I was diagnosed with stage 3b colon cancer in August 2019, at age 36, and found COLONTOWN three months later, completely unmoored. I had been drowning in the physical, emotional, and mental weight of facing cancer as a young mother, and finding COLONTOWN was like being thrown a lifeline and pulled aboard an impressive ship full of experienced, strong sailors. My COLONTOWN neighbors saw me safely through the darkest period of my life.
That experience changed everything. By the end of 2020, I had completed COLONTOWN’s Empowered Patient Leader training and begun volunteering as host of On the Right Side, the neighborhood for those whose cancer originates in the right colon. I have spent over five years alongside my fellow “righties,” and the work has given me profound purpose. I’ve also had the deep joy of facilitating more than 48 Book Nook discussions, one of the most meaningful spaces in my COLONTOWN life.
For nearly five years, I served PALTOWN Development Foundation as Director of Operations and Finance, building the systems and infrastructure that allow this organization to do what it does. I’ve always been drawn to the intersection of people and systems. The best operational frameworks are the ones invisible to those they serve, quietly holding space so that the real work, the human work, can happen.
Now, as Mayor of COLONTOWN, I get to be a caretaker of people. I hold that responsibility with the same sober dedication I once brought to financial compliance and legal stewardship, because the stakes are just as real. I come to this role with six years of being held by this community, and a lifelong commitment to holding it in return.
I live rurally in Virginia, where I homeschool my children, play double bass in community orchestras, and keep a gargoyle in my kitchen as a reminder that even in the most ordinary spaces, there is room for watchfulness, art, and a bit of magic.