As newlyweds, my husband and I aspired to achieve homeownership like many of our peers and soon discovered how overwhelming the process could be. That was the beginning of my nearly 18-year history with CATCH Neighborhood Housing! We successfully completed the homebuyer education course and bought our first home. As years passed, we continued to be happy alumni and spread the word about the good work CATCH was doing to bring affordable housing to the Greater Concord area. Like many young families we had our ups and downs and after a traumatic accident that left my husband unable to work for a couple of years; we lost our home. But, once again, CATCH was there to offer us counseling and guidance as we emerged from foreclosure.
Soon after my career took me in the direction of helping others achieve stable housing and I was often promoting programming offered by CATCH, as well as helping individuals complete applications. It was not long after that I found myself invited to join the CATCH Board of Directors. It was an honor to represent the “resident perspective” and be a voice to the ever-changing social climate of the region. I was happy to be connected to the expansion of the organization as Alliance Asset Management came to be a thriving entity and thrilled when the staff were able to move to the Loudon Road location. When I ventured to a different career path, I relinquished my duties on the Board but continued to stay connected to the organization’s work.
Call it fate or Rosemary’s vision but it was not long before I was drawn back into housing. In 2017 I was offered the opportunity to join Alliance Asset Management in the Resident Empowerment Program as they looked to expand. I was enthusiastic to continue working in the communities that I have been a part of for so many years and use long-standing relationships to benefit the resource and referral of our portfolio residents.
That is the purpose of my role as Resident Services Coordinator: to connect our most vulnerable residents to the services they need and the communities they reside in. In this way, these individuals and families gain strength and stability in their lives, thereby becoming contributing citizens and valued tenants. I am consistently rewarded because of the residents that I engage with and working to help achieve our goal of "communities where every person is confident of a home.”