Aftercare Home Plan Coordinator
I was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I lived with my mom, and we frequently moved within the city. I have a very small family that still resides there, including my two sisters. I met and married my husband, Carlos, very young. When he graduated from college, Carlos took a job that moved us around the country a few times. In addition to Wisconsin, we have lived in Indiana, Texas, and now Missouri. We have two sons and three dogs.
I love fashion and interior decorating. I had worked in a retail-clothing store for a few years up until we had our second son. Once he was born, I began taking care of other children inside our home so that I could stay with our boys full time. I have always been a very active volunteer in the schools that our kids have attended. Once we began to move more frequently, I stayed home for the most part. We began purchasing homes that just need minor cosmetic repairs. I would paint, remove wall paper, landscape, etc. I was able to be home and available to our kids during the moving transitions, and in the end would profit from the improvements we made when we sold it! It was awesome!
Once we became pregnant with our first son, we had to grow up extremely fast. We had to make solid decisions that would better our new family. We both knew that raising our children in church was what we wanted. It was during this time that I was saved. Since then, I have a totally different perspective of life. Instead of feeling sorry for myself when life comes at me with a difficult time, I thank God for the challenges. Those trials make you wiser, more mature, and bring you closer to Him. They also help you to relate to others. You can be of more assistance to others when you can relate to their problems on a personal level.
My husband became a VIC in May of 2007. I must say, I never imagined that I would be interested in working with a prison ministry. Every week, Carlos would come home with prayer requests and I saw that I had an opportunity to help because I could relate. Many of the offenders pray for their wives, children, and families. That’s where I saw the connection. The roots of most of the offender’s problems were drugs and/or alcohol. My family has a long history of both. I have lost my father and step dad to drug overdoses and my mother still battles a severe alcohol addiction. I have seen first-hand how it can destroy families and ruin relationships. It is a passion for me to break the cycle. Even though I am only finding housing facilities for OCC inmates, I see it as the first step for these men to take in repairing bonds with their loved ones.