Vanessa has been a Family Peer Support Partner since April 2023. Vanessa has been married to her husband since February 14, 2018. They are a blended family and have three children between the two of them and two dogs, a bearded dragon and a rabbit. Vanessa’s children are her world and her favorite thing to do is spend time with her family laughing and making memories.

Vanessa feels as though her entire life’s journey has led her to this field of work. Vanessa comes from a family with many struggles between addiction and mental health issues as well as having to navigate her own anxiety disorder. She worked with children with behavior difficulties, learning disabilities, as well as children with many other diagnoses.

Once she had her son, Vanessa says she had no choice but to learn to navigate and advocate through a difficult system to get answers for his disabilities. After eight years, they received the diagnosis of a rare genetic disorder called Kleefstra Syndrome that consists of learning disabilities, autism-like qualities, and mental health issues.

On her journey with her son, she crossed paths with so many other families that just needed guidance and someone to help them through a difficult process. It had truly become Vanessa’s passion to help and in doing so, she was led to FamilyWorx.

One of Vanessa's favorite parts of her role as a Family Peer Support Partner is reminding families that there is some light at the end of the tunnel and watching them find that light is so rewarding. Social media influencer Meredith Masony always says, “our story is for someone else” and it is Vanessa’s hope that her story will be the guidance someone else needs.