We’re so thrilled that Anna joined the SPAN volunteer team in the fall of 2014. She completed our 44-hour Paraprofessional Anti Violence Training in October and began volunteering as a DART victim advocate immediately after. Amazingly, Anna has completed nearly 800 volunteer hours and has taken on a leadership role as a DART captain. Please join me in celebrating Anna and her tremendous contribution to SPAN clients! See below to read more about Anna’s awesome-ness.

1. Tell me a little about your background – where you’re from, family, work/education experience, anything you’d like to share here, really. I am a native Oregonian. In Sept of 2012 I decided to sell everything I own, find a job, packed up my Jeep and moved to Florida to get away from the rain after 35 years. I met my boyfriend a month after moving there and he landed a job in Boulder a few months after that. I have been here since. I started out in automotive for five years and ran a parts store by the time I was 21 and was even ASE certified in parts. Somehow, that transitioned easily into healthcare of which I’ve been in for the last fifteen years. I’m currently working on a nursing degree and just started my own business two weeks ago as an errand service.
2. Do you have any special hobbies or interests? I love to sing! I used to be a singer in a cover band for two years in Oregon shortly before leaving.
3. What has been your favorite part of volunteering with SPAN? Feeling like I’m making a difference. I also like knowing I have finally battled my own demons.
4. Why is social justice work important to you? I am a bi-racial woman who has seen quite a lot of injustice to others and myself. I don’t want anyone to feel hopeless and or alone as I once did. There were not the amount of resources there are now twelve years ago. I’m proud of the progress.
5. Tell me a story about yourself, but only using SIX WORDS (no more, no less). Caring, humorous, patient, loving, loyal, and feisty.