““One has a vision of what college kids look like, but at HACC you see people who are the same age range or ethnic background as you. You feel like you belong. At HACC, I always had the sense that the instructors were willing to do what was needed to help you succeed.”
Kathy M. Verna
Social Service, 2005
Kathy Verna has an inspirational history with Potential Reentry Opportunities in Business and Education (PROBE), a nonprofit agency that enables displaced homemakers, single parents, dislocated workers and people in transition to enter and remain in the workforce. Kathy went from being a client to becoming an employee and went on to become chief executive for PROBE. Their services often included referring clients to HACC. Following this role, Kathy went on to serve as a hospice professional.
Kathy, a former stay-at-home mom who raised four sons, spent 15 years as an accredited La Leche League leader on the local, state and regional levels in a variety of capacities. Feeling lost when her youngest son started school in 1995, Kathy ended up on PROBE doorstep where she was encouraged to go to college. Once at HACC’s Lebanon Campus, she found her wings. She earned an associate degree in social service from HACC in 2005. She also earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in social work at Temple University.
Active in her community, Kathy served on HACC’s Human Services Advisory Council and the Advisory Committee for HACC’s Lebanon Campus. She is a board member of Pennsylvania Women Work, the treasurer for the Lebanon County Money in Your Pocket program and is active on the Lebanon County Coalition to Prevent Homelessness.