ELCD Member Profile
Meet two ELCD members!
- Jessica Donahue is a family advocate at Simpson Housing Services, an active ELCD member, and an alumnus of the ELCD mentorship program. She is a Minnesota transplant who moved here as part of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps (JVC) program. Jessica grew up in a US Navy family that lived in Rhode Island primarily but also Virginia, Japan, Hawaii, and California. Jessica recently started at Simpson after working at Alliance Housing through JVC.
- David White is the government grants officer at Avivo (formerly RESOURCE), the ELCD treasurer, and is also an alumnus of the ELCD mentorship program. Like Jessica, David is a Minnesota transplant who lacked a connection to the state prior to moving here. David grew up in Memphis, got his undergraduate degree in Knoxville, and moved to MSP to attend the Humphrey School. David recently started at Avivo after several years at Habitat for Humanity, most recently working with funding for Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity’s homebuilding activities.
Jessica and David met over coffee, tea, and pumpkin pie on a snowy afternoon at the Co-Op Creamery to talk about their new roles at Simpson Housing and Avivo, respectively. Both organizations serve a similar target population. They immediately were able to connect on the use of housing support (formerly group residential housing or GRH) funding. As the government grants officer at Avivo, David had just submitted a proposal to Hennepin County for housing support and, being a family advocate at Simpson Housing, Jessica works with families providing supportive housing services in Minneapolis and Chaska, using GRH/ housing support. Read the rest of the Member Profile here.
Our call to fellow ELCD members- grab coffee, be bold, connect people and places together!
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