“This has been a really interesting and difficult part of my journey at Safe Harbor. Safe Harbor is not a faith-based organization, and my direct boss does not identify as Christian. For a little context, Safe Harbor works with victims of domestic violence that are trying to start a new life – and my team works with students who may not have heard about DV before, or may be in the middle of it as we speak to them. All in all, myself and others on our team dive into some pretty dark places, where avoiding the reality of our world is all but impossible. So what do we do with all the pain, unanswered questions, anger, and hurt? Where do we turn to when students approach us and tell us that they have been sexual assaulted, abused, or contemplated suicide? For my coworkers and my boss, I’m not entirely sure what or where they turn to. That’s for them to say. For me, I know it’s really, really difficult to not get sucked into the darkness of this world and forget who I am. I’m a child of God: which means that he’s always with me, even when I feel like He can’t be. It also means that the anger I feel towards this world’s brokenness is something that I can rest in with Him. I don’t have to direct that anger towards anyone and can simply feel that anger in His presence and rest in the peace that He offers. It also means that in the classroom, I don’t have to say everything perfectly – and I need to learn to rest in that.”
Matt’s Career Journey
“This past year I was a part-time intern for Safe Harbor and worked with them to develop a mentoring training program for their shelter services. Just last month they walked through their first training using the program I developed. I [also] graduated from a Fellows Program in Greenville, SC.”
Working as a Prevention Coordinator
“I’m a relationship education project (REP) educator – I facilitate a domestic violence prevention program in three counties, but primarily in Greenville County. We teach to 8th and 9th graders, and have lesson plans that range from 6 separate lessons to an hour one overview. REP is designed to help teens identify abuse, but also to help them build healthy relationship skills. Beyond my time in the classroom, I also work on course material and keeping website resources up to date. Most of the work I do is heavily prevention focused education with teens, which means I take intentional time throughout my work week to immerse myself in teen media – Netflix shows, music, and movies that talk about/depict relationships.”
How has HDFS prepared you?
“In my eyes, it has helped so much – but I also know it has helped in ways that I will never realize. That’s the beauty of a great education – you learn things that become a part of you to the extent that you forget where or how you learned them. For me, most of what HDFS did for me was preparing me for the ability to learn and explore wherever I ended up. I wouldn’t say that a ton of what I learned in class is directly applicable to my work – although strategies might be – but I will say that bits and pieces of my education through HDFS fed into my ability to work where I do. HDFS gave me the skills to analyze and gain perspectives of clients/students and taught me that helping others means that you have to understand yourself first and foremost. I also want to shout out Doctor Johns who was willing to help me find some research for my current workplace amidst the craziness of earning his doctorate. Small plug as well for the Pre-Counseling and Therapy minor that helped me hone my therapeutic presence/voice and research analyzation skills.”