Impactful Women of the 918: Sharon Guest

Sharon Guest says that her passion for helping children recovering from the trauma of domestic violence “is due to the domestic violence that occurred in my own home as a child.” Before becoming Child Care Director at Domestic Violence Intervention Services (DVIS), Guest owned a family child care home in California and worked for Tulsa Educare. Guest is the mom of two children and has four grandchildren.

Overseeing DVIS child care programs at three sites, Guest provides “families with children a safe and loving environment for parents/guardians to bring their children while they are going through the recovery process.” She says all the DVIS providers have “a passion to provide care for children who have experienced trauma of some type.”

Guest says that one of Tulsa’s strengths is the donor and nonprofit support for organizations like DVIS, and it hurts families when programs are not funded. “I was just talking with other professionals in the education department about the effect of removing the SEL (Social-Emotional Learning) program from schools impacting even the youngest kids,” she says. “They are being kicked out of school because they don’t have the skills to socially/emotionally regulate themselves.”

Guest encourages everyone to do something to help the community, even if it’s a small thing like picking up trash or just listening and talking to someone. “The simple things can make a world of difference in someone’s life.”