Samantha was born on a military installation in Frankfurt, Germany. Life as a child was ever changing in her adolescent years and never allowed Samantha the opportunity to settle down or establish roots in a community. That all changed when her father retired and Arizona became her forever home. Samantha has lived in Arizona for over 20 years now. She has an A.A.S in Nursing and is currently working towards a degree in Addiction and Substance Use Disorder Counseling. She has two beautiful children that are her heart and soul. She is an advocate for change and joins SPW with a desire to not only help the people of her rural community find that change, but to empower and support them through their journey. Samantha has lived experience with chaotic substance use, the criminal justice system, and truly understands the impact of stigma and social determinants of health. Samantha’s motivation in her new role at SPW comes from the disparity that she witnessed during her own chaotic drug use and she is ecstatic to take on a role that allows her the privilege of helping her community gain access to the education, training, support, and advocacy that Harm Reduction offers. When she’s not working, you can find her with her family doing anything and everything that involves the outdoors.
