What first attracted you to Maybelle Center?
Atalanta (she/her): My original career path was in film and television production. When the market took a big downturn, I started working with a Bay Area non-profit. It gave me a small window into the world of folks who are really struggling and how something small like an educational loan can really change a family’s perspective on their ability to improve things for themselves.
Maybelle Center was working within that same paradigm of helping people help themselves—that resonated with me in a way I could really relate to from previous experience.
On a more personal note, my mom was a heroin addict my whole life, and I eventually lost her to HIV/AIDS. My childhood, and that of my sister’s, was really overlaid by the struggles she had with drugs, homelessness, mental illness, and trying to get clean and be there for her daughters. I see Maybelle doing work in the community that’s really important for folks struggling along those lines.
To have a place like the Center where people are supported in an environment where they can become more self-confident or connect with something they need in their lives. That was something that felt really important for me to be a part of—and one of the things that attracted me to Maybelle Center.
I was angry at my mom for such a long time. But I’ve come to terms with it and now understand she wasn’t in control of a lot of it. Understanding that dynamic has given me a better ability to accept people where they are. And that’s what Maybelle Center does.
What were your first impressions of Maybelle Center?
Honestly, I think I was a bit intimidated by Maybelle Center initially. Maybelle wasn’t trying to do something easy—it’s trying to do something really hard. It wasn’t a service model that was easy to understand at first. Was it housing? Was it a connection hub?
But meeting with members during the interview was really significant to me—I’ve never been interviewed by the folks who most stood to benefit from it. Connection is so highly valued at Maybelle—you put your money where your mouth is. Other organizations talk about relationships, but here, the work is relationships.
How has the pandemic changed how you do your job?
Beyond the obvious stuff, I think the pandemic has given me the opportunity to connect with people at a deeper level. Many people now understand what our mission is about because they’ve had a small experience of what it feels like to be isolated. When I have a conversation with somebody about how hard isolation can be on a person—mentally, psychologically, and even physically—now I don’t have to theoretically explain how important connection is—they can relate to it experientially.
What would others be surprised to learn about you?
People usually assume I’m English because of my rapidly fading accent and how much tea I drink. But I’m very much American—I have American parents, I moved here when I was a teenager, and I spent a lot of time here throughout my life.
People are also fairly amazed and impressed that I’ve climbed El Capitan. Which is frequently followed by questions about how long it took (3 days)—and then THE question, “How do you poop up there?”
