My first job out of graduate school was as the Executive Director of a start-up called Family Promise of Harrisburg Capital Region. You may have heard of it. I worked a lot of hours and put in a lot of blood, sweat, and tears. As a young, inexperienced 23-year-old, I also made a lot of mistakes. FPHCR was an incredible place of learning and growth for me. The volunteers and Board became like family to me as I found my way in the world of social services. They were forgiving, uplifting, and helpful. The opportunity to build a program, create policies, train volunteers, be the voice of an organization, spread the word, and do the thousand other jobs that the sole employee of a start-up does is something for which I am grateful. The experience was certainly life altering for me. Probably the most fulfilling and hardest part was working with our families. I saw pain in a way I hadn't seen before. I saw hope restored. The families I worked with will always be a part of who I am today.

After 7 years, I took some time "off" to have a baby. Soon after, I started consulting with a few organizations. FPHCR called me back in to help with fundraising and grant writing, something I could do from home while my littles napped. Now that my 2 are school-aged, I have re-joined the wonderful people at FPHCR as an official staff member. It feels good to be home!

A fun fact about me is that I was a high school track and field coach for 14 years.