The Community House Names 2023 Volunteer of the Year

The Community House Board of Trustees and Staff are honored to award the Katharine Van Duysen Sylvester Service Award to Ms. Jennifer Cave, Social Worker, Hinsdale Central High School

For the last 20 years, Jennifer Cave has been working to empower and support adolescents as they navigate the various changes and challenges, they face. As a first-generation Filipino American, Ms. Cave understands the importance of having someone to lean on throughout your upbringing. “My immigrant parents could have certainly used a hand themselves as they settled into a new life in the US. This is why I chose to pursue a line of work in social work to be the support that others often do not have,” she said proudly. Ms. Cave holds a bachelor’s in human development and family sciences from Northern Illinois University and a master’s in social work from the University of Illinois at Chicago.  

For over 10 years, Ms. Cave has served as a School Social Worker at Hinsdale Central High School. During this time, she has built a relationship with The Community House and those we serve. As part of this partnership, Ms. Cave has dedicated her time to activities like coordinating the Walk the Walk for Mental Health, introducing Junior Board Members, and referring students to receiving counseling from The Counseling Center. This past year, Ms. Cave was delighted to help provide free counseling services to Central students with the help of the Parent Teacher Organization of Hinsdale Central.