Meet Bambi: Retiring After Three Decades at YSS

After 34 years at YSS, Bambi Schrader is retiring. “It’s just a great organization,” she says of YSS. “I haven’t had the need to look for a job elsewhere.”

Bambi came to YSS to make a difference for youth and families, and that’s exactly what she did. For 26 years, she worked with foster care and adoption. She is now the collaboration manager for Community, Youth, and Family Development (CYFD).

“In each of the positions I’ve had, YSS has been very supportive and allowed me flexibility in my schedule,” Bambi says. “I have also had excellent management that not only helped me grow professionally but personally.”

Reflecting on her time at YSS, Bambi says she is most proud of the impact she has left on clients—and the impact they have left on her. “I will never forget Adoption Saturdays where multiple families would finalize their adoption and we would have a celebration,” says Bambi. “I smiled and cried so many times on those days that my face would hurt.”

Bambi says the thing she will miss most is her co-workers and the clients she has served over the years. “I know that these relationships will last over time, but it won’t be the day-to-day contact.”

In her retirement, Bambi plans to work PRN for YSS by continuing to teach the ASIST Suicide Prevention class. She is also a Certified Adoption Investigator and will continue to complete private adoption studies. Bambi is also planning on spending valuable time with her family. “My husband and I are starting the process to build a house in Western Iowa where our sons, daughters in law, and grandchildren live. We plan to move in 2024.”