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Cathi Mitchell

mitchell_cathi.jpg“If the CCO had not been at Edinboro, I am confident that I would have quit school my freshman year,” says Cathi Mitchell. “I would have never made it through college without the support of CCO staff and my Celebration friends. They helped me to find value in being myself, loved me, and helped me to realize that I was worth loving and could truly love in return.”

Cathi connected to the CCO’s ministry almost the moment she arrived on Edinboro University’s campus in 1983. “I unloaded my car, said goodbye to my mom and immediately walked over to the Newman Center to meet the church and ministry leaders. There I met [CCO staff members] Dave and Ginger Weeber. I met some of my dearest friends through my involvement with the CCO at Edinboro, and I am still in close contact with all of the staff members.

During her time at Edinboro, Cathi led prayer groups and Bible studies and was a member of the student leadership team. She also attended the Jubilee conference all four of her college years, and she credits the conference with helping her to gain clarity about what she wanted to do with her life. “I remember going to a social work seminar my sophomore year, because I knew that I wanted to change my major, but was not sure what I wanted to do.”

Today, Cathi lives in Erie, Pennsylvania, where she is raising two daughters and working as a family therapist.

Cathi’s nickname is “GG” (for “God Girl”), “because I talk about God so much,” and she rarely misses an opportunity to share her faith with friends and co-workers. “If it were not for my faith in God, I am certain that I would be dead,” she says. “He lets me know that I am never alone no matter what I am going through and that everything that He allows me to go through is for a reason. As I sit and hear the stories of what has happened to some of my clients, I thank God for what he allowed me to go through as I can truly sympathize with them and know how difficult it may be to get from where they are to where they want to be, but I also know that with God all things are possible! I just want to be where God is and where He wants me to be, so I pray daily that he will guide me to where that is.”

Cathi is active in both her church and her community, and she credits the CCO staff at Edinboro for providing good models for her.

“I share my faith at work regularly if one of my clients opens the door and begins to talk about God,” Cathi says. “I purchase books and teaching aides written by Christian psychologists and often share them with the parents of my clients. I attend a church where the congregation is mostly made up of the homeless, drug addicts, prostitutes, and people with mental illnesses—people the church has given up on. I make myself available to them to remind them that God loves them and that He will use others to help meet their needs. I rejoice with them when they make life changes and pray for them regularly. I share my faith at work every day by taking a stand against things that I know are wrong, even if I am the only one standing. And I visibly pray for my clients and staff members at my desk.

“Our CCO staff people were great examples of Christians living their faith out in every area of their lives. I wanted to emulate them, because I knew what a difference they made in my life, and I want to make a difference in the life of every person that God brings into my life.”