Melanie Lamore Gagnon

Nominator’s Comments:
“As the Director of Shelter Services at Safe Voices, Melanie is truly committed to ensuring that victims of domestic violence and their families have a safe place to go by making our 17-bed emergency shelter a trauma-responsive environment and ensuring that our transitional housing program best supports survivors so they and their children can live in a home, safe and free from violence. Melanie is committed to working towards ending homeless in the LA area. To that end, Melanie serves on many boards and committees in the LA area where homeless and resources are comprehensively addressed for both gaps in services and needed enhancements or changes for already existing programs.

Melanie consistently brings the needs and specific realities of survivors of domestic violence to the forefront of her work. As an licensed clinical social worker, Melanie truly understands the complicated world we live in and utilizes a trauma-informed/responsive lens in all that she does for survivors of domestic violence in the LA area. Beyond her work at Safe Voices, Melanie serves on the board of directors for the Lewiston Education Fund, a non-profit organization that funds projects and programs that expand educational opportunities and enhances academic excellence for children in the Lewiston Public Schools.”