MCC/Nazareth College Alumna to Speak at “Celebration of Healing and Hope”
February 28, 2022
MCC alumna Dellenna Harper ’09
Monroe Community College alumna Dellenna Harper ’09 will share her honest and inspirational story of her experiences living with racism and sexism at “A Celebration of Healing and Hope” at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 24, at Nazareth College during Women’s History Month and Social Work Month.
Harper will talk about living with oppression, guilt and drug addiction — and the incredible resilience of the human spirit. She has written a mesmerizing account of her descent into addiction and prostitution, and her challenging climb out to become a dedicated social worker. She is the author of the book God’s Teardrop: My journey of healing from addiction and prostitution, with Jane Sutter Brandt of Sutter Communications.
Harper, also a Nazareth alumna, will speak to a live audience from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at Beston Hall in Nazareth College’s Glazer Music Performance Center. The event is free, open to the public and will be live-streamed. A Zoom link will be emailed to registrants who want to attend virtually. Registration is requested at go.naz.edu/Harper.
A question-and-answer session and a book-signing event will follow her keynote.
Excellus Blue Cross Blue Shield is Title Sponsor of the event, with MCC and Nazareth College as co-sponsors in partnership with the YWCA of Rochester and Monroe County’s annual STAND Against Racism 2022.
About the author:
Dellenna Harper, a Minnesota native and Black woman, was addicted to crack cocaine for about 10 years. After spending time in prison and traveling around the country, she ended up in Rochester, often homeless and ultimately being arrested for prostitution. She started the road to healing after being released from the Monroe County Jail and entering The Jennifer House, a prison ministry program sponsored by Spiritus Christi Church in Rochester.
From there, she lived at the YWCA in Rochester, eventually earning an associate degree in addictions counseling from MCC, a bachelor’s degree in social work from Nazareth College, and a master’s degree in social work from the Greater Rochester Collaborative of The College at Brockport and Nazareth.
Harper stayed connected to The Jennifer House, working there throughout her college studies and eventually becoming its director. In recent years, she returned to her native Minnesota to care for her elderly parents, and now is Director of Hope Harbor and Harvest Hill Programs at The Salvation Army in Minneapolis.
God’s Teardrop is available in paperback and on Kindle through Amazon, and in paperback and on Nook through Barnes and Noble and at Cerebral Kingdom bookstore in downtown Rochester.
More information on God’s Teardrop can be found on Sutter Communications website.