I am a blessed believer, Alaskan Native, grateful mom of boys, a wife and big fan of “do-overs.” I was kindly helped to my feet by various Shasta County entities in 2012 after becoming homeless and losing everything due to my substance abuse issues. I am now a homeowner holding a Masters Degree in Management and Leadership and the Executive Director of FaithWorks Community Coalition. We collaborate to provide transitional and permanent supportive housing for homeless families and veterans with a focus on prevention, education and generational cycles. 

I am the Senior Director of the HOPE Program for Shasta Community Health Center in Redding, California.  I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, with my master’s in social work and my bachelor’s in psychology.  I have been working in the field of social work in Shasta County with populations who have been greatly impacted by social determinants of health, poverty, lack of housing and trauma for over 20 years .  I have learned through my career that systems are often not designed to meet those who are in most need of comprehensive services and have spent most of my career working to improve coordination of care and access to services. My vision for equity and well being in my community is that service delivery systems would be coordinated to deliver patient driven, trauma informed care to the community. I would like all members in my community to have access to the resources they need to have housing, health care and a living wage so that we may begin to change our community’s legacy of poverty, high scores of adverse childhood experiences and substance use in our community.