Herschelle L. Reaves has worked in the field of Human Service for over 20 years. She started in 1996 with a social justice organization in Springfield (Arise for Social Justice). Herschelle’s political analysis came from growing up in the 1970’s during the civil rights movement and was cultivated by watching her mother endure racism, sexism and classism when she became the first woman police officer for the Springfield Police Department in 1974.
Herschelle’s love for Human Service runs deep. She has always been an individual who hated bully’s and will stand up to fight for what is right. She is a person who rarely sits on the sidelines and will not take no for an answer. As a recovering addict she understands the social ramifications of dealing with a substance abuse or a mental health issue and has found her calling as a Human Service Worker.
Hershelle uses her personal life’s experience as a commodity to afford her the opportunity and the platform to promote change in her community. Hershelle penned and self-published B.O.S.S (Broken Only Still Standing) Outskirts Press 2017 her memoirs of life in active addiction, and the struggle to find her way out. Her book is filled with unbridled pain and was written as a legacy for her daughter and grandson. Hershelle is currently employed with the University of Massachusetts Medical School as a Mental Health substance abuse on a research grant funded by NIMH.