Candice Helton

Bio

Candice has been a full-time trainer for the Center for Family and Community Engagement since October 2020. Prior to coming to the center Candice was serving families who had recently identified as homeless in sustaining housing as a Family Services Coordinator for a family shelter in Durham North Carolina. As a family services coordinator, she advocated for fair housing with the local housing authority as well as local property owners on behalf of the families she served. She engaged with families daily to build community resource connections and lifestyle skills with the hope of lowering retention in family homelessness with special attention to transition-age youth. Additionally, she served as a Family Services Coordinator at the NC Partnership for Children focusing on transition-age youth in underserved populations ensuring their access to resources including childhood education, housing, and health care. She has experience working in both Tennessee and North Carolina child welfare state agencies in the roles of a Severe Abuse Investigator, Facilitator, Family Crisis Intervention Specialist, and Family Permanency Social Worker.

Candice earned a Bachelor of Sciences in Psychology from Western Carolina University. She brought to the center a strong passion to meet families where they are using family-centered practice and the drive to continue supporting under-represented populations in her work. She plans to continue growing her family engagement skills with the hopes of increasing communication and partnership between agencies community partners, and families.