Social Work Alumnae

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Kate Parke, '01Kate Parke, '01
Intake Specialist, Methodist Home for Children, Raleigh, NC
Field Instructor, Social Work Program, Meredith College

"I graduated in 2001 from Meredith with a BSW. I did my field placement with Methodist Home for Children. I worked in Family Preservation for a year in Michigan. I started, in 2002, graduate school at Michigan State in the Advanced Standing program. And I did an internship similar to Methodist Home for Children working with children. I graduated in 2003 and started work back at Methodist Home for Children doing intake work for just Raleigh. Now, I'm an Intake Specialist for Raleigh, Wilmington and Greenville. I'm managing a caseload for a foster care specialist who is on maternity leave and I handle all the Medicaid authorization and reauthorizations. I enjoy being a field instructor. It's my first time. I'm really close with my previous field instructor from Methodist Home. She doesn't work here anymore but I [have lunch with her]. She was a field instructor for Meredith students for years so I pick her brain a lot."

Methodist Home"I always knew I wanted to work with kids and my track in graduate school was Child Welfare. I knew I wanted to work with foster kids or group home kids. I did some in-home work early on and I enjoyed that. Yeah, I always knew that was the population I was interested in. The families I worked with in Family Preservation were only families at risk for having children removed. It was really interesting and it was good for a first job because I would have domestic violence cases, homeless families, families that needed help with paying bills, money management. You didn't know what you were doing to get. It was a holistic kind of experience. I had to just figure it out."

"I have a yellow lab named Winston. He's like my child. I am married. I met Joe [who is from Michigan] when I was studying abroad at Meredith. I was studying abroad with Dr. Webb and I met Joe at the Heathrow Airport in London ... and we got engaged my senior year at Meredith. It was a fun time and everyone knew about [the engagement]. I've been married for almost four years. We just bought our first house!"

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Natalie Hunter
School Social Worker, Wake County Public Schools
Field Instructor, Social Work Program, Meredith College

"I pretty much knew [I wanted to be a school social worker] since I took Intro [to Social Work]. In Intro, you have to do volunteer work. I did it with Communities In Schools and loved it. I just loved the schools from then on out. I did my internship in the school system while I was at Meredith. That just really solidified for me that I wanted to be in the school. For me, Meredith was such a good environment to open up and take risks. And, the best friends I have now came from Meredith."

"I got my Masters at [East Carolina University]. I did Advanced Standing. I graduated and was a Parent Educator for two years for the Parents As Teachers Program. It's a parent educator program where you work with parents who have kids birth to three years. You do a lesson with them every month and a home visit to teach them about their child's development."

"I currently have three schools. I have Ballentine Elementary, Lincoln Heights Elementary which are both in Fuquay and Olive Chapel Elementary in Apex. I have set days at each school. Typically, Monday is my meeting day, Tuesday I'm at Lincoln Heights, Wednesday I'm at Olive Chapel and Thursday/Friday I'm at Ballentine."

"No two days are ever the same. The goal is to link home and school. So, if parents are not acclimated to what they need to do as far as being a parent to a student, we help bridge that gap. We follow attendance. We have attendance meetings and we send parents letters when they need them. Ultimately, we try to keep them out of court because that is a consequence. If the student has fifteen or more unexcused days, we can take them to court. So, we like to nip it before it gets to that point. I also do home visits. A lot of people don't have phones so when the teachers want to call home and can't get the parents, we'll go out and try to bridge [communication between the parent and teacher]. My biggest thing is getting parents involved. We have a parent workshop series between four schools in Fuquay. We get money from an organization called Fuquay Citizens Against Drugs and they pay for the food. We poll the parents [to] find out what they want to hear about and set up the workshops. We have child care activities so they can be engaged while the parents listen to the workshop. So, we try to get the parent's involved."

"I'm a first time field instructor. It's been good. We don't have cases here. We just have a bunch of kids and we deal with what happens. We just never know [what we'll get day to day]."

"I'm going to the [100th Anniversary] of School Social Work at the end of March. I'm going to go with one of my friends from Meredith. She's a school social worker and we're going to go to Boston for a week. So, we're excited!"

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Wendy King
Social Services Manager, Sunnybrook Healthcare & Rehabilitation Specialists, Raleigh, NC
Field Instructor, Social Work Program, Meredith College

"I started [Sunnybrook] about a month after I graduated [Meredith]." And, I have been here for four years in May." I did my internship with autism services which worked with autistic adults in group homes."

"Probably the most important thing I learned from Meredith is communication skills." That's the biggest thing that has made a difference." Also, learning about different backgrounds and stages of life helped me." It gave me a basis to build the knowledge that I've learned here about geriatrics and healthcare."

"I stumbled upon nursing homes." I did not think I wanted to work with the aging population." I originally thought I would work with folks with developmental disabilities and mental retardation." I had several job interviews and was offered a couple of different positions in that field." I applied for this job as well and I just fell in love with it from the time I started talking to my boss."

"I do discharge planning, advocate, liaison, mediator....just somebody who can be there to help people work out the problems and concerns they have or just talk to when they're upset." I attend lots and lots of meetings because, in this setting, all the disciplines have to sit down on a regular basis to talk about the residents." So, there is a lot of input from all of us together on each person." There is also a pretty good amount of just one to one time with the patient."

"We don't officially have the Eden Alternative here but that's the basis for having the animals here." The Eden Alternative is a program that incorporates pets, children and live plants into the nursing center to make it more of a home-like setting." We consider it more of a life enhancement program these days." It makes such a difference." The interaction that the residents have with the animals, that they can continue to garden, do flower arranging, and stuff that they wouldn't necessarily do at your typical nursing home makes a big difference." It gives them something to do."

"I love being a field instructor!" For Meredith, this is the first year but I've been working with NC State for the past year." It's to have another set of hands." I like the teaching part of it." I like to share what I've learned and watch the student grow. It's just a lot of fun."

 

Kathleen Gauthier-Miller, Class of 1999

Kathleen is currently living in Raleigh, NC.  She is employed at Duke Health Regional Hospital as a Case Management Social Worker.  She says, "After I graduated from Meredith, I quickly found work at Johnston County Department of Social Services in child protective services.  I worked in the family preservation unit and rotated on-call weekends with investigations.  I was recognized for my testimony skills in family court by my supervisor and the director of the Johnston County Department of Social Services.  I worked with child protective services for 3 1/2 years until I found something closer to home with Wake County Child Service Coordination.  I loved it!  I stayed with them for about two years until I found that I was ready to get my MSW.  I attended UNC Chapel Hill's Advanced Standing Program with three wonderful children cheering me on.  I was an honored recipient of the Theimann Scholar for academic achievement.  I completed my internship with Duke Emergency Department in Durham, NC.  I am presently working toward my licensure, LCSW-P, at Duke Health Raleigh Hospital in the ICU, telemetry and emergency departments."  Her personal accomplishments are her marriage of ten years and her three sons, Nicholas (9), Joshua (7) and Noah (2 1/2).
 

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Melissa Pendergraft, Class of 2005

Melissa is currently living in Fuquay Varina, NC.  She is employed at Triumph, LLC as an Associate Professional Community Support Worker.  She says, "The Meredith College Social Work Program was an amazing experience and greatly prepared me for my current position."
 

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Lindsi Hines (formerly Lindsi Thomas), Class of 1992

Upon graduation I worked as a Medicaid caseworker for Wake County Department of Social Services, moved to  Wake County Human Services and worked for three years, then worked as a Child Daycare Social Worker I for two years.  During my years as a Child Daycare Social Worker, I received an award from the Red Cross for volunteer hours in shelter management, one from Wake County Emergency Management for volunteer work in the Emergency Operations Center, and another from the Director of Wake County Human Services for volunteer hours working in the Food Stamp program in Emergency Intake and Eligibility, all for service during and after Hurricane Fran.  I then worked for the Franklin County Department of Human Services for three years as a Child Protective Services Social Worker III in Investigations and Treatment.  While there, I also lead Foster Parent (MAPP GPS) training.  In May of 1999 I began a Masters in Divinity with a concentration in Counseling and Chaplaincy at Campbell University Divinity School.  During that time I also worked part-time as a contract Social Worker doing Foster Parent training and Adoptive Pre-Placement and Post-Placement Supervisory Reports.  In October of 2001, I took a break from school when my family moved to Homestead, Florida in Miami-Dade county.  I worked as the Director of Ministries for a non-profit organization whose primary focus was to empower the community to rebuild physically, emotionally and spiritually in the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew.  After two years there, I returned to NC and resumed my Masters' work and continued work as a contract Social Worker.  The work I do now consists primarily of setting up and writing International Adoption Programs, and facilitating short and long-term Strategic Planning and Board Building retreats and seminars for non-profit organizations and NGOs whose focus is on reaching families and children.  I plan to graduate from Campbell with my Masters in Counseling and Chaplaincy in December of 2007.  I was married in 1998 to Lee "Richie" Hines (NCSU '92).  We have four daughters Zoai, Sofia, Nila, and Ana and currently reside in Fuquay-Varina.

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Karen Carter (formerly Karen Franklin), Class of 1999

I have two children, a four year old boy and two year old girl.  The job I was offered during my field placement lasted almost a year until the company was bought out by another company.  The new company offered me the same position with the same caseload for an increase in pay.  I stayed until the birth of my son in 2002.  I loved the job.  I supervised therapeutic foster homes, worked with all systems (judicial, birth families, schools, doctors, etc.).

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Christy Robeson (formerly Christy Sizemore), Class of 1991

I earned my MSW from UNC-CH in May of 1992.  I worked for several years for a hospice program in Greenville, SC.  I also worked as a case manager/discharge planner for a local hospital.  The most fun I had was teaching in the social work program at Limestone College in Gaffney, SC.  I was married in 1995 to a SC native.  I have two children -- Bart is 7 1/2 and Emily is 4.  I have been home with my children for almost 8 years now.  I am unsure of my future plans as they relate to social work.  I would love to continue my education and earn my PhD so that I might teach.  We will see what the future holds!    I am presently enjoying learning to throw pottery and work in clay.  This is interesting because I never took an art class at Meredith!

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Jen Bart (formerly Jennifer Penny), Class of 2002

I worked at Institute for Family Centered Services as a Family Service Coordinator for 6 months.  I then went to work at Methodist Home for Children as a Foster Care Specialist for 2.5 years.  At MHFC, I became a certified CPR/FA instructor and a MAPP instructor (to train foster parents). I married on April 17, 2004 and have a baby on the way.  The baby is due on April 26, 2007.  I have also traveled to Taiwan to work with missionaries for a period of 4 months. I have grown to appreciate my education at Meredith as each year passes.  I am currently working with an intern and can see how my preparation for the field differs from hers.  I am very grateful for the compassionate professors and staff at Meredith who helped me learn how to be a professional.

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