We moved our family from rural Alaska to Portland because our oldest child has significant developmental disabilities. We lived in the country without access to public transportation or the kind of services he would need to live an independent life. If we stayed where we were, he would never have the opportunity to create a life he wanted for himself.

That was not a small decision. Leaving home, leaving our community, starting over in a city we didn't know with 5 kids in tow. It quite literally took everything we had. We had no idea what was in store for us when we arrived. I spent my career in Alaska in the social work field. I worked with adults with disabilities, I worked with abused children and their families, and I led an anti-coal coalition when a new mine was permitted to open in my front yard. But I had never experienced the kind of housing crisis Portland was experiencing in 2015.

Finding a place big enough for our family that we could afford was extremely difficult. Eventually we were able to find an apartment in New Columbia, North Portland and lived there for 8 years, raising kids at McCoy Park. Over the last 11 years, we found what we were looking for and more. We found the services our kids need, and the unexpected freedoms and joys that this city provides.

But that early experience changed my understanding of what's at stake without a stable home. It catalyzed me into housing and tenant advocacy and sent me on the journey I find myself on today. I volunteered with local tenant groups and helped form a new tenant’s union. I joined up with the people who have been here fighting for stable homes and stable lives long before I arrived because the system was too broken to ignore. Too many families weren’t able to land on their feet and too many kids were forced out of their schools and away from their places of belonging.

That's why I became a public servant. I've spent a decade inside Portland's city government working on housing, transportation, tenant protections, and the machinery of governance because I know firsthand what a functioning city can do for a family. I've seen it. I've lived it. I want the same for every family.

And I'm running for City Council because I’m not done giving back to the city that gave my family more than we ever expected to find. Not just a zipcode and a fresh start, but a place to belong, to grow roots, and where my kids are accepted for being exactly who they are.