Jade Grant is hardworking single mom who brings light into any room (or zoom meeting) she enters. Jade is currently in school to get her Bachelor’s in Social Work and takes care of three wonderful boys. In the little free time she has, you can find Jade painting or writing. When asked to describe something that she is proud of, Jade answered with “…my recent graduation with honors. I’m also proud of myself for taking in the kids and being a mom and learning how to do this life thing. At the end of the day, I look at them and other people say positive things about them it makes me feel so good.”
Jade has been at Safe Harbor since August, and while her time here has been short so far, we have already seen what an astounding person she is.
Jade came to us as an intern for the Fall semester of 2020 and continues to volunteer through our Ambassador Program. When asked why she chose to intern at Safe Harbor, Jade answered with “I just love the agency.” Jade had learned about Safe Harbor long before she started here as a volunteer and like many people drawn to Safe Harbor, had some personal experience with dating violence herself. Jade shared that she had been in an abusive relationship in high school. Jade said that “it even took a little while after we broke up to realize that that behavior was abusive. It’s so confusing when you’re a kid and it’s all glorified.” She continued to say that “it took years to even realize what exactly had gone on.” Jade says that all of this plus a huge interest in advocacy is what initially brought her to Safe Harbor. Jade’s personality and character make her a natural advocate for those who cannot speak for themselves. She says that she thinks this started with her nephew when he needed more accommodations at his school.
Jade said that she enjoyed volunteering at Safe Harbor because of "how easygoing the staff is. People are really understanding if I’m late or if something happens. I also really like learning more about DV and having the basic knowledge base and how Safe Harbor operates.” Later on, we asked Jade how volunteering at Safe Harbor has changed how she views domestic violence. Jade said that volunteering with Safe Harbor has highlighted how prominent domestic violence is in our community, and that it has helped her empathize with those in that situation, including herself. Jade said that “I think for a long time after I got out of that relationship, I just didn’t acknowledge the severity of it. Now I look back and I do a painting to process, and I reconnect and realize the severity. I realize the ending that could have happened, and that it was really dangerous. It could have ended up much worse than it did.”
Jade also mentioned how wowed she was to learn about Safe Harbor’s Relationship Education Project (REP) and seeing the importance of teaching our youth about healthy relationships. Jade also talked about how impactful working on In Her Shoes stories were for her. She says that working on her stories taught her about domestic violence in culturally diverse contexts. She said that “they paint a good picture about the different struggles different people face and that was so important and eye-opening.” She continued to say “Safe Harbor took the active approach to be more aware and culturally competent. It’s great to see Safe Harbor so dedicated.”
We also asked Jade if there was one story or moment from Safe Harbor that she will never forget, and she told us this: “Answering the crisisline has sometimes been really really hard and I’ll never forget those experiences. Being with someone at one of the lowest moments of their life.... Just hearing all of it and what people are going through. It makes it really real how much it happens. It makes it more intimate, and it almost feels like you’re in there with them.”
Jade is passionate about raising awareness and ending the cultural acceptance of domestic violence. She said that if she could tell the community one thing, she would want everyone to know “…how prevalent domestic violence is, and the importance of being able to pick up the signs and red flags. I think the community needs an overall education on what domestic violence is. I feel like sometimes the community can be judgmental towards victims and victim blaming and just not understand.”
Jade is one of our many incredible volunteers and we are so grateful to have her on our team. She has been a huge help on the crisis line and for the outreach team, and we cannot express our gratitude enough. Thank you Jade!
If you want to volunteer with Safe Harbor, please email lisa.nalley@safeharborsc.org to learn more about our volunteer options.
