Staff Spotlight: Claire

Meet Claire, a youth specialist at CEDARS!

Claire has been a part of the CEDARS team for a little over two years. She began as a part-time employee and interned with a CEDARS case manager while attending Nebraska Wesleyan University. After graduating with a degree in criminal justice and sociology, she started working at CEDARS full-time and says she has felt at home here ever since.

As a youth specialist, she strives to provide kids with a structured, safe, and fun environment so they can thrive. One day she might be helping a teen develop and practice emotional management skills and the next they’re having a little fun with harmless pranks.

“My favorite part of working at CEDARS would have to be all of the relationships I have made with both the kids and my team,” shared Claire. “There is something amazing about being able to connect with and see the kids make exceptional progress for whatever their circumstance may be. The best thing is hearing updates or having them call and check in. I recently had a full circle moment with one of the kids I worked with when I first started at CEDARS. I remember coming up with creative ways to get this youth to study, even for just five minutes at a time. And this past May, they brought us a card for their graduation.”

Claire’s favorite CEDARS memory comes from Thanksgiving when the kids helped her and a fellow coworker cover a CEDARS case manager’s office in gift wrap. Everything was wrapped – the walls, the furniture, and even the individual office supplies!

“It was amazing to see the kids get creative and work together on a fun, harmless prank!” Claire said. “It became the talk of CEDARS and definitely lifted the holiday mood. Since then, it’s become a tradition to prank our case manager with each new group of kids, helping them feel a little more relaxed and comfortable in their temporary home.”

Coming from Ashton, Nebraska, Claire grew up with her five younger brothers on their family’s generational farm. In her free time, you can find her preparing for law school, traveling, reading, doing some form of art, or cheering her brothers on from the sidelines.  

“If there is one thing about us, it’s that we show up everywhere, every time for each other,” said Claire. “It doesn’t matter if it’s for a football game, an honors society induction, a play, a tractor pull, or a concert – we are always there. I am, without a doubt, your typical proud big sister. I believe this has also carried over into how I care for the kids that I serve at CEDARS.”

A fun fact about Claire is that she is a huge Beach Boys fan and recently attended her fourth concert. She has even met Mike Love and Bruce Johnston!
Thank you, Claire, for sharing your giving and caring heart with the kids we serve!