Living Your Best Encore: Paul Jenkinson

What was your previous job/career, and how many years did you dedicate to it? Would you be open to sharing your age?

I am 70 years old. They say that once you are a Social Worker, you are always a Social Worker. I was involved in social services work for approximately ten years before earning my first Social Work degree, serving in areas such as Refugee Resettlement, Food Banks, and coordinating a Youth Homeless Shelter and Street Outreach Program for the Salvation Army in Windsor, Ontario. After completing my first degree, a Bachelor of Social Work (BSW), I then worked with children and their families in the community, eventually practicing Child Welfare for 17 years while also advocating for child welfare reform on behalf of the British Columbia Social Work Association. After completing additional work in the field of mediation, I concluded my paid career as a Hospital Social Worker, assisting clients and their families as they navigated a dementia diagnosis.

What sparked your current journey - whether you’re still working, enjoying retirement, or embracing a “second act?

I had been engaged in environmental advocacy, stopping a gold mining initiative in a sole water watershed in Nova Scotia, allying with The Grandmother Mi'kmaq Water Protectors against the Alton Gas project, and engaging in a 30-day hunger strike on behalf of Extinction Rebellion. For the last five years, I have been the Communications Coordinator for the Advocates for the Care of the Elderly (The ACE Team) in Nova Scotia, a role I have held since 2019. In a sense, this You Are Not Alone, I Will Listen Cross Canada Journey might be a third or fourth act of a post-retirement life.

The spark for this journey is twofold.

In a way, my life was dismantled in what some would refer to as a Silver Divorce, the end of a marriage after 45 years of being purposefully oriented to one person. This dismantling, once I had sufficiently spent time with it, grieved it, and explored any hope for reconciliation, also needed to be incorporated into my life in a healthy manner. I now carry this experience and the experience of other endings with me as I meet with many who are experiencing the death of some of their own dreams.

The spark is also the call to service included in the teaching: "The greatest will be the servant of all." I have a professional skill set and a life informed by 70 years of living, so I was impressed with the idea of making this available at no cost in a listening situation.

What was the defining moment that led you here?

There are historical defining moments, such as experiencing the death of my daughter and the end of my marriage. Still, the defining moment in an initiative to journey across Canada occurred when I informed my landlord that I was ending my tenancy. With a fixed income, it was impossible to engage in this Listening Initiative and maintain a home to come home to. That is a moment of letting go of the security of warmth, shelter, and the sense of a geographical, physical home, and it can be frightening when you do it.

What is one powerful lesson you learned later in life that you wish you could have whispered to your younger self?

Human connection is everything. Never sacrifice any person for the agenda of an institution you are working for or an organization you voluntarily belong to. An Indigenous Elder once told me that "everything is about relationship," and they were right.

Please complete this sentence: The thing I value most about where I am in life right now is….

The freedom to see all of Canada, big cities and small villages, and in the journey to sit with people from all walks of life in a safe, non-judgmental, non-shaming, safe space, setting up two chairs, a table and a welcoming sign being allowed to enter their lives via the act of patient listening, how connecting and beautiful is that?

Here is more about Paul's Across Canada Listening Tour in the following video produced by the CBC;

Paul Jenkinson, MSW, is a retired Social Worker with a strong background in child welfare advocacy. He has worked with the ACE Team to push for reform in Nova Scotia’s long-term care system. His experience includes organizing campaigns, writing policy reports, and serving as a media spokesperson within fast-moving news cycles.

To read more about Paul Jenkinson and the article Retired N.S. social worker is on a cross-Canada listening tour with two chairs and a sign please visit Paul's Facebook Page - You Are Not Alone

Interested in reading other's experiences of Living Their Best Encore? Check them all out here.