Acquire The Fire Ep. 1: The Heart Of...Acquire The Fire Ep. 1: The Heart Of...
The MY House Podcast Network
Host Ramon Rodriguez talks with MY House founder Michelle Overstreet about preventing burnout while working with homeless and recovering youth, stressing boundaries, self-care and listening to young people. The conversation also touches on how love, community and lived experience can all fuel meaningful work in the recovery field.
21:31•2 Jul 2026
Acquire The Fire: The Heart Behind Helping Homeless Youth Without Burning Out
Episode Overview
- Identify and respect clear boundaries so staff support young people without carrying their lives home or taking credit for their achievements.
- Listen directly to youth about what they need and shape programmes around their feedback to increase effectiveness.
- Treat setbacks as learning opportunities rather than failures, asking what can be done differently next time.
- Use consistent self-care practices such as therapy, creative activities and movement before reaching crisis point.
- If you feel called to help in recovery work, trust that your lived experience has value and find a role where you can plug in and contribute.
“The way to change the world is not by acquiring power. It's by giving love.”
What drives someone to seek a life building up others every single day, without burning out? Acquire The Fire kicks off with a heartfelt conversation between host Ramon Rodriguez and guest Michelle Overstreet, founder and CEO of MY House, a homeless youth drop-in centre in Wasilla, Alaska. This first episode centres on burnout prevention for people in social work, substance use recovery, and anyone thinking about entering the field.
Michelle shares the moment that changed everything: trying to help a teenage boy whose only “housing” was a beat-up car in 20 belowf weather. Handing him a sleeping bag and a fuel card, she remembers thinking, "We have to be better than this." That sentence eventually led to starting MY House. You’ll hear how she moved past imposter syndrome by studying successful models across the country, phoning other programme directors, and, crucially, asking young people directly what they needed.
Her approach is simple but powerful: "When we listen to the youth that we serve and we do what they tell us they need, we are successful." For anyone worried about compassion fatigue, Michelle gets very real about boundaries and self-care.
She explains why staff at MY House don’t take credit for clients’ achievements, how that protects both the young people and the workers, and why setbacks are framed through Nelson Mandela’s idea that "there is no failure, there's only learning." She also talks candidly about grief, therapy, painting and yoga as regular tools rather than last-minute fixes. Threaded through it all is one core message for people in recovery who feel called to help: your lived experience has value.
Whether it’s peer support, groups, admin or grant writing, "if you have a passion, jump on board". If you’ve ever wondered how to keep your heart open in tough work without burning out, this conversation might be the nudge you need. Where could your own experience make a difference?
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