Human Services Student Award Winners

Congratulations to Natalie Jimenez as the recipient of the Department of Social Work and Human Services Fall 2023 NMSI Award. As a student, Natalie maintained a BLANK GPA, majoring in Human Services with a concentration in Nonprofit Management. In addition to her degree, she also completed the Social Innovation Certificate and interned at Tranquility House in Cartersville.

Working at Tranquility House she worked to restart an outreach program covering teenage domestic violence which had gone dormant due to the pandemic. During this time, she worked with women and children from immigrant backgrounds who are traditionally overlooked and have difficulty accessing services. While at KSU, Natalie also interned for the Division of University Advancement where she worked to advance KSU's ability to fund campus initiatives, scholarships, and student support services. As a member the advocacy group KSUnited she worked on social justice initiatives on campus and served as president in her final semester.

Since graduating in December of 2023 Natalie has been studying for the Certified Nonprofit Professional exam in February of 2024. She will be continuing her studies in KSU's Master of Public Administration program where she will seek to fill in the gaps that immigrant and domestic violence victims face in rural areas. Congrats Natalie!

Jonathan House is the recipient of the Department of Social Work and Human Services Social Engagement and Advocacy Student of the Year Award. As a student Jonathan maintained a 4.0 GPA and graduated summa cum laude majoring in human services with a concentration in social engagement and advocacy. In addition to his degree Jonathan maintained credentialing as a certified addiction counselor, a certified experiential specialist, an anger resolution specialist and obtained training as a brainspotting practitioner.

Jonathan worked full time as an addition counselor and ran his own private practice all while interning at Blue Ridge Mountain Recovery Center and providing for a beautiful three-year-old daughter.

Since graduating Jonathan House improved his private practice at Centerstone Addiction Counseling LLC and managed a transitional living program for military clients at Blue Ridge Mountain Recovery Center. Jonathan has completed the application to upgrade his certified addiction counseling certification and is awaiting this to be reviewed.