Eunice Williams, Therapy Director
For more than 20 years, Eunice Williams has dedicated her therapeutic expertise to Epworth Village, Inc. Here is a portion of the story behind the caring heart that has served children for two decades.
“I grew up about five miles outside of Henderson, Nebraska on the farm and went to country school. It was a one-room school in District 73 West. There were probably about 13 to 16 students,” she said.
After graduating from high school, Williams got her B.A. degree in Sacred Music from Grace University in Omaha, Ne. and a B.A. in Social Work from the University of Nebraska Lincoln. During this time, she met her husband. When children began to arrive, Williams said she valued her years as a stay-at-home mother more than anything.
Later, Williams said the shock of divorce was something she learned to overcome. Despite the pain, Williams moved on, continuing to care for her children and, in 1985, she earned a M.Ed. degree in Clinical Counseling from the Citidel Evening College in Charleston, South Carolina. After graduation, she made a move back home to York County with her children.
“My friends came to my house in South Carolina to say good-bye. I rented a large U-Haul and loaded everything. I finished my exam that last week, moved, spent my last day in divorce court and closed on the house. Those were four major things, and they went like clockwork. I knew it was a total miracle,” she said.
When she returned to Nebraska she said that it, “Felt like home. We were safe and happy. My mom and dad lived three miles away. When I got back to Nebraska, Mom had a garden with flowers ready for me. There were curtains in the window and the house was filled with sunlight. I spent a lot of time with my parents that summer. . . . Then I got a call from Epworth Village. They wanted a family therapy program set up and needed a therapist.”
“I started at Epworth Village in November of 1985, and it was 20 years last November,” she said.
“It was a long road getting here. When I think of redemption, I think of it first of all when we accept God’s sacrifice of his Son as redemption for our state of sin. I see that as forever. But, that is not the end of redemption, each day he redeems situations in our lives. Every pain we have ever felt, he redeems.” Williams said throughout life she has realized, “Everything I have ever done, if I surrender it to Christ, he uses it. . . . There are new challenges throughout life.”
Each day Williams's strong faith and core family values intertwine with the work she does at Epworth Village, Inc. “What I do here is really important to me and I will do it as long as I am carrying my own. . . . None of us knows what the next years have in store. Nothing is a sure thing forever.” Despite the fact that change is inevitable for all of us, Williams said her feelings about Epworth Village, Inc. have not changed, “I really believe in this place. It is wonderful.”