From the frontlines of healthcare work to the front pages of investigative journalism, UNC Asheville alumni are responding to the COVID-19 pandemic with their own expertise and experience. We’ll be bringing you their stories, along with the stories of our continued UNC Asheville community, knowing that we are Bulldogs, wherever we are.
Many effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are easy to see: crowded emergency rooms, empty city streets, vacated school buildings—but some effects are not as visible. UNC Asheville alumna Shelby Burleson ‘19 works as a court advocate for New Hope of McDowell County, a domestic/sexual violence victim shelter and advocacy organization, where she works for those whose plights often go unseen, and can become more serious during times of quarantine.
As a court advocate, Burleson accompanies victims of domestic violence and sexual assault to court hearings and assists with filing domestic violence protective orders. Though courts are not operating as usual under COVID-19 restrictions, Burleson’s work falls under emergency relief court orders, so her work with New Hope continues.
It’s important, but very challenging work, according to Burleson, who was a political science major with double minors in legal studies and environmental studies at UNC Asheville. “I see how domestic/sexual violence is preventable, but that vulnerable populations are not given access to the education, resources, and care that they need in order to prevent these situations. I struggle to accept the fact that my position is a reactionary one, that my job title means I can only help them after harm has already occurred, but that pushes our organization to work within the community to educate citizens about risk factors, mitigation, etc.”
And the work is made more difficult by the quarantines and stay-home measures required in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has caused a surge of domestic abuse reports worldwide.
“When I go to work, I fear the spread of the virus, and I know that during times of quarantine domestic violence increases, which means my job will continue to become more hectic,” Burleson said, “but at this time, I lean on my faith, my family, and a universal understanding that although we are all in unfamiliar territory, there is nothing that the human race has faced that we did not endure when we came together.”
Burleson finds hope in the small, day-to-day victories of her job, as well. “The greatest reward in my position is when someone that I have helped thanks me for what I’m doing and reassures me that I’m making a difference in their lives and in the community. My everyday job is fighting for those who need someone in their corner, and that brings a lot of darkness with it, so when some light and hope finally comes through it’s a little ‘win’ for everyone involved.”
There were many courses and professors at UNC Asheville that helped prepare her for her career, Burleson said. “As someone who took courses in many different disciplines, I was able to build relationships with some amazing faculty members,” Burleson said. “I would say that each course I took left some impression, but there were some that reached beyond the academics and changed my worldview and opened my eyes to more than just the books we were reading. UNC Asheville has a wonderful faculty that provided me this opportunity in many of the courses I was able to take, particularly in those outside of my chosen discipline.”
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