At only 17, Jackie knew what her life’s purpose was. Over the next five decades, she’d work tooth and nail both domestically and abroad to fight for justice, human rights, and a glimmer of hope for each soul in need.

As a teen about to graduate from high school, Jackie visited the Kilbarchan orphanage with her friend. She met Jewish twins whose parents had perished in a car accident six months before, and her life’s work began to unfold before her.

Journey through every insightful facet of Jackie’s unique social activist journey, from taking the twins for ice cream and bowling to the early days of working at a substance abuse center in Harlem, to a full caseload of Vietnam veterans, to a teen on a raucous street with a needle in his arms, perishing in Jackie’s embrace.

Throughout Jackie’s career, she had one goal: giving a voice to those who had none. She sought justice and advocated on behalf of those who needed help. And, when her colleagues decided to retire after their agency closed, Jackie bravely ventured to take the road less traveled. She embarked on a second chapter of her career: a pro bono freelance human rights advocate and asylum coordinator in the Middle East.

Throughout her memoir Finding Hope … From Urban Streets to the Desert, Jackie shares how she learned to provide light in the darkness, what wars truly mean to the communities torn apart by them, and how we as humans can be emotionally driven to ‘help’.