JACOB H. CARRUTHERS FOR INNER CITY STUDIES
Valerie Howard
Valerie A. Howard is a faithful member of the historic West Point Missionary Baptist Church and serves under the pastorate of Dr. L. Bernard Jakes.
Valerie holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Ashford University, and graduated with a 3.93 GPA. She is currently enrolled in the Marriage and Family Therapy program at Capella University. She will eventually pursue a PhD in Psychology, and plans to open a private counseling practice and teach at the university level.
Valerie believes she is being used by God to affect change in the lives of women. Through her writing, she tries to address womens issues and to provide godly solutions and principles to promote well-being.
Ministry highlights:
Conceptualized West Points annual Women in White brunch. Organized and hosted church retreats for women, married couples, and young adults. She also envisioned and implemented the 2007 Quad Retreat, a church-wide retreat with multiple sessions for Men, Women, Singles and Married in one setting. Started the church newsletter, The West Point Voice, in 1998, which has grown into a magazine, The Point. She serves as the Managing Editor and a featured writer. Revamped and reintroduced the womens ministry in 2002. Mentors teenaged girls.
Valerie is an author in the Christian Fiction genre. Her debut novel, Sassy, was released in January 2008. Valeries short story, The Voice, was published in the e-zine, Johnny America (www.JohnnyAmerica.net) in 2006. She is currently working on her second novel, After Bobby, about a familys attempt to return to normalcy after the death of the title character.
Valerie is a Police dispatcher for Chicagos Office of Emergency Management and Communications (9-1-1), and is currently detailed to the Training Department as an Instructor. She trains all incoming Police Call Takers and Dispatchers in a $250 million state-of-the-art facility built in 1995. She is certified as a Communications Training Officer by APCO International. Valerie is also a member of the Chicago Police Departments elite Crisis Intervention Team. She has received many awards, recognitions, and distinctions in her 11 year career.
Valerie lives in Chicago with her husband, Reverend Brian K. Howard. They have five children; Brandon, 20; Briyona, 13; Braelyn, 13; Brea, 5; and Brooke, 3.
Visit our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter!
Check our EVENTS page for upcoming shows!
©2014 The Great Black Music Project. All rights reserved.
