HeyJaredA Side of Hope
A SIDE OF HOPE PODCASTStories of hope and grit: amplifying voices in human servicesIf you are a human service professional, social worker or one in the making, you’re in the right place.
- Indexed episodes, last 90 days
- 6
- Latest publication
- Sep 14, 2026
- Audience
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- Earliest in this view
- Jul 6, 2026
Latest episodes
Connection Doesn't Happen by Accident: Here's Why It Matters for Your Work (opens the original)
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About Ginger Johnson Known as a "Chief Connecting Officer," Ginger Johnson has built a career around one core belief: everything we want in life is powered by connection. From firefighter to teacher to executive, Ginger's journey has shaped a deep understanding of what it takes to help people feel seen, valued, and part of something bigger. She's the author of Connectivity Canon: Why and How to Connect on Purpose, and offers keynote speaking, professional development programs, and Chief Connecti
What Expectation Bias Costs Us in Human Services (opens the original)
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What Expectation Bias Costs Us in Human Services A Side of Hope with Melanie Bazile In this episode, Melanie Bazile explores expectation bias, the tendency to perceive, interpret, and remember information in ways that confirm what we already expect to be true. Drawing on more than 30 years in human services, she unpacks how this shows up not just in daily life, but in the field itself, in referrals, diagnoses, and the labels attached to the people we serve. Melanie opens with her own story: a cr
Inclusion Isn't a Program. It's a Bridge You Build Toward the Rest of the World (opens the original)
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Human services has spent decades trying to build inclusion from our side. Lisa Drennan's 40 years in the field taught her the opposite: inclusion can only be built by the side of the bridge that isn't there yet, the YMCAs, the camps, the faith communities. Her work is teaching that side how to build it. Lisa Drennan is a nationally recognized speaker and inclusion advocate who has spent over 40 years helping individuals with disabilities experience deeper connection, belonging, and community. Sh
Heart-Led, Head-Managed: Why Systems and Compassion Belong Together (opens the original)
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There's a word that makes a lot of people in human services flinch. Not burnout, not funding cuts. Sales. Melanie says it out loud in this episode, and she doesn't apologize for it. But the real tension she's sitting with is bigger than one word: how did 'corporate' become an insult in a field where the stakes are this high? And what tools have we walked away from because they felt like a betrayal of the work? Melanie isn't arguing that human services should become corporate America. She's askin
Beyond the Diagnosis: How Cancer Taught Us to See Hope in Hard Places (opens the original)
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Most people, when they get a cancer diagnosis, think about survival. Lauren Huffmaster did too, until she realized that surviving and living are two very different things. Lauren Huffmaster is a metastatic breast cancer survivor and the founder of Adventure Therapy Foundation, where she's working to reimagine what the cancer experience can look like. Through her work as a speaker, author, and podcast host, Lauren invites others to find meaning, connection, and even joy in the midst of hardship.
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