Krystle Martin’s office in the YMCA’s Shenkman Residence is adorned with a mural made by the youth who have lived there over the past few years.
Krystle Martin is a single mom to 13 youths. The young men and women live on the sixth floor of the YMCA’s Shenkman residence. Martin listens to their problems, enforces the rules, and makes sure they’re going to school or work everyday.
And still, she has time to sit down for an interview in the middle of a crazy work schedule.
Martin is the program supervisor for second-stage housing at the YMCA on Argyle Avenue, and is the only one in charge of working personally with the youth who are in the YMCA’s housing program.
“[I work on] even the day to day stuff. Just being a support for them. Any sort of crisis management,” Martin says. “[I’m] the mom in a way, kicking their butt in gear when need be.”
Some of the youth who are in the second-stage housing program have come from shelters. Or they were once street youth, or in care with Children’s Aid Services.
The youth that Martin takes care of are not ready to be completely independent, and have had hard lives, ranging from living in abusive homes to dealing with mental health issues.
“I can’t even fathom what these kids have been through,” Martin says, tearing up. “They’ve seen so much, they’ve been through so much. But yet they still manage to wake up every day at least with a smile on their face.”
Martin helps these youth, mostly aged 16 to 21, to work on their goals, whether it’s school, work, or improving mental health.
She says she’s solely in charge of helping these youth back on their feet so they can live independently.
Martin originally went to Algonquin College where she studied police foundations. She says she’s always wanted to help people, but that the enforcement aspect of assisting people didn’t appeal to her.
She decided to take a social work program at Herzing College, where she started her placement in the housing office at the YMCA last August.
Even though she was only in the housing office for about six weeks, her supervisor at the time Pamela DeCastro says Martin excelled in her work at the office.
About two months after working in the housing program, Martin started working part time in the second-stage housing program as well, helping people make a smooth transition to living on their own.
DeCastro says Martin’s level of maturity, eagerness, and her gentle nature allowed her to work well with residents.
That’s why when housing director Judy Perley needed someone to fill the position for supervisor of the second-stage housing program, DeCastro had no problem recommending Martin for the job.
“Judy came and asked me if I thought she’d be ideal for the position and I said, absolutely,” DeCastro says.
Martin also has the right kind of attitude to work with youth, she says, which made her even more ideal for the job.
“She doesn’t come off as a hard-ass worker,” says DeCastro. “She’s developed a real trust with [the youth], and a real family environment upstairs.”
DeCastro also says it’s rare that a student who does a co-op placement at the YMCA would find a full-time job there shortly afterwards, which she says clearly shows how dedicated Martin is to her work.
Perley, housing director at Shenkman Residence, knew Martin during her student placement and interviewed her for the full-time job.
She says she saw qualities in Martin that made her an ideal person to work with young people.
“She’s youthful herself, she’s got really good connection skills,” says Perley. “She’s bubbly, she’s high energy, she’s very approachable. You’d probably see her as cool.”
As youthful as Martin is, Perley says she also has a maturity level beyond her years, and has handled the job exceptionally.
“Every day is a challenge,” says Perley. “In this type of work, you never know what you’re going to be dealing with when you come in.”
Martin, who admits to having her stressful days, says the job is still rewarding.
“A month ago, one of the girls in my program got a job and she was so excited,” says Martin. “And I see her running down the hall, [yelling] ‘Krystle! I got the job! This is the best day of my life!’ Things like that, almost brings tears to my eyes.”
Martin also says that one resident on her floor recently came up to her, and told her that he wouldn’t be in school or working if it wasn’t for her guidance.
“To see youth that have had such a difficult life, and had no chances, nothing given to them, nothing easy and then you see them come in and still be so hopeful, and they’re so resilient,” she says with tearful eyes. “That’s one thing about youth. There’s so much potential in all of them.”
But, she also says her job certainly isn’t the type where she is praised often.
Martin says one of the hardest things about her job is to make herself available for each youth individually, and building relationships with them.
But DeCastro says Martin’s gentle approach to people makes her easy to work with, especially young people.
“We always tell her, now you know what it will be like to have teenagers,” DeCastro jokes.
Martin says although she was intimidated when she first took the job, she immediately strived to be the best staff member she could be.
She says having to answer to management as well as the youth she’s in charge of can be very stressful. But at the end of the day, she hopes she can be that staff member that can be relied on and trusted.
“I’m constantly learning, and I’ll never stop learning,” Martin says. “I think if you think that you’re done learning, then it’s probably not a good thing.”
To unwind after her 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. shift, Martin says she enjoys having a glass of wine with friends and talking about her day, although she can’t get into specifics for the confidentiality of her residents.
She says she also goes to DeCastro for a debriefing on her day, and that she is an excellent support for her.
DeCastro taught Martin a lot about her job, she says, but she also looks up to her old social work teacher and her mother for inspiration.
Martin says she certainly doesn’t see herself leaving her job any time soon, and that she’ll always want to work with youth.
“I want to have as much of an impact as I can, and work with Judy to mould this program into the best it can possibly be,” Martin says. “We’re forever evolving, and forever changing.”