The person you are is not defined by one thing. It is an accumulation of many things that makes each person the unique being they are. Your likes, dislikes, experiences, educational preferences, and choices all combine to create who you are and what you think. 

Who am I, and why am I asking for your vote?

I was raised by people that prioritize paying for your home before you splurge, driving the same vehicle until it dies, and eating simply to live well. Like many people in this area, I have seen the community go through a lot. We went through it together, just as we always will. 

When I was 24 I bought my first home, it was a condo. I was a single mother working as a Financial Aid Specialist at The University of Montana. At that time Homeword had a first time homebuyers loan that helped people fill the gap of what they can finance and pay. The First Time Homebuyer loan through Homeword served as a secondary loan with a percentage of the equity due upon repayment. That home got my little family through a lot together. Having access to a fixed mortgage was the most important thing that happened in my life. Times have changed and not as many people can get into home ownership as before. As our community learns to adapt we gain more tools. The amount that lenders are letting people finance right now allows many people to take debt to pay for housing. Cheap condos in the area range from $300,000 to $500,000. Investing into something that you eventually pay off and own makes it so that you can pay as you work and retire paying taxes. That is the model I grew up being taught. Even if you do not plan to pay off your home, a mortgage is often the same cost as rent (if not a little less). When prices go up, your mortgage stays the same. Being eligible to borrow money towards a home takes repetitively paying bills on time. If you have messed up your credit there are ways to build it back up. 

I started my adult life working at EZ Money Check Cashing. The store processed payday loans, cashed checks, and filed taxes. I learned to file taxes, got a second job as an independent notary, and started learning about the different ways to manage the cost of life. At 19 I walked through people’s financial choices with them daily. At 21 I started working at the Financial Aid Office within The University of Montana. I spent five years learning how to counsel students and parents about the options they have to pay for school with. I helped people understand how to fill out paperwork with their tax forms, what their eligibility is, and how to manage their funds to get through the semester. I started as an Administrative Assistant, moved to Loan Specialist, and eventually moved into Financial Aid Specialist. I evaluated student file’s, which means I recalculated the math with the given tax information to make sure they still qualified for the same package. I reviewed the reports of computer processing issues and fixed the student records that caused hangups within the files (that got thrown from the nightly automatic computer processes). As a Loan Specialist I took extra time to create a questionnaire students could use to help them ask questions that expand how they understand how the loan will affect their financial future. I designed and taught a course on Funding Education through Student Services, to Freshman, that taught students to change lifestyle choices to fit within a budget, and what options they have to finance their education. 

In 2008 I began working as a Mortgage Modification Counselor, as an independent contractor. I was a liaison between the lender and the borrower to help the borrower navigate the issue they experienced during the 2008 housing crash. Lending agencies had given out more loans than they should have, and people could not pay their bills. Most people had financed three or more properties as rentals, renters stopped paying, renters got evicted with bad references, which led to the borrowers owing a bunch of money. Most times the lenders chose to put the unpaid amount back into the loan and give a cut on interest to decrease amount paid monthly. There were many people that got part of their mortgage paid off. During my time working as a Mortgage Modification Counselor I also paid for Life Coach Certification courses to expand on the financial counseling background I was developing. The main theme I found throughout my work, at that point, was that people do best when they are given step-by-step instructions on how to bridge the gaps.

In 2009 I started attending school to advance upon my coaching career. I completed an Associates of Arts, a Bachelors of Science in Organizational Communications, and a Masters of Science in Management and Leadership. I have put in countless amounts of volunteer hours within Missoula. I have gone through the Train the Trainer course through the National Coalition Building Institute, served on several boards, was the Treasurer of my home owners association, served as President of an International Toastmasters Group, taught art classes to kids at the library, ran an alternative school for teens that had educational anxiety, designed a workbook with my life coaching experience, taught mindfulness and meditation courses to teens, and created a business consulting firm. Within the Business Consulting/Coaching business I utilized life coaching structures to help people find the areas of their organization’s vulnerabilities and design an action based plan to bridge the gap. I have helped people create structure around chaos, trained them how to manage their own chaos, and made sure everyone always understood how to hold their own reins. 

In 2010/2011 I worked a work study position within the City of Missoula’s Office of Neighborhoods. For several months I served as the only staff member of that office while they did a staffing search. I was essentially the liaison between local government and the neighborhoods of Missoula. I was able to write a proclamation while in that position, and finish executing an event that had roughly been curated by the exiting management position. The event was an art exhibition of photographs across the town of people’s favorite spots in Missoula, tabling at Sunday Streets to celebrate Neighborhood Days, and it included writing the proclamation Mayor Engen gave at Sunday Streets for the event. I have put many events on throughout my career. In 2017 there was a double homicide a block over from our home. I coordinated a block party for the police department to give information about the event to the neighbors, and local professionals assisted in helping people cope with secondary trauma. 

While I have done many things in the same amount of time my peers have done a few, I feel that the things I have learned have taught me a broader understanding of the problems our town is experiencing (and how to connect everyone in our community to navigate everything together). 

Topics that matter to me:

Making sure that the town is actively engaged in all possible solutions to problems that arise.  

Educational outreach about budgeting and financial fitness.

Educational outreach about how to use the resources in town.

Educational outreach about exactly what it takes to get back into housing, as well as how much we are spending as a community. 

Addressing the increase in crime properly. Supporting educational outreach about how the town addresses crime. 

Supporting the departments and their individual goals.

Supporting the goals of the community. 

Serving as a hub that keeps track of all conflicts that arise and helps mediate big conversations.