My passion for healthcare started at the kitchen table. My mother was a Charge Nurse at Kaiser in Portland, and I grew up watching her come home from long night shifts still fully present — still the person our whole family turned to. She taught me that caring for people isn't a job description. It's a way of being with someone.

I earned my B.S. in Kinesiology from Western Washington University and started as a Certified Nursing Assistant. Over the next decade I worked nearly every corner of senior care — skilled nursing, assisted living, memory care, in-home care, and hospice. I learned what works, and what doesn't.

In those big forty- and fifty-resident buildings, I was often one of only a few caregivers on the floor. Stretched thin, I had to rush through people's routines just to reach everyone — and it broke my heart. This was their home, their life, and they had to run on our schedule instead of their own. I never forgot how wrong that felt.

Laurel Ridge is everything I learned, built into one home — where we do the opposite of rushing. We slow down, learn each person's routine, and truly know the people we care for. Because this is their home. We just work in it.