Cheri Tinker, president and executive director of the North Olympic Regional Veteran’s Housing Network, will give a presentation about the power of community engagement to influence positive life outcomes for the homeless veterans of Clallam and Jefferson counties. The April 25 event will begin at 6:30 p.m., and is free and open to the public.

Tinker and other advocates began with a common vision in 2009, and in 10 years have grown Sarge’s Place, a shelter in Forks for homeless veterans, to include two permanent supportive housing projects and a small farm. It also operates two businesses which help support veterans and aid in the sustainability of these non-profit programs.

“It is through community engagement and support that our programs have flourished and our Veterans have had the ability to heal themselves,” Tinker said. “I am constantly seeking new and challenging ways to create change for our veterans.”

Tinker will share stories of resiliency, healing and growth that she has witnessed in the Veterans of NORVHN, and how a social service agency can impact economic growth in the Forks community while crafting real change, one life at a time.

Studium West is a free community lecture series sponsored by Peninsula College Forks, located at 481 S. Forks Avenue.

For more information contact Deborah Scannell at (360) 374-3223.