Meet The Team
Whitney MooreExecutive Director, Board Chair
|
Taylor PayneVice Chair
|
|
Shante JarvisBoard Member
|
Kate ClarkAdvisor to Executive Director
|
Whitney Moore
Founder & Executive Director
Whitney Moore has been a social worker for the Children and Youth Division of the Department of Human Services in Philadelphia since 2009. She collaborates with many community agencies in the city to provide the necessary services that ensure the safety and well-being of children. Whitney has worked as a youth mentor through the Girls and Boys TRACK program in Philadelphia, and received a citation from the city for her service. Whitney is a graduate of West Chester University of Pennsylvania, where she earned her Bachelor’s of Social Work. She is currently earning her Master’s of Social Work at West Chester University, and will be graduating in 2016.
Whitney has personal experience with the challenges of young parenthood and obtaining an education, as she was an adolescent mother in high school and college. Whitney’s first daughter was born just after high school graduation, and her second was born during her sophomore year of college. She and her children lived in the Philadelphia homeless system while commuting daily to West Chester for school. Whitney faced financial hardships, and utilized government assistance while in school to support herself and her children. With the help of several nonprofit organizations in Philadelphia, Whitney was able to graduate from college and become a homeowner. Whitney is very passionate about being able to provide supports for other adolescent parents in the hopes that more families can break the cycle of poverty and lead their best lives.
Whitney has personal experience with the challenges of young parenthood and obtaining an education, as she was an adolescent mother in high school and college. Whitney’s first daughter was born just after high school graduation, and her second was born during her sophomore year of college. She and her children lived in the Philadelphia homeless system while commuting daily to West Chester for school. Whitney faced financial hardships, and utilized government assistance while in school to support herself and her children. With the help of several nonprofit organizations in Philadelphia, Whitney was able to graduate from college and become a homeowner. Whitney is very passionate about being able to provide supports for other adolescent parents in the hopes that more families can break the cycle of poverty and lead their best lives.
Taylor Payne
Vice Chair
|
Taylor Payne is passionate and committed in her advocacy for marginalized populations, with a particular emphasis on homeless children. Ms. Payne has had personal experience with child homelessness, and is therefore able to identify and advocate with and for this population. Taylor’s determination drives her to be a voice in mitigating the causes of homelessness and assist families in breaking the cycle.
Taylor began her journey in activism in 2012, and has been front and center as a strong force in the fight for human rights. An active participant in protesting discrimination, Taylor uses all avenues of communication to speak on social injustices. Ms. Payne is in the process of pursuing the use of the film industry to continue her efforts in the advocacy for marginalized groups. |
Catherine Paczkowski
Secretary
|
Catherine Paczkowski is an Intake Social Worker for the Department of Human Services (DHS). Ms. Paczkowski has worked for DHS since 2009. Ms. Paczkowski earned a Bachelor's Degree in Social Work from LaSalle University and a Master's Degree in Social Work from Rutgers University. Ms. Paczkowski has worked in the field of social work for over 18 years including child welfare, mental health and school based case management services.
Ms. Paczkowski has personally helped teenage parents and young adults, as well as professionally provided services to teenage and young adult parents through her social work position at DHS. Ms. Paczkowski strongly believes that there should be more informal and formal services for this population. She is especially passionate about programming for foster youth, fathers and fathers to be, who often do not receive the support they need and deserve. She comes to All Hands on Deck with the hope that the program will make a difference in the lives of adolescent and young parents to be and parents, as well as their children, respectively. |
Clarence Jasper
Treasurer
|
Clarence Jasper II is a graduate of Morehouse College and Bryn Mawr College Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research. He is a Pennsylvania licensed social worker and Social Work Supervisor for the Children and Youth Division of the Department of Human Services in Philadelphia. Clarence has worked in various capacities serving the families and children of Philadelphia for 20 years.
Clarence served as the Department’s first coordinator for the Resuming Transitions and Reentry for Youth Project (RETRY), assisting young adults discharged from substitute care, with their request to re-enter a care environment and receive housing support and case management. While in this capacity he also served as member of the Department’s Pipeline Up to Stable Housing (PUSH) Grant research team. He has served as a departmental liaison to the Achieving Reunification Center (ARC) working with parents in their effort to bring their children back home and out of foster care. He has also worked as a liaison to the Achieving Independence Center (AIC) providing guidance and mentorship to youth moving toward independence, self-sufficiency and self-reliance. Clarence has also served the Department of Human Services as a representative to Family Court, promoting team work and supportive collaboration between legal professionals and DHS staff. Clarence is a certified Parent Action Network (PAN) group facilitator and the creator and chief facilitator of the Transitions and Reentry for Youth (TRY) support group, working with reentry candidates and clients to provide additional peer and professional support in their efforts to successfully transition into adulthood. Clarence has also been recognized by the US Department of Health and Human Services, the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare and the University of Pittsburg for his completion of their Child Welfare for Leadership (CWEL) program. Clarence comes to All Hands on Deck with extensive professional experience and knowledge in working collaboratively with teens and young adults, and comes with an equally strong desire to enhance the service delivery array to a growing cohort of young men and women preparing for parenthood who find themselves without consistent social or professional support. |
Shante Jarvis
Board Member
|
After graduating in 2013 with a Bachelors in Social Work Shante Jarvis has been living out her passion to serve children for the past six years. She has served children at the West Chester University Daycare Center, the West Chester Head Start Program, and is currently an employee at the Child Guidance Resource Center School. The Child Guidance Resource Center is a non-profit organization that helps to meet the needs of children living with mental health diagnoses. The agency services children between the ages of 5-14. Shante teaches social skills and life skills, while also providing individual counseling and play therapy to the students that attend the school. Shante understands the importance of teaching children how to manage and cope with emotions, while also providing the children with the necessary skills and tools needed to succeed in life.
Shante is studying to obtain a Masters in Social Work in order to discover more opportunities to assist children in need. She has witnessed both at work and in personal life experiences with family the many challenges that are faced by adolescent parents who are trying to raise families. Shante is very dedicated to helping adolescent parents, as well as their families establish goals, skills and the confidence to live meaningful lives that provide stability and peace. |
Kate Clark
Advisor to Executive Director
|
Kate Clark is Planner for Policy & Program Development at Philadelphia Corporation for Aging (PCA) and a 2013-15 Atlantic Philanthropies Health and Aging Policy Fellow with the Office of the Surgeon General and HHS Region III.
Since joining PCA in 2008, she has developed two nationally award-wining programs; Age-friendly Philadelphia and GenPhilly. Previously, she initiated and managed the City of Syracuse’s first public art program; directed the City of New York’s Historical Signs Program; and served as a Fulbright Scholar in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She has a Master of Public Administration from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University and a Bachelor of Art in Geography and Archaeology from Clark University. |