Pi

firsthand Guide
Tacoma, WA

Pi brings steady resolve, radical empathy, and a fiercely trauma-informed lens to her work as a firsthand Guide in Tacoma, WA. Pi meets people exactly where they are—emotionally, medically, and literally—and refuses to let them slip through the cracks.

Her résumé is a tapestry of frontline roles that, together, give her an uncommon 360-degree view of the systems her individuals must navigate. In Pennsylvania, she spent seven years as a drug-and-alcohol counselor at a methadone clinic, followed by time supervising in-home programs for adults with developmental disabilities and many more years as a CNA. Five years in Oklahoma saw her teaching special education by day and volunteering with a harm-reduction alliance by night. After moving to Washington two years ago, Pi joined Comprehensive Life Resources, first in its Right-of-Way Housing program (securing hotel rooms for people displaced by infrastructure projects) and later with the street-based Homeless Outreach team. The job meant climbing under freeway overpasses, filling out Coordinated Entry paperwork on folding clipboards, and holding space for people who had stopped believing anyone would fight for them. Those conversations affirmed her belief that real change starts with trust and persistence—principles that led her to firsthand.

Pi lost her father to Crohn’s complications at 17, was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at 23, and—two weeks before her own thirty-ninth birthday—received a Crohn’s diagnosis herself, along with thyroid and Raynaud’s autoimmune conditions. She knows what it feels like to wait months for a specialist, to hear “it’s just your anxiety,” and to wonder if the system will ever bend in her favor. A period of living in her car further underscored the thin line between stability and crisis. Those experiences are often the bridge to rapport. “The moment I mention Crohn’s, walls drop,” she says. “People realize I get it.” That shared reality helps her coach individuals through doctor visits, insurance denials, and the exhausting loop of proving they’re sick.

Pi turned down other job offers to join firsthand because, as she puts it, “I don’t want to be a butt in a seat. I want to be heard—and to make sure the people I serve are heard.” The decision paid off: individuals who once avoided all calls now phone her just to share good news. She’s especially proud of the way she’s learned to pivot—balancing her own health needs with the ever-moving targets of community work—while still showing up “full-heart, full-force” for her team and the people they serve.

Off the clock, Pi and her wife hike local trails, rock-hound on beaches, and stroll to the marina with homemade breakfast burritos and coffees in hand. Pi is a budding photographer and craft enthusiast, but also enjoys indulging in reality-TV marathons as low-stakes emotional decompression. The couple share their home with a cat and lizard.

Looking ahead, Pi is contemplating graduate school—but for now, she’s right where she wants to be: standing beside people others have written off, reminding them, step by steady step, just how far they’ve already come.