Local counseling student to receive educational and training funding in addictions counseling
The NBCC Foundation, an affiliate of the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC), recently selected Achovia Denise Jones of Winston-Salem for the NBCC Minority Fellowship Program for Addictions Counselors (MFP-AC). As an NBCC MFP-AC Fellow, Jones will receive funding and training to support her education and facilitate her addictions counseling service to underserved populations.
The NBCC MFP-AC is made possible by a grant awarded to the NBCC Foundation in collaboration with the Association for Addiction Professionals (NAADAC) by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The NBCC Foundation administers the MFP-AC, including training and collaboration activities, such as webinars, that are open to all board certified counselors. The goal of the program is to reduce health disparities and improve behavioral health care outcomes for racially and ethnically diverse populations by increasing the available number of culturally competent behavioral health professionals.
The NBCC Foundation will distribute $15,000 to Jones and the other 39 master’s-level addictions counseling students selected to receive the fellowship award. Jones is a graduate of Gardner-Webb University and is currently a master’s student in the mental health and rehabilitation counseling program at North Carolina A&T State University. Upon graduation, Jones intends to work with adults with substance use–related dual diagnoses and particularly with those who come from minority and low-income communities. Her goal is to change the social construct and help heal minority families by providing support through the avenues of substance abuse and mental health counseling. Earning this fellowship will allow Jones to attend counseling conferences, learn evidence-based practice to better serve underserved populations, and advocate for the counseling profession.
The NBCC Foundation has also awarded 20 $20,000 doctoral fellowships through the MFP and 30 $10,000 master’s-level fellowships through the MFP-Mental Health Counseling-Master’s (MFP-MHC-M). The NBCC Foundation plans to open the next NBCC MFP-AC application period in fall 2020. To learn more about the NBCC MFP and its fellows, please visit nbccf.org/Programs/Fellows.
