My name is Arlene Angeline. I was born in Portland, Oregon and raised in Vancouver, Washington. I come from a collectivist society and identify as bi-cultural (American-Fijian) and bi-religious (Christian-Hindu). Ever since the 5th grade, it has been my goal and desire to create my own non-profit agency dedicated to assisting the most economically and socially disadvantaged groups in our society — abused and neglected children and animals.
To cultivate this vision, I received my Bachelors in Psychology and Sociology from Gonzaga University in Spokane, WA in 2014. Afterwards, I gained a Masters in Social Work from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan in 2016. Together, with my personal, professional and academic attainments, it is my hope to make an impact and propel the future of mental health and animal welfare alike. For I have a desire to serve others, hear and be heard, demonstrate compassion, while operating in a transparent and ethically sound manner, by learning how to start, from the ground up, my own non-profit therapeutic agency, which offers child and family therapy, driven by trauma focused work via animal assisted therapy, play therapy, adventure therapy, and the like. Additionally, my goals are to: honor flexible work hours, child and pet care for my staff, bereavement for pets and people alike, and finally, offering services via every insurance company that will allow me to sit on their panel. Alongside that, I wish to offer out of pocket and/or sliding scale fees, including pro bono work if and when financially available/feasible, licensing opportunities, and more. Furthermore, I have a commitment to honoring and upholding cultural humility by celebrating a diverse spectrum of holidays within the organization I hope to pay respects to the melting pot of the United States of America. Even more specifically, I wish to work with 'kill shelters' to adopt the animals that are about to be euthanized in hopes of giving these animals a second chance at life by having them serve as emotional support animals for the clientele I serve. Hand-in-paw, they can work alongside each other during their journey towards hope and restoration as they lead a new walk in life.
Taken together, I am seeking to matriculate the right to mental health care which is designed, delivered and accessible to the people and for the people, pets included. With that, I give you my commitment and sincere compassion to one day prompt a revolutionary force as opposed to an evolutionary progression. For mental health is a basic right, which millions, if not billions of humans (and animals alike), are still waiting for.
To support my aspirations, profits from my future children's books will be used to bring my dreams into reality.