Nicole Quien
2020 – Current
What has Taller de Jose taught you?
I’ve learned about the great variety of services needed in Little Village and beyond, as well as the role that we can all play in accompaniment. This takes different forms depending on the individual, the situation, and of course takes even different shape during COVID. Also, that home is not a safe place for everyone.
What would you like people to know about Taller de Jose?
Echoing the above. We can all be companerx of sorts in our work. I don’t have all the answers in my job as a physician, but I can sometimes help connect my patients to resources when their needs are more social/financial rather than medical.
What do you do in your free time?
Netflix, Yoga with Adriene, slowly start panicking about the fact that my husband and I are going to be parents to a little girl this November 🙂
Erin Howes
Board Service Completed: Served 2017 – 2021
What has Taller de Jose taught you?
As a Public Health professional, we are trained to think about health at a systems level. My mind immediately goes to building more, creating more, planning more. The mission of TDJ taught me to take a step back and think about connecting more and instilled in me a passion for access to services as opposed to quantity of services. It’s a lesson I carry with me in my work everyday.
What would you like people to know about Taller de Jose?
TDJ is filled with wonderful people who would do anything to help someone in need
What do you do in your free time?
I love group fitness and am a total gym rat. I am so happy to be back in the gym, burpee-ing away with my gym friends.
Bianca I. Mena
2019 – Current
What has Taller de Jose taught you?
Taller de Jose has taught me accompaniment as a way of being. It has taught me the ability to create and maintain a physical and emotional space for people as they share their stories and seek support. My experience with Taller de Jose has shaped the way I strive to practice social work- seeking to understand and then working towards meeting their needs.
What would you like people to know about Taller de Jose?
Taller de Jose is an organization that listens to client’s experiences, empowers clients and accompanies them through some of the most difficult points in their lives. Compañerxs work to identify client’s needs and make resources accessible to clients in the midst of combatting systemic oppression.
What do you do in your free time?
I enjoy hiking and exploring different trails. I have also really enjoyed making candles at home.
