Marie and Jess Jamieson: Advocates for humanity, care, dignity, and social welfare
Marie and Jess Jamieson
Advocates for humanity, care, dignity, and social welfare
Marie, can you tell me about your background?
I grew up in Littleton, CO and received my undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of Wisconsin. Right after college I lived at my parent’s cabin in the Rockies for seven months with my motorcycle and dog to figure out what was next. I decided to enroll as a volunteer with the AmeriCorps VISTA program and was placed in Los Angeles, CA. From there, I moved to the Bend/Roseburg area of Oregon in the 1970’s where I did my direct service with child welfare.
I then decided to pursue a master’s degree and relocated to Seattle where I received my Master of Social Work (MSW) from the University of Washington.
Jess, what was your journey to Seattle, WA?
I was born in the northern part of Wyoming near Yellowstone Park, where my father was the administrator of the hospital in the town where I grew up. I received my undergraduate degree in Sociology from the University of Wyoming, and then went to the University of Iowa for graduate school for my MSW. Then I took a position in the Department of Psychiatry at the university while working on my Ph.D. in Psychology.
Once I received my Ph.D., I moved to Stockton, CA and worked in the Psychiatry Department at UC Davis. After several years, I had an opportunity to return to Iowa to build a psychiatric hospital in Des Moines. While I was there, I went back to the University of Iowa and received a post doc master in Healthcare/Hospital Administration.
After building the psychiatric hospital in Des Moines, I had the opportunity to move to Washington State to become the CEO of a community-based comprehensive behavioral healthcare organization. I was in that role from 1987 – 2007, during which time we expanded to four counties and developed an expansive systems approach to serve the mentally ill and houseless. During that time, I also held a faculty appointment at the University of Washington.
And it was in Seattle where the two of you met?
Yes, we met in Seattle, were married in 1991 and moved to Mulkilteo, just north of Seattle. We lived there for 20 years. Marie continued to work in Seattle, and I worked in Snohomish County.
Marie, what were you doing in Seattle?
A requirement of graduate school was a practical placement, and mine was with Lutheran Community Services Northwest in Administration and Planning. I was soon promoted to director for the two-county area, which included a foster care and counseling program. Through major grants, there was an opportunity to broaden our capacities in child welfare, including a grant from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation. It was a national Families For Kids Initiative, involving 19 states.
Can you talk more about this program?
The Washington State program was a public/private/tribal organizational structure that was mostly grant funded, focused on systemic change of the foster care system. We were working on the disproportionality of African American and Native American kids in the system, working with tribal councils on tribal issues and particularly urban kids that were in the system. The whole goal was to achieve permanency for kids – getting them out of the foster care system into guardianships, return home or adoption. I was the director of the program for the next ten years.
After the program ended, is this when you began to focus on your art?
Art has always been a part of my life. My mom really developed an appreciation of art in our family. I did take a break for a year after Families for Kids and spent a lot of time on my art, both in my painting and my study. I have taken drawing classes off and on over the years, and about ten years ago was introduced to pastels.
Then you were drawn back into the field?
Yes, I was recruited as a contractor on the federal level for a national program to evaluate and work on improving the foster care system across the country. Our work was primarily in the four Northwest states although we engaged with 17 states to evaluate their child welfare systems. As a member of the federal team the scope went beyond auditing. We interviewed kids, foster parents, judges, and birth parents to gain a 360 perspective for how it was working, versus just interpreting the data. From that, states received reports and developed improvement plans. I worked on the improvement plans within the four states in my region and then on evaluating these improvement plans over a three-year period.
And Jess, you transitioned into another position during this time?
Yes, after consulting in healthcare for several years, I became the Director of the Washington State Psychiatric Hospital System. This was a state-wide position overseeing three hospitals with over 1,000-beds.
Concurrently, I was the CEO of Western State Hospital from 2009 – 2012.
It’s interesting to hear how you both have shared these parallel, yet uniquely different career paths.
We share a commonality, an obligation to work with people and improve systems, to make a meaningful contribution to people who are disenfranchised. None of it is ever easy and not necessarily a clear path, but we found enough success along the way to reinforce our commitment.
Marie, you have both been involved in volunteer work. What has that entailed?
I was a CASA Volunteer for several years (Court Appointed Special Advocate). These are volunteers that take on an individual case and make reports to the court. You really get to know the kids and understand their situation. You can do all the systems work, although what really kept me grounded was to know what was really happening to the kids I represented.
A shared experience that we had when we moved to Portland and had both retired, is that we signed up as disaster relief volunteers with The Red Cross for local and national deployment. We did that for five years. Jess provided mental health services and I was a case worker. It was another opportunity to help people out that were in dire straits or in significant crisis in their lives, to try and make a difference and help them get back on their feet. It was rewarding for both of us and circled us back to direct service again.
You also both did some international work? Marie, can you talk about that?
We always thought it would be interesting to do international work. A colleague of mine was in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. She was the director of an NGO there during an international effort to build resources within the country. Jess taught in a residency program in psychiatry and a casework training program. We went five times between 1996 and 2006 to work in various capacities, including community outreach. It was a very rich experience.
We also went to Kenya in 2013. Jess had a colleague who was the CEO of a hospital and helped him establish the administrative structure. I had an opportunity to paint a wonderful 6’ x 3’ animals mural on the wall of the preschool, while the children from the community watched me work.
Jess, what brought you to Portland from Seattle?
It was 2012 and we were ready to retire. We had done some exploring, different cities, towns – and decided on Portland. It’s a great livable city with good public transportation. We bought a condo in the Pearl District. When we relocated, I also took a position at Portland State University, teaching a graduate course in mental disorders in the School of Social Work. I taught there until 2020, when we decided to fully retire and move into Terwilliger Plaza.
Marie, you have an exhibition of your work on exhibit in the Skybridge Gallery. Can you tell us about the show?
It a show of my portraiture work, which I have focused on over the past six years. I have been studying with local artist, Susan Kuznitsky, and my technique has really progressed. They say that first you want it to look human, then you are looking for a likeness - and then, you are trying to capture a spirit. That’s the real joy when I can capture the spirit.
I am also a member of the Artist in Residence Group, here at Terwilliger. We meet once a month, to discuss our current work with each other. In fact, the upcoming reception for my exhibition is a celebration for the entire Artist in Residence Group. Everyone will have a table and space to show their work during the reception.
Jess, you are part of the Science Group? What does that group discuss?
It’s science in the broadest sense with wide-ranging topics for discussion. Right now, we are having discussions about music and musicology. Several weeks ago, we were talking about quantum mechanics. We meet once a week. Members include engineers, mathematicians, psychiatrists, and psychologists, just to name some of the expertise in the conversation. The discussions are series-based, often with short videos to promote conversation.
Marie, what’s next for you both?
Travel. We love to travel. We are planning to go to Malawi, Africa in May for three weeks to visit my son and his family, our grandchildren. My daughter-in-law is a mid-wife educator for an NGO. We are going to visit and share experiences with them!