It's an exciting time to be at MHAAO!
Stay up to date with all of the changes in our organization and read on...
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Diversity and Inclusion Initiative:
- Focus groups for frontline staff (optional)
- Sign up for a 1:1 with Iden Campbell (optional)
- MANDATORY WORKSHOP:
- January 14th & 15th, 9am-5pm
- Tabor Space, 5441 SE Belmont St, Portland, OR 97215
Upcoming Changes:
- Digital Time-keeping System starts in January - more information to come!
- Mileage Tracking App coming in February
- 401k coming this spring
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- Congrats to Donita Diamata for receiving the Judi Chamberlin award from the Alternatives Conference 2018!
- Congrats to Jessica Carroll for graduating from Lewis & Clark with her Masters in Counseling!
- Congrats to Crystal Cooper for passing her exam to become a Peer Support Counselor!
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Learn About Our Newest Staff Members
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Ali Koch
Peerzone Outreach Coordinator
Ali studied Cultural Anthropology and Business at the University of Oregon and has over 12 years’ experience working in the not-for-profit sector. She started her career as International Director of Public Relations for a nonprofit that partnered with Nobel Peace laureates to sponsor and host global conferences and events on nonviolence, peace, and education. Her passion for mission-driven organizations led her to co-found A&C Consulting, a governance consulting firm committed to supporting nonprofit board and executive leadership development for clients throughout the U.S.
After navigating her own lived experience with mental health and recovery, Ali completed peer support certifications in Youth & Young Adult and Intentional Peer Support. She worked as a peer support specialist at UNITY Center for Behavioral Health, Oregon’s first and only dedicated psychiatric emergency room, supporting individuals in finding hope and meaning in their experiences. She’s worked and volunteered with organizations supporting the LGBTQ+ community, refugees, genocide survivors, individuals experiencing homelessness, children with developmental disabilities and those in recovery for mental health and addiction. Ali is an avid yogi and outdoor enthusiast who loves scuba diving, cycling, hiking, mountain climbing, and paddle boarding.
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Roman Becerra
Peer Support Specialist Clackamas
Roman’s journey to recovery has been a long, rough road. He started using drugs and alcohol at an early age and was in and out of jail after joining local gangs. After his mother passed, when he was in his 30s, Roman found himself homeless and entered a program offered by a shelter that allowed him to gain employment, save money, and move out of town. He tried to start a clean and sober life in this new city but, soon fell into the same using patterns. In 2008, Roman joined the Longest Walk 2, a Native American spiritual walk from San Francisco to Washington, D.C. After the walk, when he found himself lost and homeless once again, a friend offered a place to stay in the Portland area where Roman would soon meet his wife. Roman credits the Longest Walk 2 as the beginning of his recovery journey.
After the walk, Roman’s life changed significantly. With new insights from his experience, Roman was able to earn his GED, get his driver’s license, a car, changed his career path and has celebrated 4 years clean and sober. Roman is now married and enjoying being a father to his two beautiful boys.Today, as a Peer Support Specialist with MHAAO, Roman feels an overwhelming sense of gratitude in his work in providing the peer guidance and support he, himself, needed so long ago.
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Angele Whinn
Peer Manager Clackamas
Angele’s path to working in peer support began in February of 2011, when she moved into Oxford Recovery Housing. She quickly realized that she enjoyed organizing the group and helping them all communicate together more effectively to get things done around the house. When she went to her first Oxford chapter meeting, she was offered a service position. From there, she started volunteering as a mentor in men’s and women’s recovery housing for a few years. She then became an outreach worker and traveled around Oregon opening up recovery houses, mentoring people, and helping new people adjust to life in recovery. She was then hired on at Bridges to Change in the mental health stabilization program, where she helped them open the new recovery house in Clackamas County. Now she is bringing her talent for peer support leadership to MHAAO!
Angele was born and raised in Oregon, and her ancestors came over on the Oregon Trail. Her passion is travelling and she enjoys going on trips with her sister. In the past two years, she has been to Texas, New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, and Alaska. She has been on a hot air balloon ride in Albuquerque, whale watching on a float plane in Alaska, and hiking in Zion National Park. She has a son, a daughter, and two granddaughters, ages 3 and 10.
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Justin Schumacher
Peer Support Specialist OHSU
Justin comes to MHAAO with a background in Retail Management. His passion was in team building, customer service and developing others. In July of 2017, Justin’s health declined rapidly landing him in the hospital with multiple organ failure. His years of substance abuse as a way to deal with his anxiety and depression came to a head. He spent the next five months in and out of hospitals hoping to make in on a transplant list. After a denial at a local hospital, he was accepted into a program in Seattle that took newly sober patients.
Justin’s experience has given him a deep understanding of the importance of self-care, mental health care professional support, and the opportunity at a second chance. He is newly certified as a Peer Wellness Specialist and is working towards his CADC I. He brings to the team a passion for people and story of hope.
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Amy Stocker
Peer Support Specialist OHSU
From the age of 5, Amy’s life was filled with trauma, beginning when Amy’s dad died in a sudden accident. Amy found herself seeking out a variety of maladaptive coping mechanisms to hide the inner turmoil that she was feeling. As the trauma’s continued to compound over the next 25 years, the negative coping skills became greater and more harmful. In 2002, while deeply involved in a DV relationship, Amy had major surgery. The introduction of prescription narcotics would forever change Amy’s life. Over the next 4 years, Amy’s life spiraled out of control, landing her in Drug Court, and subsequently being revoked and sent to prison. It was at that moment, having to leave behind a 6 day old child, that Amy made the decision to change.
Since that time, Amy has worked to ensure that her children, now 8 and 10, are afforded the safety and opportunities that she was not given as a child. Amy has also dedicated her life to giving back to other recovering addicts, and believes deeply in each peer’s ability to choose their own path of recovery. Amy has been providing peer support since 2014, and has worked in case managed housing, IOP, residential, detox, Child Welfare, and Community Corrections. Amy is excited about the opportunity to work with OHSU’s IMPACT Team, and to use her 10 years of sobriety and experiences to provide hope to those she meets.
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Melinda Hicks
Peer Support Specialist for Clackamas County Older Adult Program
Melinda grew up in a home where alcohol use was prevalent. She had easy access to alcohol in her home and began taking her first drinks as an elementary school age child. At the age of ten, she had learned how to pour beer from a tap, as her family had a bar in the basement of their house. She began sneaking beer at that time. 22 years later, after her third alcohol overdose, Melinda joined a recovery program. She has been sober for 26 years and an active member of many boards and committees within that program’s community.
At the age of 35, after the birth of her only child, Melinda was diagnosed with severe Post-Partum Depression and has been treated in both inpatient and outpatient programs for Bipolar Two Disorder. Melinda was a music teacher in the public school systems for over 20 years and at the age of 55 decided to change careers and become a Certified Recovery Mentor. She believes that it is never too late to make major changes in your life for the better and, is very excited to be working specifically with older adult population.
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“If I can live a life in recovery, I want to help others live a life in recovery. I enjoy networking and sharing tools and resources with other agencies and other people. There is always going to be something out there that no one else has ever heard of that is the right fit.” - Angele Whinn
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“One of the greatest honors I’ve had in the work I do for my peers is holding onto hope and helping them to see that they are filled with skills and potential, and that they have the ability to determine what their life is going to look like.”
-Ali Koch
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If you have stories about yourself or a peer that you would like to have featured in the newsletter, on our blog, or on our social media, please email kmccraw@mhaoforegon.org
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