Jane O`Brien:  

During my senior year I pursued and received an academic scholarship to Cottey College (a women's college in Nevada, MO).. I didn't stay long, opting to marry instead.. I married my first husband, Lorre in 1973 and lived in Seattle for 5 years. Son Rob was born in 1978. Divorced and a single mother of a son with developmental and intellectual disabilities I moved back to the Portland area., I married my second husband, Jon in 1981. We were married for 13 years. My daughter Janelle was born in 1982. I worked as a Senior Inspector for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms until 2000. Beginning in 1994 I served as a charter member of the ATF/NTEU National Partnership Council in Washington DC and chartered and presided over NTEU Chapter 121, representing over 400 employees. In 1988 my mother died of a heart attack brought on by an overdose. She suffered from bipolar disorder for many, many years. I married Mel, a registered nurse in 1994 and we've been married now for over 25 years. In 1995, at the urging of my father, I searched for my birth family and was reunited with my birth mother and 5 biological siblings! In 1999 my father died of a heart attack and brother Mike died after a heroin overdose. I underwent a mental breakdown, I quit my job and built a home in Neskowin, Oregon. We lived there for six years, moving back to the Portland area, settling in Damascus. In 2010, I decided to pursue a career change and a lifelong passion for helping others with mental illness. I completed my Bachelor Degree in Psychology in March, 2013 at 58 years old (3.99 GPA, 4.0 in major).. I worked with homeless women with co-occurring mental illness and substance addiction through the Salvation Army in Portland. I developed the Safe Harbor at Fairbridge permanent supportive housing program for homeless women in dow...Expand for more