A Passion for People and Purpose
Samantha Barauskas comes to her role as Senior Case Manager with a heart firmly rooted in human service and a mind steeped in understanding people’s needs. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Wilmington University and an Associate’s in Human Services from Delaware Technical Community College.
Her professional background is rich with frontline service: supporting children and adolescents through trauma-informed care, working with women experiencing domestic violence and homelessness, and navigating complex systems of support. This foundation underscores a deep commitment to dignity, resilience, and transformation, not just in theory, but in everyday practice.
It is this blend of head and heart that makes Samantha’s role so vital: she doesn’t simply manage cases; she meets people where they are, holds space for their journeys, and supports them in moving toward what could be.
Stepping Into the Role at Martin’s House & Barn
In February 2025, Martin’s House & Barn hired Samantha as their full-time Senior Case Manager under a grant initiative aimed at strengthening support services for high-needs families. Executive Director, Deborah Hudson-Vornbrock described Samantha as “an integral part of our team, offering consistent, individualized support to families facing serious challenges such as mental health needs, disabilities, trauma and chronic health conditions.”
In her capacity as Senior Case Manager, Samantha works with families experiencing homelessness, financial hardship, and a range of interlocking issues, transportation barriers, trauma histories, health-care access, parenting under stress, and more. The mission of Martin’s House & Barn is summed up as “helping meet basic human needs” with compassion and respect. Samantha’s role is a key piece of turning that mission into lived reality.
The Heart of the Work: What It Looks Like Day-to-Day
In any given day, Samantha’s work encompasses a wide range of tasks, and a deeper ethos. Some of those include:
- Conducting intake assessments and mapping out individual/family plans for stability and self-sufficiency
- Coordinating with shelter staff, food-pantry programs, thrift-store services, and external agencies to ensure wraparound support
- Applying trauma-informed care and cultural awareness to guide sensitive and effective interventions
- Tracking progress, identifying barriers (transportation, childcare, health, mental health), and helping troubleshoot them
- Building trusting relationships with clients who may have experienced repeated instability, loss, or hardship, so that the work is not just transactional but transformational.
Samantha's role is more than case management, it is a bridge between crisis and possibility, between surviving and thriving.
When she is not at MH&B, Samantha enjoys singing, T-Ball coaching, dancing, and spending time with her boys.