Our Students. Their Stories.
Whether they’re serving students, veterans, the elderly or the disadvantaged, graduates of our Master of Social Work program are caring for the spiritual, emotional and social needs of people throughout the world.
Though their roles may be vastly different, their mission is the same: to bring hope, help individuals discover their intrinsic value, and do their part to create more just, equitable and inclusive communities.
‘Being a source of hope and peace in the world – that calling hasn’t changed’
After more than a decade in ministry, Trevor Owen found himself at a crossroads. Burned out from pastoring but still drawn to helping people, he began asking what his next chapter should look like.
The answer emerged during Owen’s international ministry work, particularly among refugees and communities affected by war and displacement. He realized that pastoral experience had taught him how to be present with people in pain, but he wanted to go deeper in helping others overcome trauma and experience healing.
“God wants to restore creation to how it’s meant to be,” he says. “That restoration is holistic – rooted in love, connection and hope. Social work gives me another way to participate in that work.”
‘I see Christ as the first social worker’
After surviving an abusive 20-year marriage, Brooke Eggen turned her painful experience into a calling to help other women recognize coercive control and find freedom. Her advocacy work, particularly with women in church settings, eventually convinced her she needed deeper professional training, leading her to ÄÛ²ÝÊÓƵ Fox’s Master of Social Work program.
Her classroom experience broadened her vision of social work beyond domestic violence advocacy to include individual care, prevention, education and systems change.
“The idea of taking on my own education while I was still homeschooling two children made me stop and think, ‘This is a lot to take on,’” she says. “But it’s been so rewarding and encouraging to my kids. They have been my biggest supporters.”
'It's so rewarding to get to know them'
After working out of state for 17 years, Stefanie Hazard returned to Newberg to again assist Friendsview Retirement Community residents – something she did while earning a bachelor's degree in social work in the early 2000s.
Now, she serves as Friendsview's social services coordinator and is back at ÄÛ²ÝÊÓƵ Fox to earn a Master of Social Work degree.
“I work with all of our health service residents, and I’ve been developing relationships with them and their families for more than five years,” she says. “It’s so rewarding to get to know them and learn what I can do for them to make things better for them.”
‘Listening is medicine’
For 2017 MSW graduate Kim Nguyen, the most powerful medicine isn’t available with a prescription or over the counter. In her world, the strongest “medication” isn’t a traditional medicine at all. Rather, it’s a simple practice: listening.
As a medical social worker at a dialysis center in Portland, Nguyen faces the dual challenge of recognizing her patients’ systemic complexities – like food scarcity and homelessness – and being present for them in their specific health crisis. What she’s discovered is the fact that what clients often need most is someone to listen.
‘I want to instill hope’
When Tina Deleon Guerrero discovered that a career in teaching wasn’t the best fit for her, she found her calling as a social worker, which allowed her to apply her empathy skills to advocate for vulnerable populations.
Now a forensic social worker at Oregon State Hospital in Salem, the 2023 MSW graduate works with those who are mentally unwell, helping them testify in court. “I’m passionate about social justice because I have personally experienced inequality, systemic racism and discrimination along with many in my community,” she says.
‘I really became a social worker at age 12’
Kenneth Hoover’s journey into social work began at a young age, when he was relied upon to help care for a father struggling with substance abuse. Today, he works at American Lake Veterans Hospital in Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, where he serves high-risk veterans with co-occurring disorders.
“Helping others accomplish their goals and face some of the biggest challenges a person can face gives me a feeling of accomplishment that is truly difficult to describe,” he says.
‘Meet people where they are at’
Inspired by the loss of her mother and the challenge of raising two children as a single mom, Cynthia Molina has found purpose working as the neighborhood program director of Boys and Girls Aid in Portland, an adoption agency committed to helping foster children find families.
“To see an individual for who they are and want to be is so important. I want to empower them to be the best version of themselves,” she says.
‘Going to the edges’
Inspired by mentors he had as a child, Chris McMullan, a 2021 alumnus of the MSW program, regularly encounters the hardships and heartache of the children he works with as a social worker in the Woodburn (Oregon) School District.
“I find that kids will share when they feel safe around you,” he says. “To create that safe space for kids to talk about these hard things – stuff that is churning inside, that is affecting their overall thought process – I’m changed because of it. It’s not just the kid who benefits.”