula of me: I grew up in the 80’s and 90’s, at a time when Black communities were talking about pride in our heritage and fighting the power. I attended suburban schools through the completion of high school, which for me, highlighted my awareness of the inequities experienced by folks in my community. I was raised by a strong, hardworking, disciplined single mom, who was also raised by a single mom. All of which created a fiery, passionate, outspoken woman who fights fiercely for the underdog.

Whether is it a sporting event or someone battling for their freedom, I want the one who isn’t “supposed” to and doesn’t “deserve” to actually win.

As a child, I wanted to become a defense attorney, so I pursued that dream. I studied criminal justice in college, with a minor in sociology. I landed as a paralegal at a corporate law firm and realized that was NOT where I wanted to be. Oh, and by the way, I gave birth to a daughter in my junior year of college…and graduated on time, with honors.

Back to career, now a young mother, still with my eye on my career I was at a crossroad.

I wasn’t really motivated to apply to law school and for the first time was reconsidering my lifelong dream of becoming an attorney. A few very important things also happened around this time, in an effort to be the best possible mom, I was also on a journey of faith. God and Jesus became very real to me. Then I ended up running into a friend I grew up with and hadn’t seen since high school. He was with his boss, we all ended chatting about our lives and careers. My friend was working in human services, a field I knew absolutely nothing about. I ended up forwarding my resume to his boss and landed a job at a girl’s juvenile detention center. I realized relatively quickly that I needed more education to serve the girls well. There, a coworker, who I honestly was not that fond of introduced me to a university where I could study mental health counseling. Boom, I got into the program and began at Wediko with my graduate internship.

Fast forward to now, I have worked for Wediko a total of 7 years and now am in a management role. My daughter has graduated from high school and is off to college to study computer science. I am still walking with God and trying to figure out the next chapter of my life as a semi empty nester.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Ohh life is never a bed of roses neither a bed of thorns. However, as rightly put by the German philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche, “That which does not kill us, makes us stronger.”

It is funny, I don’t spend much time thinking about struggles and obstacles once I am past them. Nonetheless, I appreciate this opportunity to reflect.

Early on, some of my struggles included a strained relationship with my father and my sense of community belonging. My parents divorced when I was four years old. While my father was close geographically, emotionally we were very disconnected. I realize now that he had his struggles, which affected our relationship and he did the best that he could.

Growing up as an African American in this country has left its marks as well. These were exacerbated by my experience of going to a wealthy community outside of the city for my primary and secondary education. While I received a high quality education, it was not without consequence, Socially, I was left longing for my place in this world. You see in my community I wasn’t “Black” enough because of the way I spoke, did spend much time there, and was not seen as fitting. I definitely didn’t fit in where I went to school because I was Black and didn’t fall into their socioeconomic bracket. So, from a very young age I learned how to adapt and “make” myself into someone who could fit into both places…master code switcher.

Those wounds have left scars, which impact my sense of worth and value.

Also, becoming a single mother at a relatively young age was another challenge. Parenting an infant, attending class, studying and working were really difficult to balance and pull off well. Thank God, I only had to do it for one semester before graduating. That was the short journey, the longer being learning life, parenting and dealing with my own brokenness was and still is tough.

To this day, I battle the internalized stereotypes of being an African American, single mother living in Dorchester. I battle insecurities about being “good enough,” being able to accomplish greatness and not settling in my personal life and career. However, I persevere through these obstacles to buffer their attempts to impact self-worth and thus my growth and progress.

Wediko Children’s Services – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Wediko is a non-profit making organization which helps children and families with social, emotional, and academic challenges walk the path to fulfilling futures. The agency partners with children, families, schools, and community providers to build an understanding of the impact of trauma, adverse childhood experiences, mental health challenges, and learning differences. In addition, these partnerships help to also build programs, strategies, and skills on the individual, family, and system level to support better outcomes.

We are proud of our commitment to long term results since 1934. Wediko’s commitment has always been to go the extra mile to help each child achieve sustained improvement. All of Wediko’s staff and services, across our four programs, are aligned around this objective. We are proud that families have called the lasting impact we have on their children’s lives “Wediko magic”.

Our leading professionals come from a broad spectrum of educational backgrounds including clinical psychologists, social workers, neuropsychologists, mental health counselors, guidance counselors, special educators, and more. This diversity of training disciplines and life experiences adds richness and flexibility to Wediko’s therapeutic capabilities.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Thank you again for an opportunity to reflect on this. It took a coworker to highlight this moment for me. As a young single mother, I had the honor of my daughter attending my undergraduate and graduate school graduations. First as a six-month-old, then as an eight-year-old. I have a picture on my living room entertainment center of my daughter and I at my graduate school ceremony. I am in my cap and gown as she is hugging me, with a huge smile. I wonder what that moment meant to her and means every time she sees it. For me, it is a beautiful blessing of a mother passing on to her daughter the belief that she is capable, unstoppable and can do hard things, just like her momma. What an honor.

This education, of course, is the catalyst to such a rewarding career to service young people and families. It has given me the knowledge and foundation to do my job well.

At Wediko, I work with an amazing, passionate and committed team. They support and treat me with respect and dignity. Without a doubt, working at Wediko has been and will remain a major highlight of my career. Nothing is more satisfying than working for an organization whose mission you can easily relate to and connect with. My experience with Wediko contributed significantly to my professional maturity. Oh snap, I am smart, I am competent, I am capable.

Contact Info:

• Address: 72-74 East Dedham Street, Boston, MA 02118
• Website: www.wediko.org
• Phone: (617) 292-9200 Fax: (617) 292-9272
• Email: mbryan@wediko.org
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WedikoChildrensServices/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/wediko

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