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\u201cI started my professional career in the education field, as I always wanted to be a guidance counselor in vocational education,\u201d she explained. \u201cIt probably goes back to my earlier life when I wanted to help people. When I think about those times and the need to help those who cannot help themselves, becoming a counselor was the goal, but the education part is what it took to get there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over the last six decades, she has served as a social worker for the Franklin County Board of Education, a Counselor II for the State of Tennessee, a manager and state director for the Tennessee Vocational Training Center\u2019s Division of Rehabilitation Services, director for Caring Incorporated, a member of the Franklin County School Board, Regional and State Workforce and several other boards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hopkins said the goal was and still is to make a difference. Now, at 87, she currently serves as the executive director of the Middle Tennessee Rural Reentry program. For Hopkins, there are still many more \u201clives\u201d to live and people to help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cJust because people are elderly doesn\u2019t mean they are done,\u201d she explained. \u201cThat\u2019s when they start knowing what they need to do. When you are lying in the casket, the only thing that you take with you is what you gave away. What you give away can create a ripple effect and make generational changes for years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hopkins is making ripples in grand proportions through her work as a reentry director. She and her staff work to \u201cprovide quality community reentry services that will reduce recidivism, empower clients to enter gainful employment, lead productive lives, and return to safer communities,\u201d according to the program\u2019s mission statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019ve been in existence since 2007,\u201d explained Hopkins. \u201cWe’ve served over 1700 people. Every story you could ever think of, I\u2019ve heard. There is nothing you could tell me that would shock me. I have never worked with incarcerated individuals, but this population drives you. We provide evidence-based classes that change cognitive behavior and build self-esteem and self-worth. You\u2019ll never be able to rehabilitate individuals unless their self-esteem is present. Most individuals desire to make a difference in someone\u2019s life. You just have to help find it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She has also worked to improve the lives of Franklin County residents with what Hopkins considers to be the biggest material accomplishment\u2014the Tennessee College of Applied Technology, which opened in 2020. Hopkins said with the support of a lot of people and God\u2019s will, the dream of the school became a reality. She also expresses her love to all 15 members of her family who are a part of her success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt took us about 10 years to secure the tech school, but we didn\u2019t give up,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m one of the most persistent people you\u2019ll ever want to meet. The goal was to raise the standard of living for citizens of the community by having a career and higher income to raise their families.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n While she is getting older and may not be as fast-moving as she used to be, she said that God gave her a brain, and as long as he wants her to use it, she will work to help make a difference in people\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe goal is to keep on changing,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen things go wrong, as they sometimes do, don\u2019t quit. When they tell you \u2018no,\u2019 it doesn\u2019t necessarily mean no. There may be someone in line who might say yes.\u201d GN<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" THERE MIGHT not be a better person in your corner than Christine Hopkins. She is hope encased in human form and is determined to leave each person she encounters better than when she found them. Her kind eyes and smile immediately let you know that you are in caring hands, but her wit and intelligent […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":9023,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9013","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/goodnewsmags.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/DSC04799-1024x683.jpg\")