As someone who was born and raised in St. John’s, I am intimately familiar with this city’s beauties and its problems. I am running for the Ward 2 council seat because I want to bring my experience and my love of the city to the task of making the city better for everybody. 

​

      Most of my adult life has been spent in service to and with others. In 2008 I enrolled in a Child and Youth Care (CYC) with Addictions diploma program. It was my first experience in learning to help and support people. I began that program while grieving my mother, who had passed away the summer before I started. That grief was not a hindrance, as it helped me learn to develop the empathy one needs to help others. Starting school in a state of grief was actually a healing experience–I met strangers through the program who became great friends, and I learned that there is a power in the stranger, as we all journey in different ways, only to become more familiar to one another, giving and receiving acts of kindness along the way. 

 

       The CYC curriculum motivated me and my friends and classmates to start a youth homelessness campaign in 2009. This would come to be known as Sleep Out 120. It was an annual campaign, officially started in 2010 and ended in 2016. We considered the campaign a success: it influenced public policy; raised over $80,000 for youth non-profit organizations; built connections with the Child and Youth Care diploma program and Memorial University Social Work program; and was published by Literacy NL, for public education offered to Junior High NL students. 

​

       In 2011 I worked at the adult treatment centre Emmanuel House (Stella's Circle). During this time I decided to further my education, so I did my Bachelor’s degree at Memorial University, majoring in Political Science and minoring in Psychology. My degree deepened my interest in public policy and sparked a desire to pursue political change in my city and province. During my program, I was offered a job as a Child and Youth counsellor at the NLHS Tuckamore Treatment Centre. In 2017, I graduated from MUN and started to volunteer in the community. I volunteered at church, singing in the choir; I was head coach in girls volleyball and boys basketball at PWC and Waterford Valley High. I also volunteered for St. John Ambulance, a dog therapy program, at the St. Luke’s home. I was an Art force board chair, the Faith and Housing steering committee chair and cofounder, and a board member of End Homelessness St. John’s.

​

      I take great strength from my spirituality, and am always eager to share my thoughts and listen to others about faith. After a long period of doubt, I came back to my Christian faith. In 2007, I found a place called St. Mary's Hermitage on the Southwest coast of Newfoundland, in the small community of Conroy Valley. The St. Mary's Hermitage was led by two people of spiritual calling and received ecclesiastical approval to become a Canonical Hermitage under the approval of the diocesan bishop. I stayed at this hermitage for a 7 day retreat of solitude at the bright age of 22 and was guided by the two Canonical Hermits of Shelia O'Handley and Nick O'Keeffe. They listened and offered wisdom; the example of their faith and compassion helped guide the course of my life to become an active community member and volunteer. My faith teaches me to be non-judgmental and to always lead with empathy and love.

​

     It also teaches me the importance of actions. You can be certain that as councilor for Ward 2, I will be articulate not in what I say but in what I do. I promise that I will ground all of my policy proposals in fact and best practices, that I will listen, I will acknowledge my errors, and work always to implement the best possible courses of action.