Katie Rhodenbaugh recognized by Women Helping Women

2015 Apr 30

Miami University student Katie Rhodenbaugh of Oxford, Ohio has received the Butler County Founder's Volunteer Award from Women Helping Women.

The organization honors volunteers who embody the agency's mission and have made a significant impact.

Women Helping Women provides support services and crisis intervention for all survivors, women and men, of sexual assault and domestic violence.

Rhodenbaugh is a graduate student at Miami, who is studying social work. She also volunteers at the Women Helping Women office in Oxford, where she works as a hospital advocate. “Being an intern at Women Helping Women has allowed me to be a support system in survivors’ lives,” Rhodenbaugh said. “I get to see their value as a person, not based on their circumstances or things that have happened to them.” As a volunteer, she responds to calls and provides hospital accompaniment to rape survivors. She also works as a one-on-one intervention leader, where she works with survivors to create coping strategies. “I have had the privilege to work with many different types of people,” Rhodenbaugh said. “I have learned a lot about the importance of human dignity, as well as the importance of each person’s story in life and how it shapes them.” After she graduates, she’s hoping to work in the social work field with survivors of sexual exploitation.