As a child, Toi Dennis experienced something no child should ever have to face: homelessness. Raised by a single mother, Dennis\u00a0was the oldest of four children in a family that struggled to stay afloat. Money was always tight; meals were often missed; and Dennis\u00a0and her family sometimes had no place to stay the night.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout the community support and resources that were available, I don\u2019t think we would\u2019ve been able to survive,\u201d she says, recalling the social-service programs and generous strangers who provided them with food, shelter, and other necessities.<\/p>\n
In spite of such challenges, Dennis\u00a0eventually went to college, earning a bachelor\u2019s and then a master\u2019s degree. Her focus was social services, and after graduation, the U.S. Department of Defense recruited her to work overseas in child development and then community services. Returning to the U.S. a few years later, she decided to pursue a doctoral degree\u00a0in human services at Capella University. Perhaps not surprisingly, her chief interest was in studying homelessness. \u201cI wanted to know if other children experienced some of the same things that I and my siblings did,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
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Initially, Dennis was overwhelmed by the rigor of Capella\u2019s courses. \u201cThe research process was very intense,\u201d she says. But when she realized that her personal experience gave her insight into the very topic she was researching, she felt greater confidence and the work began to come more easily. \u201cTime management is the key,\u201d she says. \u201c \u201cYou have to find a way to do what you\u2019ve been doing and, on top of that, get an education. But it can be done.\u201d<\/p>\n
Juggling work and classes was plenty challenging. But perhaps the toughest test of all came when Dennis\u00a0had to defend her dissertation. Pregnant at the time, Toi had scheduled her defense several weeks before her baby\u2019s due date\u2014only to be taken by surprise when her daughter arrived early. \u201cMy committee said, \u2018Are you sure you want to do this? You just had a baby!\u2019\u201d Dennis\u00a0recalls. \u201cBut I went ahead with it. It was overwhelming, but also a great experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Dennis\u00a0earned a PhD in Human Services with a specialization in Social and Community Services<\/a> from Capella, and she earns an income from online teaching. But her passion is developing a shelter for homeless women and children in Clarksville, Tennessee, where she now lives. \u201cI want to do for others what was done for our family,\u201d Dennis\u00a0says.<\/p>\n In 2012, Dennis\u00a0initiated work on Serenity House, whose mission is to provide supportive services to homeless women and children. The nonprofit organization remains small and has yet to construct a permanent home, but Dennis\u00a0and her team, including a part-time case manager and a flock of volunteers, have provided services to more than 200 women since Serenity House launched.<\/p>\n The virtual organization provides temporary shelter in area hotels, covers security deposits for housing, and pays energy bills\u2014all through grants and community donations. \u201cWe partner with a lot of organizations in our area,\u201d Dennis\u00a0says. Counseling services and assistance with life-skills development are also available through Serenity House.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Dennis\u2019s work in Clarksville has earned her honors and recognition. She was named Citizen of the Year in her hometown in 2014 and was recently nominated for an NAACP Image Award<\/a>. Last year, at the request of the mayor of Clarksville, she facilitated a conference on homelessness. \u201cSometimes you wonder if anyone is noticing,\u201d she\u00a0says. \u201cWhen you get honors like this, it\u2019s confirmation that you are impacting lives and making a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n Dennis\u00a0says she uses her doctoral education every day as she synthesizes information about homelessness and figures out how to articulate it in ways that will help others grasp the problem, create empathy, and evoke action. In many ways, she says, forming a women\u2019s shelter is a natural next step after earning a PhD. Though fundraising for a permanent building is ongoing and the work is often challenging, Dennis\u00a0says, \u201cFor me, it feels like I\u2019m bringing my dissertation to life.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Learn more about Capella\u2019s certificate, master\u2019s, and doctoral <\/em>human services degree programs<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\nHonored for Her Work<\/h4>\n