Team Highlight: Britta

Hi! I'm Britta, and I'm interviewing myself this month (🙃). I do Marketing and Events with Thrive, but over the years, I've done a lot of things! I started in 2017, providing drop-in services in Bend, Prineville, and La Pine. In fact, I was the first person our Executive Director hired to work with her!

Over the years, I realized that my passion lies in capturing the stories that we hear every day from folks we work with. I studied Studio Art in undergrad, before going to grad school for social work. I now use skills from both to convey Thrive stories to our community. I develop all of our newsletters, flyers, resource sheets, signs, our website, our social media, and I organize our fundraising events. There are other things I do too, but I won't bore you with the details 😆.

One not-so-secret is that I actually now live in Montana. I lived in Bend and Redmond for about 10 years and moved away in 2021. The truth was, my husband and I knew we couldn't afford to live there anymore, and we had two of our rentals sold within a year - meaning we had to find a new place to live twice in 12 months. The reality of the housing crisis affects many, many people.

Even though I'm a couple of states away, I still feel so connected to Central Oregon. I am grateful that I can still be a small part of the community through my work. I want folks to be able to achieve their dream of finding a place to live in Central Oregon, regardless of income.

One of my favorite parts of my work over the years has been meeting such incredible, creative people- both who come to Thrive for assistance and my co-workers! It takes grit, creativity, and vulnerability to endure challenges in life, and I am so grateful to those who have shared themselves with me. Even though the faces of our Thrive team have changed over the years, the folks I've worked with have always been so kind and genuine - people who really do want the world to be more equitable for everyone.

My favorite quote, that rings true now more than ever, is from the medical anthropologist and physician Paul Farmer:

The idea that some lives matter less is the root of all that's wrong with the world.