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Learning on the job While she had always had a desire to help people, delving into the eld of addiction recovery was dif cult at rst. Although she had some rst-hand experience seeing family members abuse alcohol, including watching one of her grandmother’s sisters die as a result of an alcohol addiction, it took time for her to learn the intricacies of the disease. “It was kind of new and learning from the clients was kind of an eye-opener for me,” Jennings says. But she says hearing clients’ stories helped her learn more and more each day and strengthened her resolve to serve people in need. She also says she learned from Bethel’s staff who embraced her and helped her to develop a skill set that will bene t her and the clients she serves. “Everybody welcomed me with open arms and I learned a lot here,” Jennings says.

Bright future ahead Jennings will attend Monmouth University in the fall to pursue her bachelor’s degree in social work. From there she plans to get a master’s degree in social work and says she would ultimately like to hold several master’s degrees in areas such as mental health and marriage counseling. Bethel’s executive director and CEO, Pastor Felicia Osborne, says everyone at Bethel is extremely proud of Jennings and excited to support her in her future accomplishments. Jennings says she would like to return to Ghana some day and open an addiction treatment center of her own. She says there is a severe shortage of such facilities in the country, and she wants to give back to those struggling with substance abuse. But wherever she ends up, Jennings just wants to use her talents and her energy to help those in need. “I just want to learn more and maybe one day I’ll have something in my country,” Jennings says. “I just like helping people.“

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“ EVERYBODY WELCOMED ME WITH OPEN ARMS AND I LEARNED A LOT HERE. ” - Eugenia Jennings,