Many great things happened 30 years ago — Operation Desert Storm came to an end, NASA’s Galileo probe entered Jupiter’s atmosphere and David Hicks began his career at YSS of Marshall County.

Hicks, 54, started in September 1995 as both he and his wife, Alyson, were born and raised in Marshalltown and wanted to return to their hometown. Remembering his journey to YSS, he said he was an average student at Marshalltown HIgh School and was placed on academic probation in college due to poor grades.

“I was sort of lost trying to find out what my talents were,” Hicks said. “Thank goodness I took a sociology class that gave me purpose and hope. My life changed after that. I knew I’d just have to work hard and learn as much as I could to build a career somewhere. I had no problem starting at the entry level at YSS. I did what was asked of me, took on additional responsibilities and learned from my supervisors.”

He took his first human service job in 1993 at Waverly at Bremwood Lutheran Children’s Home doing direct care for teens who were removed from their parents. Unfortunately, the lack of staff meant Hicks had to cover multiple shifts. Many days began at 7 a.m. and ended at midnight.

“There were times that I would work 70 hours a week – holidays, weekends, etc,” he said.

Hicks earned 50 cents more per hour than his colleagues because he had to physically restrain youth who were acting out. Realizing he could not keep up with the pace of the job, he submitted his application to YSS of Marshall County.

“I wasn’t very familiar with YSS when I applied, but I knew it was a large organization,” Hicks said.

He did not foresee that his application would extend into 30 years. When Hicks received his five-year plaque, he thought the time went by quickly and wondered if he could make it 10 years.

“Before I knew it, I was celebrating 20 years,” Hicks said. “Now I’m at 30 years, which is hard to believe. Thirty years is a long time to be doing anything, but I’ve done my life’s work here at YSS.”

He has filled the roles of school-based counselor, transitional living case manager, child access and visitation coordinator, family development specialist, aftercare case manager, prevention specialist, independent living case manager, family based counselor and senior director of community engagement.

Since becoming the director of YSS of Marshall County, the role has changed through the years.

“I used to supervise all programs and staff in Marshalltown,” Hicks said. “About 10 years ago, all programs and services were aligned across YSS, so one department leader supervised that service across all locations. My role evolved into fundraising, fund development, data, grant writing and reporting, volunteer engagement, etc. While I no longer provide direct supervision to the staff here, it has allowed me to build out new programs like MPACT.”

A love for Marshalltown, his past and present colleagues and the mission of YSS are what has kept Hicks at the nonprofit.

“I really value loyalty and commitment,” Hicks said. “I could have made a lot more money by working with a state agency, but I chose to grow where I was planted. I’ve always carried a positive mental attitude which I think helps in this line of work.”

Changes

During his time with YSS of Marshall County, Hicks has seen small and significant changes. One big one was when the organization became CARF (Commission on the Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities) accredited more than 10 years ago. The staff had to establish consistent policies, processes, measurements and greater accountability. They had to account for everything from proper office signage to detailed processes on how programs are managed.

“It is a lot of work, but not every agency becomes accredited by CARF,” Hicks said. “Those changes brought a better alignment of program supervision as well, which impacted me.”

While he supervised Marshalltown programs for a decade, the same programs in Ames were supervised by someone else. Then supervision was combined. It was a big change, Hicks said, but was required for the best practice.

Through the three decades, he learned they had to be aware of changing sources of funding and ways to respond to such changes.

“We’ve had to be nimble and not put our resources into one area,” he said. “I’ve always taken pride in finding needs and filling them.”

Through the years, they have had to demonstrate “best practice” to ensure they receive and maintain competitive grants, something Hicks said has only made YSS better. While they would apply for any grant opportunity in the area 20 years ago, now they take deeper assessments on their ability to manage a grant before applying. More recently Hicks said when they came up with an idea, such as MPACT, they would work with local and state funders to make it a reality.

“One of the biggest changes I’ve seen is that funders and legislators are reaching out to us saying ‘How can we help you? What are you seeing that needs funded?'” he said.

There are additional changes facing YSS which are coming up, and Hicks said they will have to be ready to adapt.

“I sort of compare it to farming,” he said. “YSS has a lot of ‘crops’ – corn, wheat, beans, apples, etc. If the corn crop goes away, we have other crops to rely on and grow. If we only grew corn, we’d be facing a bigger problem. Our diversity among services has always been an asset for us here in Marshalltown.”

Recalling his 30 years, Hicks said the people has worked with and for gives him a sense of pride. He has been there long enough to see multiple generations.

“One girl I worked with when she was 14 was abandoned by her parents,” Hicks said. “Each Father’s Day, she sends me a card. I’ve been the only father figure she’s ever known. She is now a proud grandmother and doing pretty well for herself.”

He also recalled another woman who struggled with random jobs and limited income. She dropped off a few packages of macaroni and cheese for the YSS food pantry last week.

“She said, ‘You helped me when I was 17, and I know what it’s like to be young and go without food. It’s the last of my paycheck, but I want to support you and help others. You did so much for me,'” Hicks said.

He does not take any such memories lightly as many people have turned their lives around. Hicks also saw a former client in Hobby Lobby who was living from couch to couch and battling addiction. Hicks said the former client looked healthy and was picking out decorations with his wife for their home, and gave Hicks a fist bump and smile.

“Life is good,” Hicks said.

He also played a large part in creating and launching the Marshalltown Police and Community Team, better known as MPACT.

“To help create something for the town I was born and raised in that resonates nationally feels great, but there is much more work ahead,” Hicks said. “I don’t look back very often as I’m not going that direction. My staff, past and present, who are doing great work in the field – they are the future leaders.”

He wanted to thank everyone who has supported him in his career, the YSS staff and the clients they serve. Hicks acknowledged those who shaped his YSS career – Betty Lundeby who hired him, Nancy Peterson, Andrew Allen, Roberta Millinsky, Dennis Baugh, Sheila Paul and George Belitsos.

“George taught me to always have an attitude of gratitude,” Hicks said. “He showed me that a true leader is someone who prioritizes his team’s needs, growth and well-being, rather than focusing on personal gains.”

Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.