Dr. Brittany Hazzard blends wisdom, compassion and spirituality
Dr. Brittany T.L. Hazzard is a student-athlete with a deep sense of spirituality and family values. She received an athletic/academic scholarship coming out of Sussex Tech and played basketball all four years at University of Maryland Eastern Shore, graduating summa cum laude from UMES with a bachelor of science degree in criminal justice in May 2008.
Brittany continued her education, receiving her master's degree in social work in May 2010 from Delaware State University. She capped that off with a doctor of education in organizational leadership degree from Wilmington University in Georgetown in April 2016.
Hazzard, who just turned 30 years old, possesses a powerful, interactive people personality. Her energies are always turned outward – you want her to help you even if you don't need it. Inspiration is contagious when sitting down with her.
"I really had an opportunity to blossom at Sussex Tech," she said. "I was able to focus on criminal justice when I was there. I always set my academic goals high. I was always a student first because, if not, how much can you attain as an athlete?"
And because she is a Sussex County girl working since January 2014 for Delaware Guidance Services in Seaford as the intensive outpatient program coordinator, she understands the importance of placing herself inside the family matrix of kinship associations.
In her words, Dr. Hazzard wrote: "Reginald Hazzard is my husband of three years. Rylie and Re'gan are our twin daughters who will be 2 in October. My mom is Tammy Adkins Frisby, and my siblings are Alicia Tull Mumford; Brett Adkins; BJ Speaks, a recent graduate of Howard University; and Alanna Speaks, who currently plays varsity basketball for St. Elizabeth's."
She continued, "My great-grandmother, Mary Louise Adkins – my daughters and myself share her middle name – has been most influential in my life growing up, just being the most selfless and loving caregiver I've known.
"My grandmother, Apostle Tambara Stewart, has been the most spiritual influence in my life as I watched her be a servant and a follower of Jesus Christ my entire life. Throughout my doctoral journey, Dr. Julius Mullen has played a vital role as one of my advisors and my mentor. It was church, family and friends' support and prayers that kept me afloat.
"Having my daughters and getting married while on the doctoral journey were the greatest additions to my life and solidified an everlasting love and motivation for me.
"I was just reminded by one of my fellow Wilmington University cohort members that I was first and youngest of 20 to graduate with a doctorate of education in organizational leadership. I believe that the grace of God kept me and his favor led me as I traveled to the finish line. I wouldn't have changed a thing."
Those words give some insight into the soulfulness of a good person, but most remarkable in a face-to-face sit- down with Dr. Hazzard is her focused outwardly direction, talking about ways "we" can all help others and realizing the challenges faced by all mental health workers, and the clients and family members afflicted by mental illness.
"I talk to clients with an approach that 'it's not so much what you did, but what can I do to help you,'" Hazzard said. "That goes for mental health, home healthcare, behavior health, all those areas."
Hazzard has worked as an outpatient therapist the four years prior to her current assignment and was the program manager of the SHINE program at Milton Elementary from March 2011 to September 2013.
A drop-down menu of other outreach jobs in her early career include academic coach, Man Up Leadership Program, homeless liaison in the Seaford School District, visiting teacher assistant at Cape Henlopen and assistant coach for girls' basketball at Mariner Middle School from 2008 to 2010.
She also worked as a social worker for Children and Families First at Seaford House Residential Treatment Center and for the Delaware Division of Social Services as a clinical intern. She interned at Family Court as well.
Dr, Hazzard credits Sussex Tech math teacher Glen Heuring for being so encouraging, teaching her a subject that was her weakest and making her feel academically complete. She also credits basketball coaches Wesley Townsend and Val McCrea for pushing her beyond her comfort zone.
"The goal is to grow and to inspire others to grow. I wanted to give my younger cousins something positive to learn from, and so Dr. Brittany Hazzard, Afro-American young woman, made it possible at eye level for others. It's about reaching your goals and earning it," she said.
Hazzard and her husband Reggie run a summer youth program, Virtue and Valor, out of her grandmother's church in Georgetown.
"I was working with a man-up program and Chime program at Milton Elementary. The idea is for people to 'have a standard,' to give kids a platform to express themselves and the tools to be successful," she said.
Dr. Hazzard rolls through all questions, expressing themes of understanding, giving back and providing kids and young adults with the tools to be successful.
"When you give kids a platform to express themselves, you learn so much more about them," she said.
She seems light-years away from the burnout that plagues so many mental health workers. "What keeps me focused is passion – once you're tired, you no longer remember why you started doing what you're doing - but some of the clients I work with have no one - give a kid something to live for and their outcome will be different," she said.
"I believe that certain people are created to engage certain types of people," Hazzard said. "Grandparents are putting in a lot of work to get the job done, and thank God for them."
"Schools need programs that follow kids through their whole career, the younger the better," Hazzard said. "We ran the Shine program for fourth- and fifth-graders at Milton Elementary. It was amazing the stories those young minds would tell."
Down the road, Brittany and Reggie would like to create nonprofit recreation centers that focus on education and understanding for kids to become more enlightened with a strong sense of self and a passion for success.
"I still have my Athlete of the Week article 'Adkins Diet' on the refrigerator from 2004," she laughed. "A positive intervention has a longlasting impact for all of us."
http://cpg.stparchive.com/Archive/CPG/CPG11252005p134.php
http://cpg.stparchive.com/Archive/CPG/CPG07022004p067.php?tags=brittany|adkins
