Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Meet the Staff - Amy Broussard

Amy Broussard, MSSW
Intrepid World Traveler - that is Amy Broussard, Adoption Counselor and one of Hope Cottage's newest employees.  Amy joined our staff in May where she works with parents waiting to adopt children from the Infant Adoption Program. 

Amy was born in Garland, but when she was one, she started on her "world tour" when he father worked for ExxonMobil.  Amy and her family spent five and a half years living in Indonesia followed by six months back in the U.S. living in Coppell.  Their next stop was Nigeria where Amy attended school from 2nd grade through her freshman year of high school.  Amy finished high school as a boarding student at The Hockaday School, while her parents moved to Equatorial Guinea, a small island on the west coast of Africa.  All this moving around has earned Amy the distinction of having visited five (North America, Africa, Asia, Australia and Europe) out of the seven continents in the world.

When she was growing up, Amy thought she would be a teacher. She used to "teach" her stuffed animals and use her bedroom window as a whiteboard.

After graduating from The Hockaday School, Amy attended SMU where she earned her Bachelors in Psychology.  She received her Master's in Social Work from University of Texas-Arlington.  While attending SMU, Amy had a mentor that helped her get a job in the children's room at the Dallas Children's Advocacy Center.  She played with and supervised the children while their parents attending group therapy or other appointments.  Her ineraction with the other social workers on the staff and her experience there, led her to see her master's.   Amy came to Hope Cottage from Refuge House where she was a Case Manager for foster care children.  She also did an internship with the Family Court Services while attending UTA. 

Amy shares her live with a crazy Boston Terrier named Parker.  He will be five in December and is still developing, shall we say, odd habits.  His latest trick is to jump in the dryer while the clothes are still warm.  Amy loves going to movies and keeping in touch with friends she made while living overseas.  Facebook has come in handy for that!

Amy's favorite part  of Hope Cottage is the positive work environment and the positive impact Hope Cottage makes on others' lives.  She loves being on the "happy" side of social work and seeing all the smiles. 

Hope Cottage is the oldest nonprofit, non sectarian adoption agency in Dallas. Since 1918 Hope Cottage has been building and nurturing strong families through counseling, education and adoption services.

If you have questions about adoption, please call Hope Cottage at 214.526.8721.

 If you are a woman facing an unwanted pregnancy and would like to talk to someone about adoption, please call Hope Cottage at 1.800.944.4464 or 214.404.4546.

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