I am a trauma-aware and trauma-sensitive journalist and speaker currently covering the U.S. housing crisis for The Economic Hardship Reporting Project. A former reporter for The Miami Herald, The St. Louis Post Dispatch and The Syracuse Newspapers, I have always written stories about  people from populations that have been marginalized.

My personal experience of losing my family and worldly positions —  and  then collapsing into homelessness between 2014 and 2016 —  has given me the unique privilege of reporting and writing from an “inside out” perspective. In that experience, I have learned that the strength of the human spirit is beyond anything I ever imagined. I have also learned that there is a great need for trauma-informed journalism that delves not only into the devastation of collapse — but also into the realities of resilience and recovery.

Since my emergence, my pieces have been published in The New York Times, Mother Jones, The Washington Post, The Guardian, Slate, CNBC — as well as many other publications. I have also been interviewed for various shows and events, including The Young Turk’s “The Damage Report” with John Ladarola, as well as with Kris Boyd, host of the National Public Radio show, “Think.” Last month, I presented at Yale via a Poynter journalism fellowship, this month I will be the keynote speaker at Homeward Bound in North Carolina, and next month I will be the keynote speaker for the yearly conference at the Supportive Housing Network in New York. Please see my Public Appearances page for details and to listen to available recordings.

Thank you for your interest in my work.