Family Violence Project Stipend Students
2007-2008
La Casa, Inc
Brooke Stanley Tou
Brooke is currently halfway through a three year dual masters' program in Social Work and Public Health. She is expected to graduate in May 2010. She received her undergraduate degree from Lewis and Clark College in 2000 in Communication.
Brooke became interested in the field of family violence through her work with the dual-diagnosed homeless population in Berkeley, California. She saw first hand the role domestic violence played in the lives of these already marginalized and oppressed people and wanted to learn more about how to help end the ongoing cycle of abuse that occurs in our society.
Gloria Celene Silva
My name is Gloria Celene Silva, but I like to go by Celene. I am originally from Green River, Wyoming where I was born and raised. I moved here over 5 years ago to attend NMSU. I graduated in May of 2007 with a Bachelor of Social Work and a Bachelor of Arts Foreign Languages in Spanish. I am the first college graduate in my immediate and extended family. I am currently in the advanced standing MSW program and will graduate this May. I also enjoy my MSW internship at La Casa since it is a challenging, but rewarding experience
Krystle Williams
A third generation NMSU graduate, Krys Williams is just completing the first half of her master's degree in social work with an expected graduation date of May 2009. Krys will also be completing the drug and alcohol minor offered through the School of Social Work. She hopes to continue with her education by pursuing another master's degree or possibly a PhD.
While interning at La Casa, Krys has had the chance to be a part of many different programs. As an undergrad, she interned in the community outreach and public relations program. For her graduate practicum, she assisted child witnesses of domestic violence through individual and group counseling. In addition, Krys counseled adult shelter clients and co-facilitated parenting and court-mandated batterers' groups. Krys hopes she has a future opportunity to apply the knowledge gained from this rewarding experience to perform research or assist others deeply affected by domestic violence.
Center Against Family Violence
Amanda Casarez-Smith
My name is Amanda Casarez-Smith. I am a first year MSW student. A lot of people are curious about my last name. No, I am not married. Casarez is my mom's maiden name and Smith is my dad's last name. I was given both.
My undergraduate degree is in Government. My interest switched to social work after my father was diagnosed with lung and brain cancer. My family and I would not have made it through such a difficult situation without the help of the hospital and hospice social workers. I decided I wanted to give back and help people through difficult situations. I also have a history of addiction in my family as well as domestic violence, which have become areas of particular interest for myself. I hope to graduate in May 2009 and am unsure of the specific area of social work I will focus on. I hope my practicum
experiences at NMSU will help aid in that decision.
Evelyn E. Vides
I am a first year MSW student and will be graduating in May 2009. I graduated with a Bachelors of Arts in Psychology, with a minor in Sociology and Theology in 1999 from Biola University. Since then I have worked with adolescents who were either abusing drugs and/or alcohol and emotionally disturbed adolescents. After working in the field for a few years I decided that I wanted to become a social worker or become a lawyer. In the end I chose to go into the field of social work. I still have that desire to pursue law, but we shall see what happens once I am done in May 2009!
I have become interested in family violence because of many of the adolescents that I worked with. You realize that family violence is a big part of why many of these children end up being diagnosed as severely emotionally disturbed or begin to experiment with drugs and/or alcohol. One cannot work only with the child, but needs to work with everyone in the family. I think this internship has been a great foundation for me to be able to continue working with adolescents and their families.