When did you start working at Call to Freedom? And what is your personal and professional journey that led you here?

I started working at Call of Freedom in April of 2019.

I had been working at LifeScape, children’s care with kids with behavioral disabilities.

What is your position at CTF & why is it important to the mission?

My position is Marissa’s house case manager. I do the morning rides at the house which includes getting kids to day care, getting moms to work kind of the start off the day for everything. That piece of it is super vital just in starting the day with everyone and getting people where they need to go and that kind of stuff.

Why do you believe in the mission of Call to Freedom?

I thought about this a lot. So a lot of people grow up in high school, you know, you’re asked what you want to be when you grow up and it is common for people just say that they want to help people. And so I think the key thing behind it is that there’s a lot more to helping people in a social work field than people think.

So the the idea to help people, but in a different capacity and so what does that look like for each person in the medical world looks different than it does here. Working with individuals here, what you’re able to give people is sometimes the light that they never thought that they would see in humanity.

They’ve gone through some of their worst things ever, and then you are able to show them, what life actually looks like. You know, I tell clients all the time, that I don’t have a perfect life. I’m not a role model for a perfect life. But I’m a mom, I’m a significant other to someone. And so can be an example of what that looks like.

What is a moment that sticks out to you from your time working here or why do you feel like it’s meaningful?

I don’t have a specific instance, I have specific people in mind. I don’t have like a like a time that something super awesome happened that sticks in my head, but people who have made an impact in my life.

I worked with this specific individual that I think about, worked with her for years and she lived at our house a long time ago. Unfortunately, she got back into situations with people that were not very great. I saw her at super low points, but I also got to see her at super high points. I was able to help her navigate what that looks like.

It is encouraging when you notice that they were in a super low and they turned to you, they look for help, they look for advice and that’s kind of the piece that sticks with me. We are able to make such an impact from the start for them, from when they come to the organization until they get to a point where they are thriving independently.

What is a fun fact about yourself?

I was born and raised in California.