Restorative Wellness Guide
Sarah holds a Master of Social Work and has over ten years of experience working, volunteering, and learning alongside currently and previously incarcerated folks. Her professional experience encompasses a wide range of environments from healthcare to residential to the Department of Corrections to international programming and she seeks to address the multifaceted impact of systemic oppression on the individuals within them seeking care. Her social work practice focuses on the intersection of incarceration, trauma, race, and masculinity.
Sarah is a proud abolitionist and passionate advocate of restorative justice, a stance rooted in both personal and professional experience. She began her social work career at the age of 22 by working in a sexualized behaviors program as a counselor to young men who had engaged in sexually abusive behavior. A survivor of serious sexual violence herself, the role forced Sarah to navigate her triggers and support young people who had caused others the same irreparable harm that had so significantly impacted her life. In this work, she discovered the essential role of community-driven and victim-centered responses to harm. She credits her work with those who have been responsible for harm as the most important component in her own growth and healing. She identifies strongly with the notion that “abolition is about presence, not absence- it's about building life-affirming institutions” and seeks to be a part of the rising tide pushing for thoughtful alternatives to incarceration.
Outside of her work with TPP, Sarah works with the Committee for Public Counsel's Public Defender Division in the Boston Trial Unit as a Social Services Advocate. In this role she supports clients in various stages of the criminal legal process by providing mental health support and crisis intervention, acting as a liaison to community resources, authoring mitigation letters advocating for treatment over incarceration, and being called to testify. She is also an avid writer and poet who uses her affinity for the creative arts as a channel for personal and communal empowerment and advocacy. Her most recent publications can be found in WBUR.
Sarah is a proud abolitionist and passionate advocate of restorative justice, a stance rooted in both personal and professional experience. She began her social work career at the age of 22 by working in a sexualized behaviors program as a counselor to young men who had engaged in sexually abusive behavior. A survivor of serious sexual violence herself, the role forced Sarah to navigate her triggers and support young people who had caused others the same irreparable harm that had so significantly impacted her life. In this work, she discovered the essential role of community-driven and victim-centered responses to harm. She credits her work with those who have been responsible for harm as the most important component in her own growth and healing. She identifies strongly with the notion that “abolition is about presence, not absence- it's about building life-affirming institutions” and seeks to be a part of the rising tide pushing for thoughtful alternatives to incarceration.
Outside of her work with TPP, Sarah works with the Committee for Public Counsel's Public Defender Division in the Boston Trial Unit as a Social Services Advocate. In this role she supports clients in various stages of the criminal legal process by providing mental health support and crisis intervention, acting as a liaison to community resources, authoring mitigation letters advocating for treatment over incarceration, and being called to testify. She is also an avid writer and poet who uses her affinity for the creative arts as a channel for personal and communal empowerment and advocacy. Her most recent publications can be found in WBUR.