Caring for the Homeless:
A Training Workshop for Trauma Counseling

October 19th and 20th, 2012
Held at Denver Seminary, Littleton, CO

Speakers include:
- Samuel Girguis, Psy.D, Azusa Pacific University, Azusa, CA
- Susan Reyna-Guerrero, LCSW, Beacon Therapeutic Diagnostic and Treatment Center, Chicago, IL
- Brad Meuli, Denver Rescue Mission, Denver, CO

Host: Jason Schmauch, MA candidate, Denver Seminary

Workshop Speakers:

Samuel Girguis, Psy.D, Azusa Pacific University

Samuel Girguis, Psy.D., is the clinical director of the Community Counseling Center at APU. Prior to working at APU, Girguis served as a supervising psychologist at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles in their outpatient trauma treatment program. His clinical work has focused on the treatment of traumatized children and adolescents, including children in foster care and children experiencing homelessness. He is certified in Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and his research interests include trauma, protective factors that mitigate trauma reactions, foster care, and family homelessness.

susan

Susan Reyna-Guerrero, LCSW, President/CEO, Beacon Therapeutic Diagnostic and Treatment Center

About Beacon (from Beacon's Website)

Mission:
From addressing the needs of homeless children via our Shelter Outreach Services Program to our Intensive Outpatient Programs, Beacon is relentless in assuring fulfillment of its mission: Empowering children and families by helping them find their way to a better future by providing accredited educational, mental health, and social services. Beacon seeks to accomplish this mission through the provision of innovative services to the most fragile children and their families in the metropolitan Chicago area.

History:
In 1968 a group of concerned parents on Chicago’s southwest side gathered for the benefit of their children, children who they felt needed a better learning environment to meet their educational needs. The founding parents began “Beacon School” as a private special education facility serving children ages three to twenty-one years. Over the past four decades, Beacon grew from a single school to a multi-site service center for high-risk, multiple problem children, adolescents, teens, and their families living in the metropolitan Chicago area. Today Beacon is licensed and accredited by the Joint Commission, Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS), North Central Association, and Illinois State Board of Education.

Brad Meuli, President/CEO, Denver Rescue Mission

Brad Meuli was named President/CEO of the Denver Rescue Mission in January 2001. Brad joined the Mission over twelve years ago as Senior Vice-President after a 17-year career in banking. Previous to his staff position at the Mission Brad served as Chairman of the Board of Directors.

Currently, as President and CEO, Brad oversees the operations of the Denver Rescue Mission, the oldest full service Christian charity in the Rocky Mountain region. The Mission has a yearly budget of over $23 million, with approximately 162 employees. Founded in 1892, the Denver Rescue Mission is a Colorado non-profit organization that provides food, clothing, shelter, medical care, education, rehabilitation, and transitional housing to the poor and homeless.

Brad is a Pastor of Ministry in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, and graduated with a MA in Leadership from Denver Seminary in May of 2006. As a leader, Brad is committed to what he believes God has called the Denver Rescue Mission to do: Change Lives in the Name of Christ. “Our biggest challenge is to help the increasing number of people who come to us for help, who want to seek a life of self-sufficiency, free from the drugs, alcohol, poverty, and lack of education that hold them back."

Brad graduated from Northern Arizona University with a BS in Business and is a graduate of the Southwestern Graduate School of Banking at Southern Methodist University. He is a former Major in the U.S. Marine Corps.

As an active member of the community, Brad served on the Board of Trustees of Bonfils Blood Center, having previously served as President, and is an alumnus of Leadership Denver. He currently serves as Chairman of the Board of City Mission World Association, an international rescue mission organization, as well as Vice Chairman of the Board of the Association of Gospel Rescue Missions. He is adjunct faculty at the Denver Seminary, and has served as Chaplain to the Colorado House of Representatives for the last eight years.

Colorado Christian University honored Brad with an Honorary Doctorate for his work with the homeless. Brad is married, has five children and three grandchildren.

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