Supporting Survivors to Recovery and Healing
- November 16th, 2022
- in Student Life Departments, Uncategorized
From the time she was a child, Nesha Smith Logan has been helping others. Her teachers saw her empathy and often paired her with the outsiders in her class, and her mother has often commented on her unique talent for finding ways to soothe people.
“There’s just something in me that draws me to people who need someone to be there for them,” she said. “You don’t always have to know exactly what to say. Sometimes it’s just sitting in silence with people and giving them space to feel how they’re feeling without having to be alone.”
Now she’s using those skills to help students at The University of Alabama’s Women and Gender Resource Center where she has served as a victim advocate for nearly a decade. The WGRC supports student victims/survivors of interpersonal violence through free, confidential, and voluntary counseling and advocacy services. They also serve the UA campus through education and outreach programs. As a victim advocate, Nesha helps the WGRC’s clients by supporting any of their needs outside of the therapy they receive through the WGRC.
“I’m typically the very first contact a person has with the WGRC, and I make sure they are aware of all of the resources available to them on campus – the Office for Disability Services, financial services through Student Care and Well-Being, Title IX resources and just making sure they’re utilizing the resources that they need throughout their healing process,” Nesha said.
“I always want to empower them to advocate for themselves, and that looks different for everyone,” she said.
Even though she’s a natural at encouraging others, Nesha has invested in addition education to equip her to better serve students, recently earning certification from the National Advocate Credentialing Program. She continually finds the good and helps students, even through some of the most difficult circumstances.
“I know someone wouldn’t call at three o’clock in the morning unless they need us. And when someone asks me if they can please have a hug and they thank me for listening to them – that’s a big deal to me. It helps me know that they felt heard and that they felt safe, and I’ve accomplished an important part of my job,” she said.
Through their work with students at the WGRC, Nesha and her colleagues serve a diverse group of students to personal and academic success by supporting their health and wellbeing during unique times of need. Increasing staff and other resources to meet these needs is critical to student health and success.
You can partner with the WGRC and the Division of Student Life to support students toward holistic health and wellness by giving to the Rising Tide.