Our Village | The Community Supporting POETIC

Nina Kang

Operations Manager

Nina Kang, a Korean immigrant came to the United States when she was 10 years old. Her parents instilled in her the value of hard work which she applies everyday at POETIC. She attended Angelo State University and graduated with a B.S. in Psychology. Nina has extensive experience working with vulnerable youth in Dallas, having worked at the Dallas County Juvenile Department, Letot Shelter, for 20 years, first as an Intake Probation Officer and then as a Residential Administrator. POETIC is proud to have Nina join the team as our Program and Operations Coordinator.

Contact

Chelsea Robertson

Teacher

Chelsea is an educator of twenty years, teaching both locally and internationally. She is a proud graduate of Texas A&M University. She has spent a significant amount of time in Early Childhood Education and Special Education Services. She served on the team at Plano Family Literacy as part of the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy, serving both children and adults. She spent several years as an educator at Santiago Christian School in the Dominican Republic. It was there on the North Coast of the DR where she fully grasped the complexities and social variables that contribute and fuel the sex trafficking industry. She has a heart to create a safe and encouraging space for her students to explore and pursuit their highest aspirations. Most recently, Chelsea has been teaching and residing in Richardson, Texas with her husband and four rambunctious children.

Contact

Amber Wersonske. LPC

Mental Health Clinician

Amber is a Licensed Professional Counselor on the POETIC team. She received her
bachelor’s degree in psychology from Baylor University and went on to earn her master’s
degree in counseling from the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Amber has extensive
experience working within the juvenile justice system. After graduation, she had the
privilege of starting her career as a detention counselor at Bill Logue Juvenile Detention
Center. In addition to working for McLennan County, she served as the Partnership Sub-
Committee Chair for the Heart of Texas Human Trafficking Coalition and the Member-at-
Large for the Heart of Texas Counseling Association.

Most recently, Amber worked as the
psychotherapist for a non-profit neuro rehabilitation facility. Amber has experience
working with adolescent and adult populations that have experienced trauma such as
abuse, complex trauma, sexual exploitation, and traumatic brain injury.

Contact

Sharita Stewart

Case Manager

Sharita Stewart serves as the Juvenile Justice Liaison/Case Manager. In this role, she will
accompany POETIC girls to court appointments and ensure a smooth transition from the
Juvenile Justice system and into POETIC aftercare. With the goal of ensuring every girl
completes probation successfully while reaching their educational, therapeutic, and
occupational goals at POETIC, Sharita is dedicated to providing support to POETIC girls and her guardian.

Prior to POETIC, she has worked at the Dallas County Juvenile Department at both Henry Wade Detention and Letot Girls Residential Center as a Juvenile Supervision Officer. She is thrilled to be able to continue the support of Dallas’s most vulnerable girls as they transition back into the community.
Sharita attended University of Texas at Arlington receiving a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration.
She enjoys spending quality time with her family and friends. She married her high-school
sweetheart and together they share one daughter and three sons. Sharita believes in order to
serve and reach our youth today we must be able to wear many hats without judgment.

Contact

Karen Tejedor, LMFT

Bilingual Therapist

Karen is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist at POETIC. She received her undergraduate education in Psychology and Social Behavior from the University of California, Irvine and her graduate education in Marital and Family Therapy from the University of San Diego. Karen began her career in ABA therapy for children with Autism and other developmental disorders as well as their families. She moved on to focus on family therapy after spending time working in-home with these families. Her areas of interest have largely focused on systemic work to provide support for individuals with consideration of the various systems he/she interacts with.

Karen has worked as a therapist in the medical system as part of the University of California, San Diego’s Collaborative Care Program. And prior to working with POETIC she worked in community mental health providing therapy for at-risk youth particularly adolescents who have experienced trauma. She is certified in Trauma Focused- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Karen is bilingual and provided therapy in both English and Spanish.

Contact

Jennifer Tinker

Co-Founder

Jennifer spent the first decade of her career working in corporate business development and client relations with Fortune 500 companies. Prior to co-founding POETIC, she had the privilege of being the first employee at Shoptology, a creative start-up, and worked for three years to help build the successful agency working with a client roster including Walmart, PepsiCo and Dean Foods. She entered the anti-trafficking space full-time in 2016. Along with her experience in business management and storytelling, Jennifer is an award-winning grant writer and led a record-breaking Dallas luncheon event raising over $1MM+ in net proceeds. Jennifer holds a B.A. in English Literature and Interdisciplinary Writing from Colgate University.

Contact

HaeSung Han Psy.D

Co-Founder and CEO

Dr. HaeSung Han is a Licensed Clinical and Forensic Psychologist and a Board Certified, Nationally Registered Art Therapist. She received her master’s and doctoral degree in clinical psychology from George Washington University and also received a master’s degree in art therapy from New York University. She completed her post-doctoral fellowship in forensic psychology at Audrey Hepburn Children’s House, Hackensack University Medical Center in the field of child maltreatment. She completed two post-graduate certificate programs: one in international trauma studies from Columbia University and the other in civil and criminal forensic psychology from Montclair State University.

Dr. Han has extensive experience working with individuals exposed to complex trauma including domestic violence, child maltreatment, and commercial sexual exploitation/sex trafficking. She has worked in forensic, hospital, outpatient and school-settings in NY, NJ, VA, DC, MA, and TX. She is certified in Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT). She has also received training in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and DBT-PE (Prolonged Exposure for the treatment of PTSD) and offers both comprehensive DBT and DBT-PE to youth and adult clients.

Dr. Han trains nationally on various topics related to the assessment, intervention and prevention of commercial sexual exploitation (CSEC) and domestic minor sex trafficking (DMST). She also provides consultation to anti-trafficking agencies on developing and implementing trauma-informed systems of care, programming and culture.

In addition to her work at POETIC, Dr. Han sees clients in private practice in Plano, Texas. Prior to co-founding POETIC, Dr. Han was the clinical director at Dallas County Juvenile Department, Letot Girls Residential Center.

In 2019, Dr. Han was awarded Texas Women’s Foundation’s Young Leader Award and was accepted into the 2020 class of the Presidential Leadership Scholars Program.

For a list of therapists trained in DBT-PE: Click Here
For a list of TF-CBT certified therapists: Click Here

Contact

If you are a match with one of the skills below and want to learn more about joining our volunteer team, we would love to hear from you!

● Food Assistant: Sign up to pick-up critical food donations and deliver to Thanksgiving Tower (a drop location blocks from POETIC). Also could assist with grocery shopping, cleaning and stocking kitchen, preparing any of the three daily meals. Daytime, evening, and weekend opportunities.

● Office Assistant: Dedicate set hours each week to assisting with office coordination to include administrative support. Daytime opportunity. Assumes commitment of 4-8 hours per week.

● Teacher’s Assistant: Assist our teacher in helping students complete their specific coursework. Ability to tutor in various subjects at the junior high and high school level. Interest in teaching specific skills class (ex. nutrition,
cosmetology, etc.). Daytime opportunity.

● Graphic Design/Social Media/PR: Use your creative skills to support POETIC marketing materials and social media content. This volunteer opportunity is done offsite. Flexible hours. Engagement with staff only.

● Salesforce Guru: Help staff fully utilize and troubleshoot our CRM software, Salesforce, to be most effective for POETIC.

● Photographer: Donate your photography skills to help capture images for POETIC’s photo library. Flexible hours. Daytime and evening opportunities.

● Fitness Professional: Seeking certified fitness professionals to lead classes for POETIC girls. Classes will happen on-site at POETIC. Background check required.

● CPA: Donate your time to assist with POETIC’s accounting needs. The request is to take a working role owning execution of monthly accounting tasks. Flexible hours. Work can be completed offsite.

● Cleaning Crew: Sign up to help maintain a warm and welcoming environment for POETIC girls by donating time on Friday to clean and aid in ongoing organization at POETIC. Engagement with staff only.

●Cleaning Crew: Sign up to help maintain a warm and welcoming environment for POETIC girls by donating time on Friday to clean and aid in ongoing organization at POETIC. Engagement with staff only.

● Lead a Donation Drive: Rally your friends, family and network to gather much needed supplies for POETIC girls in the areas of personal care items, art supplies, school supplies, groceries, beverages, and snack food. Engagement with staff only.

● Build Welcome Bags: Support POETIC girls by creating welcome bags with essential items like toiletries and clothing for every girl we serve. POETIC staff will provide a list of recommended items. Engage a group of friends and build these fun bags for POETIC girls to enjoy.

● Retail Relationship Builder: Become an ambassador for POETIC girls and engage local retailers to donate gift cards, in-kind items and more to provide supplies critical to program delivery. Templated materials provided along with staff support.

● IT: Help POETIC staff with troubleshooting IT issues and concerns. Research potential technology donations and install new computers, programs, printers, etc. Background check required. Daytime and evening opportunities.

Volunteer With POETIC