Andrea Atwood
Andrea joined SAFE Project in August of 2020. Since then she has worked with the SAFE Veterans Portfolio in creating resource guidelines specifically for military youth featured on Google. In January 2022, Andrea was hand-picked to help revitalize the Volunteer Program at SAFE Project. In this role she interacts with over 1000 SAFE Volunteers in providing meaningful ways to contribute to the mission of “saving a life every day.” Andrea launched a Naloxone Awareness Project in August 2022 with the goal of engaging the SAFE Project Volunteers in community advocacy and action. The goal of this project was to ensure that the volunteers had the tools available to help combat the opioid crisis. With the increased use of fentanyl in illicit drugs, the project had two goals: Create awareness through social media campaigns and visiting local pharmacies to ensure that Naloxone is readily available to those in need.
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For twenty plus years, Andrea has been a military spouse first with the Air Force and now with the newly formed Space Force. With thirteen moves under her belt including living in diverse urban areas along with growing up in a rural environment, she has been given a distinct perspective. From her time spent as a Director of a Children’s Behavioral Agency to homeschooling her two children, her experiences being a military spouse has given her the ability to delve into the arena of behavioral health with a unique frame of reference. She also brings years of volunteer work to the table as a Key Spouse Mentor. This Air Force program was designed specifically to facilitate training and support to younger military spouses and their families. The support ranges from having a complete understanding of the mental health structure in the Air Force/Space Force while also understanding the exclusive nature associated with military lifestyles and deployments. She continues this work in a leadership role in the Space Force with the goal of making the program more effective and viable with the new service. This personal volunteer experience fuels her understanding of the need for effective volunteer programs and helps guide her in facilitating a robust volunteer program at SAFE Project.
Andrea earned her MS in Human Services from Capella University and a Bachelor's degree in Urban Studies from The College of Charleston. Specific Areas of expertise: foster care case management, juvenile justice system navigation, youth behavioral health education and training, military life/dependent/veteran/caregiver initiatives.