Mia Harvey doesn’t need to imagine what it’s like to be one of her students. She already knows.

“I tell my students, ‘I am one of you,’” says Harvey, the program director of Education and Employment Training at West End Neighborhood House in Wilmington. “I’ve been homeless. I’ve been on food stamps. I’ve dropped out of high school. Whatever you’ve been through, I’ve probably been through it, too.”

Now a doctoral student at Wilmington University, where she also earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees, Harvey and her team serve marginalized individuals, many of whom have been impacted by trauma. She emphasizes that their past doesn’t define their future.

“Having been in your shoes, I know a lot of the tricks of the trade; I know how to navigate the system,” she tells them. “This is just one stage of your journey. It’s not defining who you are. I’ve been through it, and now here I am on the other end — I’m a homeowner, I own vehicles, and I’m stable.”

She makes it clear to students that her department is a place of safety and dignity, and she holds her team to a high standard when it comes to interactions with students. “One bad experience can set someone back permanently,” she says. “It could stop them from ever seeking help again.”

At 37, Harvey speaks candidly about a childhood shaped by domestic violence and time in foster care. At 17, she became a single mother of two, dropped out of high school, and got her GED through the state of Maryland. 

“I dropped out in 11th grade because I was pregnant with my second child,” she says. “I was in advanced placement classes in school, and I felt high school was a waste of time. I wanted to work and support my kids.”

“I would’ve loved to have someone like me in my life back then,” she says. “That’s why I got into this work. I want to give back. If my students say, ‘What do you know?,’ I can say, ‘I’ve been in your shoes — and it was awful — but I know how to get through.’”

Fueled by determination, she has followed a winding path to professional success and academic achievement. After a false start at Chesapeake College in Wye Mills, Maryland, in 2005, she worked two jobs while raising two children. It would be nine years before she was financially comfortable enough to return to college. In 2014, drawn by online programs and affordability, she enrolled at WilmU. 

“Even though I never took an in-person class,” she says, “when I visited the campus in New Castle, I fell in love with everything about it. And I love online because I’m a super-strong independent learner. So the online module works for me.”

She earned her bachelor’s in Psychology in 2018 and a master’s in Applied Family Science two years later, utilizing the Dual-Credit ADVANTAGE® program that allows students to take graduate courses while pursuing their undergraduate degree. She’s been on the dean’s list and is a member of Psi Chi, the International Honor Society in Psychology. She expects to complete her doctorate next summer.

At home in Wilmington, she’s a divorced mother of four. Her two youngest — ages 15 and 16 — attend Brandywine High School. Her older children, now 20 and 21, are forging their paths.

Despite her packed schedule, Harvey carves out time for herself. She hikes, travels, and plays video games, often with her children. A passionate reader, she owns “probably a thousand books.”

“Horror is my favorite — Stephen King, always,” she says. “I’m impatient, so I like anthology-style horror. I’ve read all of those anthologies in the local library, so now I’m going to other libraries.”

Grant writing is another part of her skill set. She provides consulting services in that area, helping organizations articulate their missions and secure funding.

Her long-term goal is to teach at the college level — ideally at Wilmington University. “I’d love to come full circle and become a professor there,” she says.  

— Bob Yearick