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Tempe is home to a multitude of residents that focus not only on the success of themselves, but the success and care of the community of Tempe. The residents and the people who work with her say that one of Tempe’s most valuable assets is Kristen Scharlau.

Kristen Scharlau has been the social service supervisor at Care 7 for the past 18 years and, as of the past few months, has been appointed to the Family Justice Commission, a new program for the city of Tempe.

The Family Justice Commission is a group of different people in the city, including residents and professionals such as lawyers, officers and officials. The program has been put in place to help work on issues in the community surrounding sex trafficking, domestic violence and sexual assault.

Scharlau’s primary success in her eyes comes from her involvement with Care 7, a program that helps assist victims of crisis and crime situations.

“My biggest accomplishment is helping people and being able to because of Care 7," Scharlau said. "I am able to help people everywhere in the community because Care 7 has really expanded services to include every segment of the population, from children to the elderly with all of their needs.”

Scharlau said she has helped the company focus more on the prevention of these problems and the people involved, and that’s only happened through the programs she has made at Care 7.

“It’s really important to break the cycle, and I made sure to put that into all the employees I overlook. It’s important for us to find justice for the entire family, not just the victim,” Scharlau said.

She said she spends a majority of her time at work taking people under her wing and managing the care of the victims involved in a timely manner.

“It is a developing program, but I always want to try to stay ahead of the game and identify trends by seeing the needs in the community and mapping them out for what is happening more often to predict it to happen repetitively in the near future. We like to do the same things because they work, but you always have to do new things,” Scharlau said.

The last thing that she plans to accomplish for the company before she retires in seven years is the construction of a building for the community. The location of the Care 7 building is confidential for safety reasons, but Scharlau said she believes in a “one-stop shop” that would allow people to come to them instead of waiting for an employee to come to the victim.

“I want home counseling services for people who can’t make it to the office or are too scared to call. It would be a place where people can come to any time and we could help with counseling, give them materials needed to live or simply offering someone to talk to,” Scharlau said.

Scharlau’s current project is working with the Association of Threat Assessment Professionals, a company trying to prevent mass casualty events, school shootings and identifying “complainers” on social media to reach out to.

“I’m happy to be in this program because it is one of the few in the nation that helps Identify people in the community that pose threats and help them,” Scharlau said.

Care 7 Case Manager Lauren Figg has known Scharlau for more than a year now and said she sees Scharlau’s “hardworking spirit” day in and day out.

“She is always stuck in her office or on the field helping other victims until way late at night. While she is a supervisor, I’ve never seen anyone work harder in her life and still remain sane and very personal,” Figg said.

Figg said she strongly believes in the programs that Scharlau sponsors and the same companies that Scharlau stands behind.

“Scharlau has an innovative way of thinking and helping people. She is always helping people meet their needs. I know that she has raised a successful family and now that there are no babies to take care of and be passionate about, Care 7 and the victims in it are her babies,” Figg said.

“There is truly nobody else like her. She has a clear vision of what she wants and has been like that since the beginning,” Figg said. “She has been passionate about helping people her whole life because she’s self-motivated and will do anything to get that end game.”

Another Care 7 employee that Scharlau works with is victim advocate Maria Gonzalez. Gonzalez has worked with Scharlau for a little under a year, starting as an intern and growing into a victim advocate.

“Kris is easy to approach because of her positive attitude, which most people don’t have that quality. She is extremely driven and everyone in the office and outside of the office talks highly of her. The company is built up because of what she does for it,” Gonzalez said.

Social work freshman Luisa Rodriguez said she admires programs and the people involved in these programs that work to help the community and the people in it. Rodriguez said she is currently studying to be a social worker herself and looks up to a program like Care 7 and Scharlau who runs it.

“Everyone should feel the need to help others and people like Kris show how driven you can be,” Rodriguez said. “I want to be like her one day because I always put people in front of me. If everyone around you is doing well, then you’ll be doing well. I admire her tactics and work heavily.”

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Reach the reporter at ekingso1@asu.edu or follow @emilykingsley95 on Twitter.

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