Alumni Profile: Robynne Jeisman

Alumni: Robynne Jeisman, (Fresno 2023)

Organization: Turntable

Position: Founder & CEO, Board Member

 

Bio: For more than 25 years, Robynne Jeisman (Fresno 2023) has worked with youth in the US, Australia, Thailand, and India. She is the founder and a board member of Turntable, a nonprofit organization in San Francisco, California, that provides housing and holistic services for youth in transition. The organization focuses on supporting young people experiencing homelessness, sexual exploitation/trafficking, mental health issues, substance use, and justice system involvement.

 

Tell us about your youth program and how you fulfill its mission.

At Turntable, we aim to empower youth to be free to be themselves at every stage of their story, with the space to explore, create, and succeed. Our program areas offer young people wraparound support: a two-phase housing program, mobile case management, mentoring, and nature and adventure therapy. Youth can also participate in Group Work, an eight-week program that explores topics they have identified. We seek to cultivate places for young people to experience health, independence, and a safe place of belonging. Staff achieve this mission through high-level, trauma-informed relationships with youth centered around trust and consistency. Our program advisory panel is composed of experienced professionals from diverse sectors who support and inform our work, such as psychotherapists, counselors, immunologists, disability and client services professionals, and a childhood development researcher.

 

What has been challenging in this work?

My personal story is at the core of where I am called to serve. I came to the US from Australia nine years ago, and I have navigated displacement and assault in my own life. I have also faced challenges in establishing an organization as a non-US citizen. Finding sufficient funding and resources for our operations and case management, hiring skilled case managers and live-in housing mentors, and growing to meet the needs of those coming in our doors is a process. Additionally, our neighborhood experiences gun violence, so we are always aware of how this affects young people and general safety.

 

What kind of collaborative opportunities are benefiting this work?

San Francisco Recreation and Parks is helping to create jobs for youth and safe places for programming during the evenings. We are collaborating with an organization to reach more vulnerable youth with our mobile case management offering, and landlords have even been reaching out with affordable housing opportunities. We partner with many churches and other ministries in the community to ensure holistic support and care, including a fatherhood program, community food market, and corporate support for organizational development. We partner with a private dental clinic for free emergency dental care and a clinical psychologist for psychological and behavioral assessments.

 

What are you most proud of that your program has accomplished?

I am proud that young people are working hard, paying rent, and pursuing Christ. I want to see young people experience healing and freedom in Christ and become healthy, contributing citizens. If they achieve their basic needs, see their goals become reality, and learn their purpose in life, I believe we will see our youth no longer be held back by trauma and continue to make the world a better place. I am also proud of how our team built this organization from the ground up and that we are so embraced by the community at large. I am excited to see how Turntable will continue to grow and evolve.