Additional Education: 80 hours of training in domestic violence and sexual violence; graduated from the Leadership and Professional Development Training Program offered through the PA Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD) and Duquesne University
Job Title: Online Resource Specialist
Employer: The National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC), a project of the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape (PCAR)
Position Description: Jennifer coordinates the sexual violence initiatives of VAWnet (the National Online Resource Center on Violence Against Women), including content development, content review, outreach and evaluation. Jennifer also serves as a liaison to organizations working at local, state, tribal, territory and national levels to identify needs, develop content and further research goals in the area of sexual violence.
Salary Range: $30,000 - $35,000
Previously Held Positions: Child Advocate in domestic violence shelter, Sexual Assault/Domestic Violence Counselor for adults and children and Direct Services Supervisor for rape crisis organization
Courses Found Most Helpful: The classes on Interpersonal Relationships and Group Dynamics were very helpful in my individual and group counseling work with survivors of domestic and sexual violence. Also helpful was the Community Services class, which required that we go out into the field and find out what opportunities are out there. It really forced me to step outside my comfort zone. Another class that was helpful was Strategies for Family Intervention. Learning how to develop curricula was beneficial since my first job as a Child Advocated required that I not only revise existing curricula but also create new curricula for working with families in crisis.
How HDFS Program Helped to Prepare her:
The Family Studies program at Messiah was such a well-rounded program. The classes covered so much from marriage and family to interpersonal relationship and group dynamics. I was able to utilize information from many different courses at Messiah in the work that I have done in the anti-violence movement. I also kept some of the textbooks and handouts used in my Family Studies courses and still refer to them today. I feel that the Family Studies program at Messiah prepared me to go out into the field of human services equipped to meet challenges and obtain a position in the area of my choice.
