CAHSS Faculty, Students, & WCC Consultants Engage in Outreach with House of Hope’s “Stepping Stones: Women Empowerment Series”
During the Winter/Summer 2020 semesters, NSU’s College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS) faculty and graduate students and Writing and Communication Center (WCC) consultants partnered with House of Hope and Stepping Stones to launch the “Stepping Stones: Women Empowerment Series” outreach program. House of Hope’s mission is to help men and women in need of treatment for substance abuse get the assistance they require to be successful in the community.
The four-part series was created to aid in improving individuals’ personal and professional lives by introducing different forms of literacy practices in effort to best support the recovery process. The outreach was led by WCC faculty coordinator Kelly Conncannon (CAHSS School of Communication, Media and the Arts associate professor); Composition, Rhetoric, and Digital Media graduate students and WCC graduate assistant coordinators, Nicole Chavannes and Sabrina Louissaint; and WCC undergraduate consultants, Mikayla Ruiz (Human Development and Family Studies), Joy Oni (Dr. Pallavi Patel College of Health Care Sciences Speech, Language, and Communication), and Patricia Linoz (College of Psychology).
The series began in January 2020 and the January and February workshops took place on site at the Stepping Stones rehabilitation facility in Wilton Manors, FL. With in-person meetings halted due to COVID-19, the outreach continued virtually through Zoom during the latter half of the winter. April and May workshops ran through the virtual platform and allowed the participants and facilitators to still engage and create an impact with the content they provided.
“This experience has been empowering and meaningful. The impact has been reciprocal, because not only have we worked to inspire and support the women, but they have also taught us a lot, simply through their growth and perseverance. I am immensely grateful to be a part of this group of women supporting other women,” said Louissaint.
The workshops covered the following topics:
January 29th, 2020: Find your “Why” –Setting Professional and Personal Goals
Reflective Writing and Mindset
Reflection is itself an active thinking process—you have to be in the moment to be able to reflect well. Participants will discuss the importance of a reflective mindset, learn tips for reflective writing, and have the opportunity to create personal and professional goals relying on visual literacies
February 26th, 2020: Embody Love
Participants learned to use literacies and mindfulness to improve wellness, drawing on the Embody Love Movement (https://www.embodylovemovement.org/), which is intended to empower girls and women to celebrate their inner beauty. The mission of the workshop was to use writing, reading, speaking and movement to build self-approval and cultivate compassion for themselves and others
April 29th, 2020: Mindfulness and Mindset
Participants learned about different ways to journal, as a therapeutic outlet that encourages reflection. The importance of knowing how to channel your energy, whether it be through the use of writing, or protecting your energy, and making this into their daily practice. Participants also engaged in freewriting.
May 27, 2020: Moving forward
Participants had the opportunity to workshop their resume/CVs and other professional documents. In conjunction with House of Hopes missions to help individuals maintain stable employment, participants learned how to identify and articulate their skills, strengths, and experiences. The facilitators discussed the difference between hard and soft skills, and what professional development means
To view the NSU Current’s article “We are in the business of second chances:” NSU’s partnership with House of Hope,” spotlighting the project:
