The Crookston Care and Share introduces Executive Director Carolina Alfonso as their newest member.
Alfonso, a Crookston native, spent fifteen years in Crookston before moving to New York for ten years. Once she came back to Minnesota, she attended UMC and received her bachelor’s degree in Communications and a minor in psychology; following her time at UMC, she went on to get a master’s degree from the University of North Dakota in counseling and therapy.
Previously, Alfonso had property management experience for fifteen years and found a passion for seeking housing for people in need. “I was able to utilize housing people in crisis,” said Alfonso, “Housing people facing homelessness, I was able to network with the community. The same network that I’m utilizing in this current position is a network that I’ve established prior in my other position.”
Alfonso has also worked in the therapy field, another one of her passions, especially when working with individuals struggling with their housing situations. She firmly believes that a fundamental human right is the ability to be housed. “This has allowed me to see the un-housed in a different perspective,” said Alfonso, “Everybody faces challenges, and how do we put names to faces to help the people in our community.”
Alfonso’s official start date as executive director was September 11 of this year. Alfonso said that since she started, there have been many things to learn in the field. Previous executive director of Care and Share, Jane Freeman, has been guiding and training Alfonso to get her acclimated into the position. Alfonso spoke about Freeman in high praise and is very thankful for her help during the training process.
“While Observing Jane, I’ve witnessed a strong and passionate woman,” said Alfonso, “She has taken her blood, sweat, and tears and poured it into the Care and Share. She’s done that for her employees; she has created a foundation where they can be stable and move to the next level, and we’re hoping we continue that trend with me in that position.”
When asked about her goals, Alfonso believes in building an environment where people facing challenges are comfortable coming and looking for help. “My goal is literally to create an environment that people can walk into that are facing challenges,” said Alfonso, “I want them to feel welcomed, they are not judged, and no matter their faith, background, ethnicity, or mental health issues are, you have a warm place to come. And we will help you as you navigate to creating housing for yourself in the future.”
Alfonso also said she is looking to create more community involvement, open up more fundraising opportunities, and combine the Care and Share with the community and not so much be labeled as a separate entity, as well as create opportunities for residents to secure ID.
In her free time, Alfonso enjoys marathon running and training for marathons. With her last position requiring a lot of travel, she has not been able to participate in those events since being brought on to the Care and Share. She is looking forward to the opportunity to get back into running.
