Staff Spotlight: Meet Rachel Wise
Meet Rachel Wise, Benefits in Action’s Manager of Marketing and Communications. Rachel works both behind the scenes and throughout the community to make sure individuals and families know about the valuable services Benefits in Action provides.
She does a lot in her role, but there is much more to Rachel than marketing and communications. She is deeply passionate about the work of Benefits in Action, in part because her own life experiences have given her a firsthand understanding of how difficult it can be for families to access the help they need.
Rachel grew up in a small town in Northeast Texas in the 1990s, when it was still possible for many families to get by on a single income. Her father was a truck driver, and her family often found itself walking the line between making ends meet and qualifying for government assistance.
As many families know, it is possible to struggle to put food on the table while still earning too much to qualify for assistance. Rachel saw that firsthand.
“When I was about four, my dad had a heart attack while he was on the job in another state. I know my family must have struggled to recover from that. Things were already tight.”
Rachel also remembers her mother trying to find adequate care for her grandmother when her health declined and she could no longer live independently. Her grandmother needed 24/7 skilled nursing care, and Rachel’s mother had to navigate a complicated system largely on her own while Rachel’s father continued working as the family’s sole breadwinner.
Those childhood experiences stayed with Rachel and helped shape her empathy for people who are struggling to navigate health care and public benefit systems.
Rachel earned a degree in Communications and, after graduating, returned to her hometown to teach at a Title I school where more than half of the students qualified for free meals. As a teacher, she saw firsthand how hunger, financial insecurity and limited access to resources could affect children and families every day.
“Many of my students’ families lacked resources and struggled to navigate the programs that were available. I think so many communities could benefit from the kind of help that BIA provides.”
Rachel has also worked with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities who face systemic barriers to employment and rely on vital Medicaid-funded programs. Through each of these experiences, she has seen how difficult it can be for people to access resources that can make an enormous difference in their lives.
That’s why Rachel finds so much purpose in promoting the work of Benefits in Action and helping eliminate barriers to access.
At BIA, Rachel speaks at community events, conducts interviews with the press, answers questions about our programs, reports on outreach and marketing efforts to funders, and makes sure our communications reflect the priorities and experiences of the communities we serve.
Her work is important because even the best programs cannot help people if they don’t
know those programs exist or don’t know how to access them. Rachel helps make sure our neighbors hear about Benefits in Action where they are — at health fairs, on social media, in their email inboxes, or even in the lobby of their apartment building.
Ultimately, Rachel’s work helps connect people to something much bigger than a benefits application. It helps connect people to food, health care, financial stability and the opportunity to thrive.
And you can help make those connections possible.
Your donation to Benefits in Action helps us reach more people who are struggling to navigate complicated systems and make sure they don’t have to figure it all out alone. Whether it’s helping a family apply for SNAP, assisting someone with Medicaid, or helping a person with a disability navigate Social Security, your support helps turn available resources into real support for people who need it.
Please consider making a gift today at www.benefitsinaction.org/donate. You can make a one-time or recurring donation in whatever amount is meaningful to you. Every gift helps us reach another person, remove another barrier and make a difference in another family’s life.
Thank you for supporting Benefits in Action and the people and communities we serve.
