When: Saturday, October 24, 2:00-3:30 pm via Zoom
REGISTER HERE or on the Better Living Together website Events page.  Once you are registered you will receive a registration confirmation with the Zoom link.

About the Presentation: Alicia will discuss the value of living in a supportive community and why it is paramount to our individual health and perceptions of well-being. As the founder of Our Home, ICC and Founding Neighbor of Our Home – Cathedral Park – she will share how her vision went from a mother’s primal yell and a sketch on a paper napkin, through twists and turns and unexpected challenges, to a small and growing community of people who are now working together to build a place they can call home as well as a sharable model of how inclusive and diverse communities can be implemented.
Alicia will illuminate the importance of inclusive lives, not only for those who experience disability but for all community members. Other talking points will include the value of cohousing, the importance of nonprofit/for-profit partnerships, and how she and others are creating housing choices that provide the opportunity to live in an inclusive and diverse neighborhood at a time when many in our country are suffering from the effects of isolation and tribalism.

About Alicia: Alicia is the proud mother of an awesome young adult daughter whose diverse interests include baseball, Fritos, and opera. Her daughter experiences Mowat-Wilson Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder with effects that are widespread and significant.

Alicia has a professional background in landscape and commercial interior design and is the Founder and President of Our Home, Inclusive Community Collaborative, a non-profit whose mission is to promote, support, and develop inclusive, diverse communities. She is currently working with her team to develop a mutually supportive, inclusive community in the Cathedral Park neighborhood of Portland, OR.
Alicia is a 2007 graduate of Oregon Partners in Policy Making, a member of the Oregon Developmental Disabilities Coalition, and a 2017 graduate of the Oregon Health Sciences University LEND program. She currently acts as an advisor, mentor, and presenter to LEND and the Oregon Pediatric Improvement Program.  Alicia has served as the Program Coordinator for the Northwest Down Syndrome Association Kindergarten Inclusion Cohort, member and advisor to the Portland Public Schools Special Education PTA, and has made numerous local and national presentations as an advocate for an inclusive community, housing, education, and life.