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“Being at Flaherty House with Colleen is the first time I’ve felt like I have a real home with a real family. When I leave, I know I can come back here just like in a real family and everyone will be glad to see me.”
–former resident
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Colleen Perron is the manager of Flaherty House where she provides a home environment where she works with homeless young men between the ages of 18 and 22, empowering them to maximize their strengths while overcoming barriers to employment, education, permanent housing and forming a stable community of support.
Prior to joining Volunteers of America in 2003, she was a women and children’s domestic violence advocate with the Snohomish County Center for Battered Women in Everett, WA, where she provided housing, food and clothing, employment assistance, legal advocacy in court proceedings, suicide intervention and worked with Child Protective Services. With an educational background that includes a journalism degree and training in psychology, cultural diversity and socio-economic impact studies, she is fluent in many issues pertinent to young men at Flaherty House including at-risk youth, diversity and racism, cultural awareness, chemical dependency, harm reduction and youth development.
Colleen cooks magnificent meals both at home and at Flaherty House. When she’s not at work she stays busy tending her green house and garden and loves to have friends over for good home-grown cooking and conversation. Colleen can be reached at cperron@voaspokane.org or 509.489.4043.
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