I grew up in Yonkers New York and came to Vermont in 1986 to attend Goddard College, and knew I was home as soon as I arrived. It was at Goddard that I read the inspiring and life directing text by Paul Colinvaux Introduction to Ecology. In 1990 I had a son with my then partner, and in 1998 graduated with a second Bachelor’s degree from Johnson State. In 2006 I met my now partner Robin. Circa 2015 I began work for COTS, then CEDO, and finally CVOEO. In 2017 I joined the Chittenden County Homeless Alliance as a person with lived experience. I was accepted into the graduate program at UVM for entry in 2019, but without having a way to pay for it, UVM’s policy of waiving tuition for people of retirement age persuaded me to wait until 2020.