VGCC graduate’s career brings her back to speak to students


Renale Williams Giles of Safe Space, Inc. is seen here at VGCC’s Franklin County Campus with her materials promoting Sexual Assault Awareness Month. (VGCC photo)

A Vance-Granville Community College graduate recently returned to the college’s Franklin County Campus to provide current students with information on domestic violence and related issues.

Renale Williams Giles, who graduated from VGCC with an associate degree in Human Services Technology in 2005, now works for Safe Space, Inc. as an advocate for children and victims of sexual assault and domestic violence. She said that career came about because of her college education. “VGCC opened the door for me, because while I was a student, I did my internship at Safe Space,” Giles recalled. She has worked full-time for the non-profit organization, which is based in the Franklin County courthouse in Louisburg, since 2005. The main objective of Safe Space is to break the cycle of abuse in families and the organization serves both women and men, Giles said.

She visited the campus in Louisburg during April, which is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, to emphasize that Safe Space is a resource for sexual assault victims. “We want to educate the community about ways to get help through our agency and about how to recognize the signs that you are in an abusive relationship,” Giles said.

Giles, a Franklinton native who now lives in Raleigh, took most of her classes at VGCC’s South Campus, where the Human Services program is based, but also completed coursework at the Franklin Campus and the Main Campus in Vance County. She enrolled at the college with clear goals about the type of field she wanted to enter. “I love helping people, so I came to VGCC knowing what I wanted to do. I was able to get everything I needed and wanted right there at Vance-Granville.” She described her classes and her instructors, particularly program head Tracy Wallace, as “awesome.” Giles said her education “was a great experience that prepared me well for my career, because many of the classes I took, like Group Process, are directly relevant to the work I do every day now.”

For more information on Safe Space, visit www.ncsafespace.org.