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Cassandra Nevshemal, MS
Executive Director
A resident of Walla Walla for eleven years, Cassandra grew up in Michigan, the Black Hills of South Dakota, and Wyoming. As long as she can remember, advocacy has been a core part of her experience of the world, and all that makes it unique. After living in Michigan as a child, she grew up on a cattle ranch in a tiny town called Fruitdale, SD. After beginning an undergraduate degree in Engineering, she realized that her interest was in the Human Services field, and began attending Black Hills State University, where she received a degree in Psychology. An encouraging professor recommended she attend graduate school, and she went on to complete a Master’s degree in Counseling from South Dakota State University.
Cassandra moved to Laramie, WY, and worked as a Licensed Professional Counselor in community mental health for three years. This position created a major shift in how she viewed the world, and a fire was lit inside of her to empower humans to be able to see their worth, and to dismantle the obstacles that stand in the way of people reaching their potential. Cassandra has three young sons, and is in recovery, herself.
“I aim to help remove the stigma that exists around humans in recovery. Substance abuse is a normal human reaction to trauma and pain. Every human is capable of incredible change, of incredible action. Being in recovery should be viewed as a strength, and seen as an asset by those looking to hire.” The Walla Walla Valley is her home, and she is proud to live here with her family.
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Photo by Steve Lenz
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Oliver Birchwood-Glover, LICSW, NCAC II
Program Director
Oliver discovered his lifelong interest in working for community well-being and helping others as a young child, following his mother and his grandmother as they pursued their involvement with community engagement and volunteerism. His avid interest in others and the world around him led to undergraduate studies in International Affairs and Political Science.
After a few gap years Oliver returned to graduate school and completed a Master’s degree in Social Work (MSW) from New York University in 1993. He continued with two years of post graduate studies at the Institute for Contemporary Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis (1993-1995) while also learning motivational interviewing and teaching about the stages of change and recovery for 6 ½ years at New Directions (1993-2000) in Brooklyn, NY, where he also participated in the curriculum development of an introduction to recovery class. “These were very busy years for me in terms of school, the number of people I was working with, but also in terms of how I was learning to support peers working on making changes in their lives.”
Since those days in Brooklyn Oliver has successfully completed the University of Washington - Harborview Trauma Center’s TF-CBT+ Learning Collaborative as a provider and as a supervisor (Year I). He graduated to Co-Consultant role for the 2020-2021 Learning Cohort (Year II) and will be a Leading Consultant and trainee Trainer for the 2021-2022 Learning (Year III) Collaborative series.
In his free time Oliver is a very proud father to his son, an avid Gentleman Farmer on his hobby farm of heirloom vegetables, chickens (and their eggs), warmblood horses and a Canadian goose who reigns supreme over the Farm. “Over the course of 14 years 125 trees and shrubs have been planted on the property. We are here to stay.”
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Lucinda Richards
School Recovery Navigator, Ally & Advocate
Lucinda graduated with her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Bachelor of Science in Social Services in 2018. She is currently going to school online to obtain her Masters of Social Work degree from West Virginia University and will graduate in 2023. Lucinda is originally from Texas, but has lived in Walla Walla most of her life. Lucinda has worked at DCYF and The STAR Project in the past.
Lucinda likes to roller skate, read the bible, walk and sing karaoke in her spare time. Lucinda has had family members struggle with substance use disorders and personally knows how addiction can put strain on close relationships. She hopes to strengthen individuals' recovery process at Trilogy, by being supportive, compassionate and empathic.
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Photo by Steve Lenz
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Angela Queen
Recovery Coach and Certified Peer Counselor
Angela was born and raised in Walla Walla. She graduated from Walla Walla High School where she participated in several different sports. Addiction is something she has struggled with for most of her life, but now she is in recovery. Angela is serving at Trilogy Recovery Community through the AmeriCorps program. While serving at Trilogy she has completed the Recovery to Practice Certificate Program from NAADAC. She is certified to facilitate SMART recovery meetings and has completed the Recovery Coach training through the CCAR Recovery Coach Academy. She is very excited to be a part of Trilogy Recovery Community and to be overseeing the Recovery Coach Program.
Her number one goal is to show people that recovery is possible and to instill hope to those in need. Angela's free time is spent with her two sons. She enjoys watching them play sports, and also loves fishing, camping, rafting and longboarding.
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Photo by Steve Lenz
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