ADELA GONZALEZ DEL VALLE, Executive Director

My family left Cuba shortly after Fidel Castro came to power, spent sometime in the United States before settling in Puerto Rico, where I was born. In 1972 my family relocated to the Bay Area, and in November 2005 I relocated to Truckee.

My career was born out of a series of circumstances that provided me with a strong yearning to be part of a movement of "culture brokers" -- those who bridge individuals and communities to effectively address multicultural issues and social-economic challenges. While attending City College of San Francisco I was recruited to take part in a federally funded HIV Peer Educator Program, which taught me the important value of developing culturally appropriate services that are relevant to the community.

As the Program Director for the Community Health Outreach Worker's Training Center, I provided supervision of the Training Center staff and Goodwill-JOBS interns, acted as facilitator of trainings throughout the state of California and coordinated with State Office of AIDS sub-contractors and community-based organizations to provide trainings throughout the State of California. My work with Community Health Outreach Workers resulted in an interest to work in a rural community to empower community and create networks of support.     

My employment history has given me experience and expertise in a variety of organizational, administrative and operational realms. The work I have done has allowed me the opportunity to work with a diverse array of people in a wide variety of environments and cultural settings.

Like most of the staff, I am a transplant to Truckee. I am originally from Montenegro, part of the former Yugoslavia. I moved to the United States at the age of 9 with my family when civil war broke out. We lived in Los Angeles until I moved to the Bay Area to attend U.C. Berkeley. At Berkeley I studied international development. After graduation I lived in Croatia as a Fulbright Fellow, researching minority rights within the European Union. In Croatia I met my husband, Jozo. We married in 2007 in Bosnia.

After my time in Croatia I attended Tufts University where I received my Master of Arts degree in International Affairs. I then moved to Bosnia where I worked for the United Nations. Although I loved my time abroad and the experiences I gained, I realized that I was really interested in promoting social justice in the United States. As a result, in 2008 Jozo and I moved back to the States. After a few false starts, we ended up in Truckee. Jozo works at the Agriculture Inspection Station and I enjoy working with our diverse community members and awesome FRC staff.

I was born in the former Soviet Union and moved as a child to the United States with my family. As a result, I speak Russian. My family's experience has instilled in me a lifelong interest in social justice, including helping new immigrants succeed in the Untied States. I love being part of the Truckee community and exploring the Sierras since 2003.I am the Legal Advocate and Mediator for the Community Legal Program. 

I have completed intensive mediation trainings with the Center for Mediation in Law at Green Gulch, Marin County, the East Bay Mediation Center and a Mediation Practicum with the Washoe County Family Court Mediation Program.

I received my undergraduate degree from UC Berkeley and law degree from UC Hastings in San Francisco. At UC Hastings, I served on the Hastings Public Interest Law Foundation Board and participated in the Employment Law and Civil Justice Individual Representation Clinics.

I was born here in Truckee California along with my twin sister Estela Iniguez. I also have four brothers two of whom are twins -- yes, two sets of twins in our family. My poor mother is such an incredible lady. I am married to my wonderful husband, Jose, and I have an incredible baby named Ivan who was born in April 2009. I worked for Nevada County from 1998-2003 and loved my job and dealing with people. Although it was great, I left my job to move with my husband in 2003. Then we came back and I started to work at Plumas Bank and was there for 1 1/2 years until I decided to have my little man, Ivan, (the best thing that has ever happened to me). So I stopped working at Plumas Bank and started to work here at the Family Resource Center of Truckee in February 2010. I really love working here and being able to help our clients is awesome. I hope to be able to serve the Truckee community in many ways so that I can make a difference like my brother Officer Arnie has done, and hope to be here as long as I can!

I was born in Seattle and grew up there with my younger sister and wonderful parents. I also attended college in Seattle, and graduated with my degree in Psychology and Spanish from the University of Washington. After college, I worked for a psychiatric clinic in downtown Seattle, helping chronically mentally-ill adults attain much-needed support and services. I greatly enjoyed working with such a diverse and dynamic community, but having always yearned to see more of the world, I left to explore Central and South America. I then spent a year in Southeast Asia, traveling and teaching English in Vietnam. Experiencing various cultures and occupations, both in the U.S. and abroad, further strengthened my desire to return to working in community-based nonprofits here in the U.S. While I loved city life in the Pacific Northwest, I've always been drawn to the mountains, so I decided to move to Lake Tahoe to experience life in a smaller community in the beautiful Sierra Nevada. I started at the FRC as the Lead Family Advocate in March 2011. I am grateful for the opportunity to work with the wonderful FRC staff and other local organizations to assist and empower families in the Truckee community.

I moved to Truckee from the east coast four years ago to enjoy the mountain lifestyle with my family. I learned about the Family Resource Center of Truckee at a Queen of Hearts volunteer fair through the Truckee Tahoe Community Foundation. I was immediately drawn to the work and commitment of the FRC staff and started volunteering in the legal self-help and mediation program. Soon thereafter, I joined the Board of Directors and worked to advance the FRC's mission and build a free legal services program. I was ultimately hired as the part-time Managing Attorney in March of 2009.

I graduated from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service with a degree in Latin American Studies. I received my law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 1992. I have held a wide variety of jobs from working as a police officer, clerking for a federal judge in Washington, D.C., working at a large national law firm, and then in-house doing employment defense work for colleges and universities. I have also been a volunteer Court Appointed Special Advocate, working with Central American families embroiled in the abuse and neglect system in the Washington, D.C. area. I have traveled extensively through Latin America and the rest of the world and enjoy working with partners and clients from a wide array of backgrounds.

I love working in a small town where I have the opportunity to work with families from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds and cultures. I am also passionate about the need for affordable housing and volunteer on the Town of Truckee Housing Advisory Workgroup.

MEGAN HUCKINS, Family Advocate

I was born and raised in Bangor, ME with my loving parents and older brother. After graduating from college with a degree in Visual Communications, I became interested in exploring other regions and using my design talents to promote service and non-profit organizations. I joined AmeriCorps and was placed with an organization on the North shore of Lake Tahoe. I enjoyed working with people from different backgrounds and felt a strong desire to become more involved in foreign cultures and further develop my Spanish Language skills. I volunteered for an international organization and worked in an understaffed school in Guatemala. For the next two years I worked for this organization in the Boston office as well as heading teaching projects in Guatemala and Peru. I loved my experience abroad and greatly enjoyed getting to know and work with other cultures. After two years I was ready to be closer to my family and friends and was excited about being able to continue the work I am passionate about at home in the United States. I moved back to Tahoe and began working at the FRC in August of 2010.