Rev. Debra Jarvis was in New York City visiting friends with her husband, UW physician Dr. Wes Van Voorhis, when the World Trade Center towers collapsed. Together they volunteered to draw blood at a blood bank. Later, Rev. Jarvis went to the Armory to serve as a counselor for families and friends filing missing persons reports and to provide support to police officers and firefighters.
Debra is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, and has spent 16 years as a hospital/hospice chaplain. She now works as a pastoral care consultant for Multifaith Works of Seattle, and for the Harmony Hill Cancer Retreat Program.
She is the author of The Journey Through AIDS: A Guide For Loved Ones and Caregivers (Lion, 1992), HIV Positive, Living With AIDS (Lion, 1990), and Take It Again From The Top (Lion, 1986). She wrote and directed the play "Don't Think About Monkeys" which toured Washington state with support from the White Horse Foundation.
Debra received her Masters of Divinity from Northwest Theological Union, Seattle, 1989; a master’s degree in Christian Arts from New College, Berkeley, 1984; and a bachelor’s degree in Communications from University of California - Berkeley in 1977.
She completed a one-year program in Clinical Pastoral Education and received her certification in hospital ministry from the Medical Center at the University of California, San Francisco.
Debra is grateful to have been able to serve in New York City during the terrorist attacks.
