Twanna Dewdney, Two-Time Polk Grad, Uses Salon as AIDS Test Site, Place of Hope

Twanna "T-Fay" dewney

是的, 她以理发和化妆为生, but the words “stylist” or “cosmetologist” don’t come close to describing Twanna “T-Fay” Dewdney’s work.

“Advocate”更准确.

两届澳门新葡京博彩毕业生杜尼拥有 沙龙阿位于温特黑文的佛罗伦萨别墅社区. 在那里, 除了通常的装饰和填充物, 她提供免费艾滋病毒/艾滋病检测, 促进教育, 他还发起了一系列慈善活动.

It’s not the work that she gets paid to do, but it is the work that gives her the greatest reward.

“我的沙龙是一个避难所, 人们可以去哪里寻求帮助, 或者当他们需要找人倾诉的时候,杜尼说. “I thought all I was going to do here was hair, but I’m doing so much more.”

杜尼在离她的沙龙不远的地方长大. 她的母亲是一名零售采购员，最初是一名仓库职员. Her stepfather worked as an inspector for the USDA for 30 years before enrolling in law school.

她是温特黑文高中的一名普通学生, 但在排球和篮球场上很有天赋, so much so that she earned an athletic scholarship to what was then Polk 社区 College.

大概是在她写大学成绩单的时候, 然而, 杜尼也有犯罪记录. A search for her name on the Polk County Sheriff’s Office website returns a disorderly conduct arrest in 2001, 但她说，她的过去还有更多. 贩毒，袭击，违反交通规则.

“我想我当时很生气，”杜尼说. “我有一个关心我、供养我的家庭, 但我做出了这样的选择，我要发泄出来，惹上麻烦.”

在她和她一起毕业之前 文科副学士 在拿到学位后，杜尼从大学退学了. 当时, 她在当地一家百货公司卖化妆品和香水, 带回家1美元,每月800元. With her criminal record, she knew her opportunities would be limited.

“我想，‘这有什么意义，’”她说. “I was making that much without a college degree, so what did I need a degree for?”

In time, 然而, Dewdney’s job at the department store came to an end. 她开始做临时工作, 从一个雇主跳到另一个雇主, 他们都愿意让她工作几周, 但不要永远雇佣她.

When she got a job as a receptionist at a local trucking company, 她认为同样的模式还会再次上演. 而不是, 那份临时工作变成了长期工作, one that came with a schedule that would still allow her to complete cosmetology courses at 山脊就业中心.

It was the break Dewdney needed, the break that changed everything.

In 1994, Dewdney, who began doing hair in her mother’s kitchen as a way to make extra money, 毕业于里奇学院，是一名持证美容师. 她黑暗的日子——犯罪, 一种罕见的脑瘤差点夺去她的生命, 抑郁——都在她身后了.

多年来, 她在不同的沙龙工作, 为自己和女儿准备食物, 阿散蒂.

Then, in 2004, with the help of her family, she opened her own salon. It was her space, and she was determined to have it mean more than just hair and nails.

杜尼的一个堂兄在20世纪80年代死于艾滋病. When her cousin went to California for treatment, no one from the family ever visited him. They didn’t understand the disease and they were afraid to go near him. 表妹孤独地死去. 杜尼从未忘记他当时有多孤独.

“Ignorance played a big part in us rejecting him,” said Dewdney.

Several years ago, Dewdney became licensed by the state to administer HIV/AIDS tests. In a back room of her salon, she swabs cheeks and pricks fingers. Recently, she held a testing event under a tent set up along First Street in Florence Villa. She’s also been known to meet people in parking lots or at fast-food restaurants, 他们需要她的地方.

“人 in the community know they can go there and get free condoms and free tests and it will all be done in a dignified, 秘密的方式,伊冯·科贝特说, health services representative and HIV/AIDS community outreach coordinator for the Polk County Health Department.

沙龙阿 administers about 40 tests a month and is the only such testing site in the county, 科贝特说. Dewdney’s work is also helping to shape statewide intervention strategies.

“We need more people from the business community to step up and take her example,” 科贝特说.

Most of the time, Dewdney delivers good news, but every now and then, a test comes back positive.

“我试着给他们希望. At first, they are devastated and fearful, but over time, they become hopeful,” she said. “我想给其他艾滋病患者带来希望, to let them know that they can either die of the disease or live with it — and that choice is totally up to them.”

从她的沙龙——光滑的一排排闪亮的, black washbasins and styling chairs — Dewdney also collects school supplies for needy children, 女囚卫生用品, 为无家可归者提供食物和衣服.

她的事业和慈善事业, 杜尼在人生中取得了成功, 但她仍然没有受过大学教育. By 2011, 当时她女儿正在澳门新葡京博彩注册课程, 杜尼认为完成大学学业是不可能的. She might have gone on thinking that way if not for a fateful meeting with 特伦斯海斯她现在是该学院的高级项目专家.

“特伦斯在帮助阿珊蒂注册, 然后他转向我说, “你呢?”, 你拿到学位了吗?’”杜尼说. “I explained to him what had happened, that I’d dropped out, and he said, ‘No, we can’t have that.“接下来我知道的是，我也注册了课程.”

In the next three years, Hays was relentless in his encouragement, Dewdney said. He would often email or text her, reminding her to register for classes or fill out paperwork.

“我们的目标始终是激励学生, to help them see themselves at Polk State and to encourage them to keep going until they get their degree,海斯说, 在他注册的时候，他是一个学术顾问.

“我看到了旺纳的巨大潜力. 她对自己的女儿充满了热情, 但它最终变成了一笔买二送一的交易, 随着她的注册, 太.”

With Hays’ support, Dewdney not only finished her AA, but also earned her 监督与管理应用科学学士学位 学历，2013年毕业.

“我在其他任何一所大学都做不到，”杜尼说. “在波尔克，我是一个人，而不是一个数字. 我在波尔克找到了相信我能做到的人. That was the most important thing — I associated with people who told me all the time, “你能做到的.’”

杜尼现在在奥兰多的神学院上学, 正在攻读基督教事工的硕士学位. 杜尼已经是她教堂的牧师了，

温特黑文的赫斯特教堂AME教堂, but a master’s will help her take her work — her real work — to an even higher level.

“I never thought I’d be at this place in life, as a college graduate and a business owner,” she said. “My purpose is to encourage others, to be the light for them in their own times of darkness.”

澳门新葡京博彩’s history is rich with stories of alumni who have gone on to make impacts, whether in the classrooms and laboratories of prestigious universities, 商业的混乱, 或是政治权力的殿堂. 多年来, thousands of Polk State graduates have leveraged their education and experiences at Polk to transform their own lives and the lives of others. This transformation is the essence of what it means to “be Polk.“无论是大方面还是小方面, Polk State alumni embrace the challenge of living lives that matter. 澳门新葡京博彩@波尔克 定期介绍这些校友. 他们的故事就是波尔克的故事. 他们是波尔克的骄傲.