Board of Directors

James Cook | Chair

James is a past co-chair of the Homeless Leadership Coalition; formerly convened the Redmond Service Providers Committee, which meets monthly to share information and coordinate services in Redmond; coordinates the Village Work Group, which meets to share experiences among the four groups building/operating village shelters in Central Oregon; and helped initiate the 17th St. Partners meetings, where service providers, city and county staff, and businesses come together to address homelessness in east Redmond.

Eleanor Bessonette | Vice Chair

Eleanor is a past President of Bend-Redmond Habitat for Humanity and a board member of Jericho Road.

Jeff Blackburn | Financial Officer

Jeff has spent over 20 years working for one of the largest financial services companies in America. His last 20 years as owner and operator of an independent insurance brokerage specializing in long-term care insurance. His volunteer passion is houselessness and food insecurity.

Anne Bohac | Recording Secretary

Bob Bohac

Bob has been involved in service to people experiencing homelessness in Redmond since 2014. He is a past board member of Jericho Road and currently their lead for outreach. He served on the Cities/County Emergency Homelessness Task Force, has participated in Redmond’s 17th St. Partners, which bring together various stakeholders to address issues arising from unhoused people camping in east Redmond, and is instrumental in coordinating a variety of services in Redmond.

Wally McKenzie

After graduating from dental school Wally spend 2 years in the Army Dental Corp before starting their private practices in Welches , Oregon. In 1980 Wally and his wife Kathy volunteered in Madagascar and were later called back as missionaries where they built dental offices and trained dentists to run them for the Malagasy Lutheran Church. In 2003 the Tanzanian Lutheran Churched called Wally and his wife Kathy asking then to help build Dodoma Christian Medical Center which grew from just a hospital into a teaching dental clinic and a whole medical complex. After they moved to Eagle Crest they helped Dawn’s house which provides sober living space for women to buy their first community house.

Staff

Josie Anders-Mize | Executive Director

Josie has over 20 years working with people in a non-profit community based setting. She holds a BA Degree in Sociology and Human Services from Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado and will complete a Professional Certificate in Human Resources from Oregon State University in late 2024. Josie’s roots began working with youth involved in the juvenile justice system. She is a certified High Fidelity Wraparound Facilitator and Coach and often uses the Wraparound philosophy when working with people in all settings. Josie has served as Chair of different Boards and has led multiple collaborative initiatives in her career in Western Colorado. Through her work with Hilltop Community Resources, Josie held many roles ending with being the Director of Regional Services. In this role, Josie oversaw a designated Family Resource Center; was responsible for leading community housing initiatives; children, youth and family programs, intimate partner violence services and a residential program for youth among many others. In the summer of 2023, Josie and her family moved to Central Oregon so that her daughter could attend COCC/OSU and her husband could lead a new branch his company opened in the construction industry. In January of 2024, Josie joined the Oasis Village team as Executive Director. Josie has a passion for facilitating community processes that invoke change, equity, justice and advocacy for people whose voices have been in the margins of communities. In her free time, Josie loves to read, listen to podcasts, camp and travel with her family.

Alison McKinney | Program Manager