Elisa Worland spent five years at Purdue Extension in Wayne County as a Community Development and Health & Human Sciences Educator. Her years here began in the thick of the pandemic, and were sandwiched between her time with the Peace Corps in Paraguay, and her current position at UC Santa Cruz in California. In this episode, Elisa talks with Kate about what it was like to move to the area as a young professional, the work she did while she was here, and some of her hopes for Wayne County’s future. Enjoy!
Transcript
Elisa Worland: I am Elisa Worland, formerly of Purdue Extension.
Kate Jetmore: From Civic Spark Media and the Western Wayne News in Wayne County, Indiana. I’m Kate Jetmore as a native of Richmond, Indiana, I’m excited to be sitting down with some of our neighbors and listening to the stories that define our community. My guest today is Elisa Worland, the former community development and health and human sciences educator for Purdue Extension in Wayne County. While originally from California, Elisa is the daughter of Hoosiers and spent her summers in Vincennes, Indiana. After graduating from Smith College, she later received her master’s in social work from Portland State.
From 2016 to 2020, she served in the Peace Corps in Paraguay, an experience that came to a screeching halt when COVID hit and everyone was evacuated from the program worldwide. In summer 2020, she moved to Wayne County and began her job with Purdue Extension. She taught everything from grant writing to Servsafe and was actively involved in coalition work around homelessness and substance use. She now works for the University of California, Santa Cruz as an AOD Health Educator in Student Health Services. Welcome, Elisa. Thanks so much for joining me today.
Elisa Worland: Yeah, thanks for having me.
Kate Jetmore: Well, even though you recently relocated to California and are no longer at Purdue Extension, I would like to spend most of our conversation today talking about your time in Wayne County. But before we jump in with that, I’d love to hear about your time in the Peace Corps. What drew you to volunteer with the organization initially and what kind of work did you do while you were in Paraguay?
Elisa Worland: Yeah, so I think the first thing I might want to talk about is what is the Peace Corps because I find a lot of folks are unfamiliar with it in Indiana. So it is a program of the U.S. government that sends professional volunteers to countries that request assistance with different areas of development. And there’s three goals of the Peace Corps, and those are to provide trained volunteers to help countries meet their needs, promote understanding of Americans and promote understanding of other people. So it was kind of created as an alternative to military service and to build better relationships with other countries. And volunteers typically serve for two years in a community in a particular sector. They’re paid a living allowance that’s kind of commensurate with what an average person might be earning in that country. So you have enough to survive on, but you’re not rolling in it.
Kate Jetmore: Right, right. Elisa, were you aware of the specifics of the Peace Corps when you volunteered? Those three points that you just read, were those things who you were aware of and you thought, “Oh, I’m really drawn to that. I think I’d like to do that”?
Elisa Worland: I think roughly. I don’t remember when exactly I heard about Peace Corps, but I think I heard about it sometime in high school and was like, “I want to do that.” I really wanted to live abroad and explore other countries, but not as a tourist. I wanted to actually go do something useful, and Peace Corps seemed like a really great way to do that. I do think though that all of us going into Peace Corps have kind of a little bit of a romanticized idea of what we’re getting into, and then you get there and you’re like, “Oh, this is not quite what I thought I was going to be doing.”
Kate Jetmore: So what did you think you’d be doing and what was the reality when you got there?
Elisa Worland: Yeah, so I think this anecdote probably Illustrates this a little bit. I was talking with my mom and she was like, “Your dad doesn’t really approve of you going to Peace Corps.” And I was like, “Oh, why?” And she’s like, “I think he thinks you’re going to be in a hut with dysentery for two years.” And I was like, “That’s probably not far off.” But yeah, so I served in Paraguay, which is a country about the size landmass wise of California in the middle of South America. It has about the population of Indiana, and it’s a lot like Indiana in many ways. It’s flat, a lot of smaller towns, a lot of agriculture industry. Everyone knows each other in these small towns. You talk about the weather a lot, it’s hot and humid, it’s landlocked.
Yeah. I was a community health volunteer in a town of about 6,500 down on the border of Southern Paraguay near Argentina. And yeah, I got to my town and my town had been receiving volunteers basically since the post had opened in Paraguay back in I think ’69, somewhere thereabouts. And I expected to be in a much more rural site. And I got there and I was like, “They look like they’re doing all right compared to other places in Paraguay. What am I going to do here?” So I spent a little while working on a needs assessment, and I eventually found that sexual reproductive health education with youth was a big area of need.
They are supposed to be teaching it in school, but a lot of teachers don’t feel like they’re prepared to do so. So I spent most of my first two years teaching that, and then that got me enough street cred to do a little bit of a training with our teachers down the line, and it was really satisfying. I worked with a lot of youth from middle school up through high school, and-
Kate Jetmore: One thing that I noticed in your bio is that you were there for four years rather than the two years that you mentioned. So tell us about that.
Elisa Worland: Yeah, so I extended my service. Some people do that to work in the Peace Corps office. I extended my service to work with two different government ministries. One was the Secretary of Technical Planning, which I think has been subsumed under something else now in Paraguay. But they had a program similar to AmeriCorps, and they wanted to improve their training for their volunteers. So I worked with them to create a tool manual and kind of structure for their training so their volunteers would be more effective out in the field. And I was going to spend more time with them and then it looked like the new government administration was going to possibly just shut that program down suddenly, which doesn’t sound unfamiliar to what’s going on right now in our country. But I ended up extending a second year with the Ministry of Health to help them develop a volunteer program for hospitals. And I was about ready to hand that off. I was supposed to talk with the health minister about what that would look like the week we all got evacuated due to COVID.
Kate Jetmore: Right, right. And that would’ve been what, March of 2020?
Elisa Worland: Yeah. Yeah.
Kate Jetmore: Okay.
Elisa Worland: We found out on a Sunday night we were being evacuated, and I was part of the first wave that was evacuated since there was a smaller group of us in the capital and we were closer by. So I was on my way to the airport before noon on Tuesday. So if you can imagine trying to figure out what to do with two cats and four years worth of stuff in less than 48 hours, let alone just not being able to tell anyone goodbye or see them one last time, it was pretty rough.
Kate Jetmore: Yeah, yeah. I actually would love to hear more about that, but I do want to switch to your time in Wayne County and actually amazingly quick turnaround considering that COVID was in full swing.
Elisa Worland: Yes.
Kate Jetmore: That summer you came to Indiana, but as a young professional, as a community organizer and just as a human being tackling big issues, what was it like to arrive in Wayne County?
Elisa Worland: Yeah. So I took the job having never set foot in Wayne County before. I was trying to find work in Indiana so I could be closer to extended family, and I had applied for a few positions at Purdue and I got the one with Wayne County. And I remember just looking at Google Maps to just zoom in and see what was even in the area. So yeah, I was kind of surprised to find the Starr Gennett Building and the fact that there used to be a recording studio in rural Indiana, that was rather surprising and to see that we had a liberal arts college in the area too. I also liked though that I was kind of on the way to several larger cities, so if I wanted to go get food or go to an event or something, I would have a little bit more access. But I came out here in July to look for housing and housing was kind of harder to find. There wasn’t a lot of information online about apartments, which was kind of frustrating. It was easier to find senior apartments than it was for my age bracket.
Kate Jetmore: Right, right.
Elisa Worland: But yeah, I moved out here. I feel like it took me a couple of years though to really know what the rhythm was in the community because so many things were disrupted due to COVID and-
Kate Jetmore: Right, right. Were you aware of that when you landed? I mean, everyone was aware that the pandemic was going on, but did you sort of know that what you were experiencing when you landed in Wayne County was not really representative?
Elisa Worland: Yeah. I mean, in talking to people, there was a lot of like, “Oh, we delayed this,” or, “We’re having to modify this.” I remember our parking lot at the Coleman Center, one of the senior programs that would typically do bingo, tried doing bingo in the parking lot. So there were all these folks lined up in their cars listening to this bingo caller on a megaphone.
Kate Jetmore: Oh my gosh.
Elisa Worland: [inaudible 00:11:47] kind of a door. Yeah. And I think too, there’s a lot of folks who are from Wayne County and I don’t think recognize that they’re all plugged into social networks. This happened in Paraguay too. I don’t know that I would’ve identified it without having looked that down there first. But people are plugged into social networks and different sources of information, and so they know what’s going on and where to find things. But as someone moving there, it can be hard to find that. Recycling, I was like, “What do I do with my boxes?” And someone’s like, “Oh, this church has cardboard recycling out back.” And I was like, “How am I supposed to figure that out?”
Kate Jetmore: Right, if I hadn’t run into you, how would I know that?
Elisa Worland: Yeah. Because we didn’t have the pilot program yet for corrugated cardboard in town. And someone I interviewed when I first got to Wayne County described it as coming to Wayne County is starting a sitcom in the middle. You kind of know what’s going on, but you feel like you miss something and you’re trying to figure out what that is because you’re not sure what it is.
Kate Jetmore: Right, right. I guess my question is, when you tuned in mid-episode to the Wayne County sitcom, were you enjoying it? When you turned on the TV, were you like, “Oh, you know what, I think I’m going to stay on this channel”?
Elisa Worland: Yeah, no, I was kind of pleasantly surprised to see how quirky the place was. And I think Wayne County doesn’t realize how quirky it is in some regards. I think October was the first time I saw Batman outside swooping on top of his limo. I thought this was Halloween related. I didn’t realize that was year round. And then he ran for office, and I was like, “Yes.” Yeah.
Kate Jetmore: Oh gosh.
Elisa Worland: There’s just silly things like that going on in this town that just amuse me. But there’s also just a lot of really wonderful caring people too. I so appreciate Stamm Koechlein Foundation and how they put on their nonprofits step in chat. I feel like I have a better grasp of what I want out of mentorship for myself because of that and some of the other folks that were around me during my time at Purdue that I think has been harder to find when you’re in a city or kind of larger area.
Kate Jetmore: Well, you’re connecting with us today from your new home in California. Briefly, I’d love to know what this new opportunity is that’s drawn you away from Wayne County and also what it means to leave a place that you’ve invested so much time and energy in.
Elisa Worland: Yeah, I moved back to California so I could be closer to my immediate family since my folks are getting a little older. My brother just had a baby too, so it’ll be kind of nice to be auntie here. But yeah, I’m working with the University of California, Santa Cruz. They have a student health outreach and promotion department that’s part of the student health services. And the students provide peer education to their peers on drugs, alcohol, sexual reproductive health and mental health and well-being. So I oversee that. And then also looking at are there some ways that we can work on policy and environment tweaks that we can make things safer for our students and promote well-being in general. So I supervise the party safe team, and those are the students that are working more on that drug and alcohol piece. So yeah.
Kate Jetmore: Okay, okay. Well, with every change, you’re moving away from something and moving towards something else. So you’ve described what you’re moving toward. What’s it like moving away from Wayne County?
Elisa Worland: It’s been hard. Yeah. I developed some really close friendships in town, just some really wonderful collaborators in the community too. When I first moved to Wayne County, I connected up with our point in time coordinator who was trying to organize all this stuff by herself for the homeless census. And I think initially Danielle was like, “Who are you?” And me and Joseph Seger who’s no longer living in the community, but used to be at Central United Methodist Church, we organized our first kind of homeless outreach event to just kind of draw people in a little bit more. And that has since expanded to a team of folks that are all working together on that, that meet regularly and put on this just pretty large event with not too many people involved putting it together. It’s a pretty small group. And I’m just really proud to see them carrying that on and doing just an awesome job since I left.
Kate Jetmore: I bet they’re missing you too.
Elisa Worland: Yeah, it felt a little weird to not be there this year. And yeah, there’s just other groups that I’ve been working with too that I hope that work continues. There’s a sort of having to let things go and hope that what you’ve left behind and built up is strong enough to continue without you kind of helping steer things. But I just really loved my time in Wayne County. It’s more affordable. There’s really wonderful events there, like The Meltdown or the hot air balloon event over by the Rose Garden. I am surprised at some of the types of programming we have there. I loved being able to walk to the library from my house and just how awesome Morrisson-Reeves is. I’m from a large city. I thought living in a small place was going to be harder. In Paraguay, people are just kind of all up in your business too.
Kate Jetmore: No anonymity, right?
Elisa Worland: Yeah. I remember my neighbor across the street commenting one day. She’s like, “You’re going to bed real late, your lights’ on.” And I was like, “Why are you staring at my house?” And she’s like, “Somebody has to watch the neighborhood.” But yeah.
Kate Jetmore: It’s so funny. Before I moved to Spain, I lived in New York City and I rented an apartment in Queens from this elderly Italian couple, and they were just like that. They were always sort of watching me. They would peek out of the curtain to see what I was doing. And I could just see that they were watching me and it drove me bonkers. And when I moved to Spain, I was like, “Oh my God, this is the old country.” This is not Italy, but it may as well be because there’s still lots of people looking from behind their curtains to see what’s going on, so.
Elisa Worland: Yeah, there’s memes and Paraguay of security in the U.S. and it’s cameras, security in the UK, it’s cameras, then it’s like Paraguay, and it’s just a bunch of old ladies leaning out the window looking around.
Kate Jetmore: Exactly. I feel that so hard. Well, Elisa, I see this conversation as sort of an opportunity for you to say goodbye to until next time, until you come and visit. But now that you’re in California, it’s a chance to say a few words to the members of our community that you have worked with, collaborated with and grown close to. What are your wishes for Wayne County?
Elisa Worland: I think there’s two big ones. One would be to just work on supporting tenants more with housing. Before I even had housing in Wayne County, at least two different people told me to look out for particular slumlords before I even got there. And I think a lot of folks from Indiana, the impulse is to buy a house immediately, but there are a lot of us too that we’re going to rent initially, like young people, or sometimes there’s transitions because you get a divorce or something like that, and just trying to find housing can be kind of challenging, decent housing. So I would love to see better tenant protections.
And I think addressing some of the issues that are coming up in Wayne County I think would be really important. I recall some social workers on a call early on in my time in Wayne County talking about a house that had hay bales where the wall had crumbled on one side. Others that I’ve talked about seeing gaping holes that are like if DCS sees this, they’re going to get their kids taken away for this being a hazard. It’s really bad in some areas, and I don’t think people recognize the level of how rough some of those houses are.
The other kind of hope I have is that Wayne County continues to evolve and can look in the past and say, “These are the things that we want to bring with us.” But also look to the future and say, “This is how we’d like to change.” I think I see a lot of nostalgia, and I don’t think that’s a bad thing, but the world has also changed. So how do you continue to be relevant and evolve in a positive way so that you do have continued development, you do have new folks coming in. And I guess maybe too, for the long timers, how do you welcome in new folks also. I think especially moving there during COVID was a little hard just because you couldn’t gather in places. So it’s like, how do you meet people?
Kate Jetmore: Right.
Elisa Worland: Especially if you don’t go to church or something like that. It’s a little bit harder to get plugged in. And I feel like it took me a little while to find my people and I did. But that can take some time, and it’s nice if people are proactive about inviting you places or introducing you to folks. I had some really wonderful neighbors on my street, and I really appreciate them for just really being open and friendly and dropping off food occasionally and those sorts of things.
Kate Jetmore: Yeah. Well, I know Wayne County really benefited from the years that you’ve spent in the community, and I know that there’s definitely a bit of a vacuum where you were. And even so, I know the community wishes you the very best in this next chapter, on this next adventure. And I personally want to thank you for joining me on the podcast today. It’s been really great getting to know you better, and I want to wish you all the best.
Elisa Worland: Thank you. Yeah, I really appreciate being here today.