Shelly Kennedy

Shelly made the decision to return to college as an adult while she was raising her 3 children, and graduated from St Joseph College in 2004 with a Bachelor Degree, majoring in Social Work and Minoring in Religious Studies. After finishing at St. Joseph’s, she went on to complete her graduate studies at Fordham University where she received a Master’s Degree in Social Work, Clinical Concentration, with specialization in Older Persons and Their Families.

Upon graduation, Shelly worked 6 years as a medical social worker with an area hospice team. It was while working as a hospice social worker that she received the grace and vision for Seeds of Hope. To prepare for such an undertaking, she worked for a short time as a program supervisor for an outpatient behavioral health clinic. Valuable lessons in clinical supervision and grant funding were obtained before leaving that position to take on the challenge of creating a behavioral health program from the ground up. Shelly spent the next 4 years on the project before transitioning out of her role as clinical director and into a private practice.