I was born at St Mary’s hospital. My dad worked at General Motors. My grandmother was a nurse at St. Mary’s for forty years and raised her five children on Colvin Street. Her husband, a WWII Veteran, worked at Kodak and my other grandfather retired from Xerox.
I grew up in church and became devout as a young teenager. I attended The Charles Finney School where I led worship and excelled academically. My first job was at Heritage Christian Services where I learned to care for adults and children with disabilities. I graduated from MCC with a degree in Elementary Education and my EMT certification.
I’m running for office because when I look around I don’t see a people problem, I see a poverty problem. I see trauma. I see my neighbors working through debilitating pain or illness because they can’t afford to not work. I see substandard housing with rents and taxes creeping
up. I see a lack of family-sustaining jobs and how it affects our neighborhoods.
I want to pass a basic income so that no one has to make choices about which bills not to pay. I care about these issues because they touch my own life. When a close family member was incarcerated during a mental health crisis I saw, up close, the failings of both our mental health and criminal justice system. In 2014, we lost my uncle to an overdose. A health crisis in my twenties left me struggling to work, pay rent, and take care of myself. I fought eviction and won with the help of a pro-bono attorney.
As my health improved I became involved with the Fight for 15, organized labor and the Police Accountability Board. The organizing, fundraising, and passion of my youth translated into powerful skills and intuition for movement building and strategic change. I became involved with local politics and chaired a winning city council campaign.
Just recently, I bought my long-time home in the Plymouth-Exchange neighborhood directly from my landlord. Being a homeowner exceeds my wildest dreams. Stable housing, a warm neighborhood, downtown, and the river nearby give me peace and joy and stability.
PLEX is the home I’ve always longed for, and I would love nothing more than to use the experience and skills I have acquired to serve this community with all of my heart. This is what we have already been doing as a campaign and it’s what I will continue to do in office. I will fight to make sure that the people of this district have the support they need to stop surviving and start thriving.