Administration

As Chief Program Officer, I engage with staff, participants, funders, and the community to ensure we are providing high quality services throughout our programs that match our mission and values each and every day. 

Why do I show up each day? The answer is pretty simple. I care about people. I was lead into social work because of a close friend from high school. She was a teenager who was in an abusive relationship and pregnant. I remember driving down a back road and seeing her walking alone. As I got closer to her, I saw she was sobbing, her clothes were torn and bloody. I stopped, and we sat in my parent’s car talking for hours about all of the things that occurred that day. It’s funny how your memory holds certain events so closely that you remember for a lifetime. I tried desperately to get her to leave her boyfriend. I was young and thought that I had all the answers. We graduated high school, and I went off to college. She went off to marry him. From the moment I realized she was going to stay in that relationship, I felt defeated and helpless. I wanted to save her because, after all, she was my friend and deserved so much better. From that experience, I decided that I was going to volunteer at a domestic violence agency to see if I could do anything to change the world around me. I volunteered while obtaining my bachelor’s degree and decided that helping people was going to be my life’s work. Today, I see the world in a similar way, but I also have realized that people can only save themselves. I enjoy CHS because we meet people where they are at, we try to be as non-judgmental as possible, we offer services to anyone who reaches out to us, and we strive to help those who need services the most. I have had many people touch my life and teach me wonderful lessons. Most of those people have been a part of a homeless or domestic violence program I have worked in over the years.  As one resident’s father told me, “Thank you for not giving up on my son, because I gave up on him a long time ago.”  CHS is the agency that never gives up and that is why I am proud to be a part of such an amazing and dedicated organization.