Denise Hartsfield, an attorney who handles child support cases in Forsyth County, challenged members of the Elon community to be active agents for change during an address Thursday, Jan. 17. Details...
Hartsfield delivered Elon’s annual Martin Luther King, Jr. commemorative address in Whitley Auditorium. She said too many people are afraid to take advantage of the opportunities made available by King’s work.
“King was a door opener,” she said. “He opened doors on busses, department stores, voting booths. But too many people are afraid to walk through those doors. We must have the courage to walk through the doors which have been opened.”
During her lively and humorous 30-minute address, Hartsfield told the audience to be confident in themselves, to be their own person, remember the sacrifices that others have made to help them, and to take others through the doors of opportunity. “We have an obligation to go out in the community and make a difference.”
Hartsfield is an assistant county attorney with the Forsyth County Department of Social Services in Winston-Salem, N.C., prosecuting child support cases and establishing and monitoring court-ordered child support payment arrangements. In 1998, Hartsfield received the North Carolina Child Support Award from the North Carolina Child Support Council for her leadership and contributions in the area of child support.