Resident of: Wisconsin
Born 1979
Skills: Organization, writing, experience navigating government bureacracy, primarily in the area of childhood disabilities. Married, mother of 3. Avid surveyor of government bureaucracy and politics.
Growing up, I moved from state to state on average every 2-3 years. I have learned that America is a country of diversity. As long as we are open-minded and willing to learn, our diversity is one of this country's greatest assets. I have seen the effects of prejudice first hand, and know that it is detrimental to our nation. Due to the prejudice and negative pressures against me in high school, and through the guidance of caring adults, I ended up spending my eleventh and twelveth grade years attending college classes where I excelled.
During that time I met the man that became my husband and soon married him, after I'd earned my high school diploma, but before I'd completed my college education. I gave birth to my first child; which made two, since my husband had a child from a previous relationship. I was pregnant with my third child, our fourth, before we discovered that my first-born son was on the Autistic Spectrum. Since then, my first and second child have been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, and my last child is in the process of receiving a diagnosis. Being a young mother of special needs children, living on the verge of poverty, I devoted most of my time to forging family bonds, dabbling in fiction writing, and learning all I could about Autism Spectrum Disorder.
The tragedies that occured on September 11, 2001 changed that forever. All at once, I was wakened to the great world around me, and saw that though our struggles were sometimes severe, ours were hardly the worst or the most dire. I opened my eyes to the political landscape that was unfolding around me and what I saw broke my heart. During the 2004 Presidential elections I saw the hate and the misunderstanding within our diverse America pulling apart our great nation on the basis of partisan and ideological lines. My naivete and confidence in the security of America was shaken. Not only were we being attacked from the outside, we were attacking each other from within.
Prior to 9/11, I'd been almost single-mindedly devoting myself to ensuring my children would be prepared to participate in this nation as independent, competent adults when the time came. So much so, that I had shut out the fact that the America they would "fly the nest" to participate in may not be the same nation I had grown up in. That is why I became politically active. I wanted to do my part to ensure that the America my boys' were to become adults would be a better America, not one split and divided, perhaps even to the point of moving toward a second Civil War.
It was no longer enough to do my duty by simply voting. I had to be informed. I had to speak out. I had to work to ensure that not only would my children be capable of participating in this great nation of ours, but our great nation would still be here when they were ready. That is how I stumbled onto WatchBlog. I was looking for a good, effective, efficient way to sample all the views this diverse nation has to offer, so I could more solidly determine where I stand. As importantly, I wanted to know how I could help change things so this nation was going in the right direction, towards stability and security, towards hope and opportunity, towards freedom and responsibility. For a while WatchBlog disappointed me in this regard. There was a lot of talk, but there was rarely any real results from our discussions. In the end, little if anything, changed.
Then, along came David Remer with an idea. His idea was simple and straight-forward. It was an idea that had been tried before and failed. And yet, this idea came with a passion, a conviction, and a fresh approach that I found very alluring. The concept itself was something I already supported and understood, that was the easy part. The vehicle, however, was active, it was time-consuming, and it was something I knew without hesitation that I wanted to be a part of, no matter how much it ate away the little time I reserved for rest and relaxation. And so, I became a staff member when VOID was ready to take me on.
I bring determination and conviction to this organization. I bring a familiarity with government paperwork and red-tape; as I've dealt with more than my fair share in securing assistance for my three special needs children. I bring a thoroughness that's not easy to explain. To put it simply, I'm literally the kind of person whose gotten fired from a fast food restaurant because I took the time and effort to ensure every sandwich I made looked like the pictures over the counter.
VOID is for me, a work in progress, a learning process, with a very definite, very worthy goal that motivates me forward. I believe that all my efforts are worthwhile because VOID is worthwhile, and will help ensure that the America my boys step into on their own, is the great nation that it was always meant to be.
Patrons
Spring Branch, TX
Lifetime Members
Mr. Keith Eriksen, Oh.
David Remer, Tx.
Martha Remer, Tx.
H. Remer, Tx.
Members-Donors
Steve Teplick, AL.
K. Simmons, AR.
Daniel Lindenstruth, AZ.
T. Reblitz, AZ.
Timothy Glenn, AZ.
Marianne Beck, CA.
Carolyn Dunbar, CA.
JoAnne L. Humphries, CA.
Donald Sander, CA.
Brent Wahl, CA.
Deborah Yuhre. CA.
CK - CO.
Arthur Lindsey, CO.
Bruce Stevens, CO.
John Carroll, FL.
Charles Drueding, FL.
Frank Scarfone, FL.
Joseph Schimmoller, FL.
Kimberly Cloud, IN.
Kerry Mullins, IN.
Mr. & Mrs. McCann, IN.
Rudolph Warnock, KY.
Zeb Pike, ME.
Thomas DuPont, MI.
Joel Smiler, MI.
Richard Miller, MI.
Roger Bisges, MO.
Kim Hegman, MO.
Joseph Payne, MO.
Gary Stetler, MO.
William Nealey, NC.
Christy Saffle, NC.
Robert Massena, NY.
F. McIntyre, NY.
James Thatcher, NV.
Robert Hammond, OR.
Barry Lukens, PA.
Sudesh Singh Family, PA.
Ann & Andrew Kugler, TX.
David & Martha Remer Family, TX.
Joe Summars, TX.
William Arthur, TX.
Edward H Southwick Jr Family, UT.
Carolyn Butta, VA.
Cecil Lynch, VA.
Mr./Mrs. Eulous F. Grubb Jr, VA.
Roger Bobbitt, VA.
PJ's Carousel Collection, VA.
John Gray Family, VA.
Henry P. Johnson III, VA.
Roy Ellis, VA.
Jim McDonald, VA.
Patricia Large-Scott, VA.
Taylor Daly, VA.
Shirley Lindamood, VA.
Rhea M Stewart, VA.
Tyler A. Thorpe, VA.
Edward Southwick, Jr., UT.
Supporters
Steve Teplick, AL.
Mary Gardner, AR.
Michael Hammett, AR.
Susan Roberts, AR.
Frank Perazelli, AZ.
Joel Smiler, AZ.
william J Borgers, CA.
Chefpro, CA.
JoAnne Humphries, CA.
Cory Kellner, CA.
John Kok, CA.
Robert A. Maurer, CA.
Bruce Melville, CA.
Debra Noe, CA.
James Remer, CA.
David Rice, CA.
John Rush, CA.
Brent Wahl, CA.
Debra Yuhre, CA.
Kaelen Johnson, CO.
Randee Priest, CO.
Bruce Stevens, CO.
William Nealon, CT.
Brent Adams, FL.
Michael Depouw, FL.
Joe Gonzalez Sr., FL.
Keith Hanson, FL.
Jim Hill, FL.
Jerome Leavitt, FL.
Frank Scarfone, FL.
Joseph Schimmoller, FL.
Diane Collins, GA.
Douglas Lashley, GA.
Christopher Shaw, GA.
Paul Trimmer, GA.
Daniel daCosta, GA.
John Duzik, ID.
US Prospector, ID.
Terry Badgley, IL.
Sam Poulos, IL.
Kenny Stevens, IL.
Kimberly Cloud, IN.
Brian Earnhart, IN.
Leeta Jordan, IN.
Barbara Kolada, IN.
Larry Rubrich, IN.
Leslie & Collene Young, IN.
David Stoll, KS.
Douglas Watts, KS.
Donald Clare, KY.
Tom O'Neill, KY.
Patricia Bertuzzi, MA.
Phillip Bourgelais, MA.
Rick Sands, MA.
Pamela Perna, MD.
Jerome Denk Jr., MD.
Cynthia Ewing, MD.
Barbara Fallon, MD.
James McGonigle, MD.
Gilbert Munk, MD.
Elaine Reynolds, MD.
Dreamquest, MI.
Thomas DuPont, MI.
Duane Trotter, MI.
Kim Hegman, MO.
Josh Johnmeyer, MO.
Kimberly Kahl, MO.
Jeff Wallace, MO.
Joseph Payne, MO.
Stanley Anderson, MN.
Steve Katalinich, MN.
Jason Plugge, MN.
Wendy Chadwell, NC
Dawn Langley, NC
William Nealey, NC
Christy Saffle, NC
Rick Sapir, NC
David Stein, NJ
Eric Nordstrom, NJ
Gary Moore, NJ
Farrell Hamill, NM
A.M.Amezaga Jr, NV.
Gina Goss, NV.
Bonnie Groenert, NV
Heidi Konsten, NV.
Barbara Battibulli, NY.
Karl Bienwald, NY.
Stan Cruden, NY.
Daniel Fitzgerald, NY.
Peter Jaworski, NY.
Alan Koss, NY.
KRG, NY
William LaFleur, NY
William Nary, NY
Michael Okoniewski, NY.
Jacqueline O'Neill, NY.
Robert Rigano, NY.
Don Weeks, NY.
Ralph Van Horn, Oh.
Richard Hollenbeck, Oh.
Louis Gonsalves, OK.
Kenneth Compton, OK.
Robert Hammond, OR.
Rudolf Haydu, PA.
Barry Lukens, PA.
Diane Kinney, PA.
William Karg, PA.
John Powell, PA.
Ron Shipe, PA.
Sudesh Singh Family, PA.
Clarence Walker, PA.
Raymond Rivet, RI
Janet Jensen, SD.
Jeff Hermanson, SD.
Cathy Berry, SC.
Richie McLawhorn Jr, SC.
Prescilla Phelps, TN.
David Eckert, TN.
Robert Hawkins, TN.
William Rhyne, TN.
Brent Alexander, TX.
Terry Blanchard, TX.
Jim Borden, TX.
Glenn Cheney, TX.
Darlene Galloway, TX.
Ann & Andrew Kugler, TX.
Charlotte McCreary, TX.
David & Martha Remer, TX.
Laura Rice, TX.
Melanie Schroeder, TX.
Edward Shipley, TX.
Tracy Wolfe, TX.
Paul Lederer, UT.
Don P. Snyder, UT.
Carolyn Butta, VA.
Cecil Lynch, VA.
Mr./Mrs. Eulous F. Grubb Jr, VA.
Roger Bobbitt, VA.
John Gray Family, VA.
Mary Ann Glueckert, VA.
Henry P. Johnson III, VA.
Jim McDonald, VA.
Taylor Daly, VA.
Tyler A. Thorpe, VA.
Shirley Lindamood, VA.
Rhea M Stewart, VA.
Roy Ellis, VA.
Jim McDaniel, VA.
Patricia Large-Scott, VA.
Mark Davenport, WA.
Jack Fergus, WA.
Stephanie Christ, WI.
William Downs, WI.
Dennis Relihan, WI.
Joel Straub, WI.