Leslie has a long history of volunteering and serving on boards in various organizations in Pasadena. It was when she was volunteering at Jericho Road (a Pasadena organization that specializes in empowering and supporting local nonprofits) that Friends In Deed appeared on her radar – she was looking for new opportunities, and The Women’s Room needed new volunteers.
Our guests in The Women’s Room, says Leslie, have “helped her gain a different perspective on what homelessness is.” She now has a better appreciation of the kinds of life events that can drive someone towards homelessness, such as family circumstances or medical crises. She also learned more about the kinds of barriers that prevent someone from getting back into housing – usually various aspects of bureaucracy. And she reports the “monumental” joy and relief she sees on the faces of women who have been housed.
Leslie tells us that the time she spends at FID has given her a burning desire to end the homelessness issue in Pasadena. This prompted her to ask Lindsey (Director of The Women’s Room) who she should talk to about serving on the board. Lindsey put Leslie in touch with Joshua, and everything “fell into place”!
Having done her share of board development work with Jericho Road, Leslie says she hopes to bring those skills to the Friends In Deed board and help them to “do even better than they already are.” She believes that FID is doing a great job of chipping away at homelessness in Pasadena, and she wants to be part of that.