Dr. Vernique J. Coleman-Stokes

DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR ALCOHOL AND OTHER DRUGS RESOURCES AND EDUCATION (CADRE) 

“I love working here at the university. I started out in community mental health with populations with severe mental health disorders that require wraparound services, and with corrections populations. That’s where I really built my alcohol and other drug skills because there was so much comorbidity of individuals that needed the support of mental health and chemical dependency. 

I’ve been here, it will be 12 years in 2022. In community mental health you are very limited in talking about anything religious or spiritual. Being able to use that as a coping skill has been really helpful, helping students find ways to connect with other people without compromising who they are and what’s important to them has been a really great part of this job. I have seen more impact. 

You know, I tell students, no one grew up saying ‘I want to be an alcoholic, or an addict or homeless.’ Things happened in their lives and situations turned out negatively for them. Students who are in recovery from alcohol and other drugs are a marginalized population on college campuses, period. There’s a little purple sign that says ‘Recovery is spoken here’: that sticker outside of someone’s door signifies that this is a safe space that someone can go if they’re struggling, or if they feel like they need someone who can understand what they’re going through. The biggest thing is having empathy for others.

I come from a family of caregivers. I wanted to be a nurse but I couldn’t stand needles so that wasn’t going to work very well! So it didn’t surprise me that I was drawn to the field of counseling, to walk along, not take care of someone but walk along with someone who experienced hardships, because it can be a long and lonely road if you try to do it by yourself. I get strength from my family, my mom, also my aunts and the other women in my family... just seeing some of the ways that they in their careers have struggled was that extra push for me. 

Being here at the university, you want to see all types of people represented, as a woman of color that’s not always the case. There are a lot of talented African American women and other women of color. I know we can't just go around creating positions for people, but, you know, when those opportunities come available to make sure there is a fair playing field, and that people's skills and talents are considered. A very important thing for us to be able to do as women, period, if you’re in a room, speak up, to pull each other up! What do you do to help the next woman? That goes beyond race. 

How do we maximize what we already have, which is, getting men on board, and help them understand it’s not just a women’s issue, it's everybody’s issue. They have to be willing to listen and understand that there might be hardships, you have to be willing to go in and make sure they are successful in that situation.

My Grandfather was a paraplegic. He was in a car accident and lost the ability to care for himself. He had the best attitude, he had HOPE! When you would get down and out, he would point to scripture and we would say, ‘you know that’s not the end of the world, baby.’ That really rubbed off on us. I carry that with me today - that helped me with my career, my empathy, being drawn to people in a supportive role. 

I have always been an advocate for women and women’s rights. When I worked with the dually diagnosed in the community, I did a women’s group, you know some of them had to quit working because their mental health was so severe, so helping them to build back up that self esteem, and understanding about self care. And then at the correctional institute I had the ability to go to the women’s side, championing and supporting underprivileged women, underrepresented women, who lost their jobs, lost their homes, lost their children, walking along with them as they build themselves back up. I don't take the credit for that, they have to do the work, but it’s nice to be there to support. 

Some people are like ‘you give people too many chances!’ and I’m like ‘thank God people gave me chances and people didn’t give up on me!’ Nobody's perfect, I have hope in the students. They may not do everything I think they should do, but if they get one little nugget, I’m ok with that. I’m naturally a person who is going to have hope. Now I’m not perfect, I have bad days, but my faith, my faith in humanity, my faith in people carries me a long way.”