MDRS Rehabilitation Counselor Presents Program To Rotary

Essie Austin, a certified rehabilitation counselor employed with the Mississippi Department of Rehabilitation Services, was the Eupora Rotary Club’s guest speaker on Aug. 13. She has been employed with MDRS for 19 years. Austin started with the agency as counselor assistant, was promoted to counselor then to deputy district manager. She now works in the position of training specialist III. “I take great pride in serving individuals with disabilities in gaining and maintaining competitive integrated employment,” Austin stated. “We want people to be employed and independent. … We help you get back into the workforce.” She said the state agency assists people with disabilities that impede them from working, helping them find and maintain jobs. “It is very fulfilling work,” said Austin. “People say we’re the best-kept secret in Mississippi.” The Eupora office is located at 47 Early Grove Ave. and is part of District IV, which comprises eight counties. More information is available at www.mdrs.ms.gov. Austin was born and raised in Eupora, and resides here. She graduated from Eupora High School with the class of 1990. Austin received her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Mississippi State University and her master’s in rehabilitation counseling from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. She is married to Spencer Austin, the school counselor at Eupora High School, who graduated with a specialist degree in education from MSU. Their daughter, Grace Austin, graduated from EHS in 2019 and MSU in 2023 with her bachelor’s degree in educational psychology. She is now in the educational psychology master’s/doctoral program at MSU.

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