I have an eclectic work background as a licensed clinical social worker, ordained clergy person, and former Barista of Delaware’s First Mobil Espresso Café.
Often I am asked, what do these three career paths have in common?!?
It is simple, really. I have a foundational belief in the ancient practice of hospitality known as the friendly and generous reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers.
This is especially true for lgbtq+ youth and the adults who love and support them!
When working within Delaware Middle & High Schools meeting with school administration and faculty, I share that some of my fondest moments in my Coffee Truck was serving a latte with love. No matter the mood a person presented at my window wanting a drink my goal was to send them forth with a smile…to have been a positive person in their life for that moment.
In our schools and in our places of work, offering hospitality should be the baseline standard; and yet for too many lgbtq+ youth, especially Transgender & Non-Binary youth, hospitality is not a guarantee, which is why I am providing counseling, consultation, and training services to the LGBTQ+ community & our allies!
For the past five years, I have been a mentor with an area school’s Gender Sexuality Alliance (GSA), which serves LGBTQ+ youth & our allies. Additionally, I came on staff with BBBSDE as the LGBTQ+ Mentoring Initiative Case Manager in 2016. This work has given me the opportunity to hone in on the needs of LGBTQ+ youth today, as well as become acutely aware of the challenges both parents and schools face in creating safer, more supportive environments in home and at school.
From 1990, when I began my professional career serving Women & Children living with HIV/AIDS to today serving LGBTQ+ youth and the adults who love and support them, I have been an out advocate & clinician. Our needs as an LGBTQ+ community have changed over the years, however what is a constant is the need for hospitality – clinically sound and ethically appropriate services for the LGBTQ+ community.
I still hold strong to the belief that no matter the mood a person presents to me when seeking services, my goal is for them to go forth from our meeting with a smile…to have been a positive person in their life for however long we journey together.