In October of 2023, Roxboro Community School (RCS) alumna Savannah Gilliland assumed her role as the first social worker in the town of Hillsborough, NC. Gilliland expressed that RCS played a critical role in her life leading up to now.
Gilliland, Class of 2015, was very involved at RCS, participating in student council, theater, and art club. “That close-knit community between the teachers and students provided me a lot of support and continues to do so,” Gilliland said. “Being a smaller environment, it allowed me to find my voice and break me out of my comfort zone.” She added, ”RCS teachers truly care about their students and that care for me went beyond graduation, having teachers who meant a lot to me continue to cheer me on helped motivate me.”
After Gilliland’s academic career at RCS, she went on to receive her bachelor's degree in social work from Appalachian State University in 2019 and her master’s degree in social work from North Carolina Central University in 2020. Before transitioning into her current position in Hillsborough, she served as a child protective services investigator in Alamance County and then as a foster care social worker in Granville County.
Gilliand’s current position as a diversion social worker within the Hillsborough Police Department is a grant-funded role through the Orange County Criminal Justice Resource Department. She works alongside social workers in other law enforcement agencies in Orange County to form the Community Care and Diversion Response Team. With her team, she is able to help severely mentally ill individuals who are involved in the criminal justice system avoid further involvement in the system. As a diversion social worker, she also aids her clients by connecting them to the necessary mental health services. “I am often out in the community meeting my clients where they are in an effort to encourage their engagement in services. I assist clients in getting to their appointments and court dates as needed,” Gilliland listed.
She also shared that sometimes it’s the small things that mean the most with her work. “The most gratifying part of my job is celebrating the small successes with my clients and watching those small successes motivate my clients to begin to make the larger changes we are working towards.”