PORT ST. LUCIE PEOPLE
Along the way, Kristy was on the All-Academic Team at the
college and also became a guest speaker for the IRSC Foundation,
Inc., where she spoke to donors and let them know how
much their contributions help students like her.
“Dr. (Edwin) Massey used to tell me I was an ambassador for
what education can do — how it can change lives,” Kristy says.
Before her graduation, Kristy had been advised to attend
a Kid’s at Hope seminar at the college. “That is when I met
some people and discovered a job opening with the Children’s
Services Council of St. Lucie County,” she says. “I was hired
in part due to my Kids at Hope experience, and then, through
the connections and relationships I developed at CSC, I was
named the Drug Free St. Lucie coalition coordinator. I worked
on presentations of efforts on stopping substance misuse.”
As she completed the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of
America (CADCA) training for its National Coalition Academy,
she worked through the products the group needed
to establish itself as a highly-effective anti-drug coalition: a
community assessment, a strategic and action plan, a logic
model and a sustainability plan. She sits on the 19th Judicial
Circuit Opioid Task Force, and in turning it all full circle, she
was recently accepted to sit on the board of directors for Communities
Connected for Kids, previously known as Devereux
Community-based Care, which operates the Florida Department
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mothers and their children is often rewarded with a beautiful
picture colored on a piece of notebook paper. “My heart is in
this job,” she says.
“I also counsel the women on independence and selfesteem,”
Kristy says, adding that is very important for the
women at the domestic-violence shelter.
As far as academics are concerned, Kristy is not ready to give
up on spending what little spare time she has on homework assignments.
in Texas, pursuing a master’s degree in family studies. E
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She is now working online with Amberton University
Port St. Lucie Magazine 39
of Children and Families foster care system.
In the years since her graduation in 2015, Kristy has been
unable to give up working with SafeSpace, a domestic violence
shelter. She fills in there as needed taking hotline calls
where she determines the lethality of the caller’s situation
and clearing the family for shelter, if deemed necessary. The
warm and loving reception she provides for the distraught
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KRISTY WHEELER CONWAY
Age: 49
Lives in: Port St. Lucie
Occupation: Advocate/assistant
at SafeSpace Inc., GED facilitator
at Indian River State College
Family: Two children and four
grandchildren, all of whom live
in Georgia
Education: Associate’s degree in liberal arts, bachelor’s
degree in human services — specializing in youth and
families, Indian River State College; pursuing master’s
degree in family studies, Amberton University
Hobbies: Spending time at the pool and beach
Who inspires me: “I am inspired by children who have
experienced trauma yet are resilient.”
Something most people don’t know about me: “I have a
motorcycle license and I drove a Harley Davidson for years.”
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