MEET OUR TEAM
Larene Randle-Wade
Chief Executive Officer
Through her own experience over fifteen years ago, Larene began her career out of wanting the voices of parents in the child welfare system to be heard.
Larene joined the Parent Leadership Team with Prevent Child Abuse Minnesota in 2009. This team was created to bring parent's voices to the table through the shared collaboration with the Minnesota Department of Human Services and Prevent Child Abuse Minnesota.
As a result of being on the Parent Leadership Team, Larene was invited to sit on the advisory council for William Mitchell College of Law's Child Protection Clinic. While on that advisory council, Larene brought up the idea of parents helping parents navigate the child welfare system. With support from William Mitchell, Larene created the Parent Mentor Program.
Since 2016, the Parent Mentor Program has become a trusted ally to parents across several counties and it is continuing to expand. Her organization provides non-traditional methods of supportive services to parents in crisis. Her leadership team known as "Parent Mentors," think outside the box creating options with boldness while de-escalating crisis as a different approach. Parents appreciate the Parent Mentors as they are everyday people who can relate to the trials they are experiencing in their life.
One of the obstacles parents encounter to reunification is securing adequate housing. Roughly 10% of children entering foster care in 2015 (approximately 27,000 children) were removed from their families at least in part due to inadequate housing. In 2019, Larene added a new aspect to her company's services by offering housing support to parents who are experiencing long-term homelessness. And in 2022, she started a pilot emergency shelter which was very successful. After a short break, Lighthouse Way Emergency Shelter was re-opened and has been providing shelter to women with and without children with the goal of moving them towards permanent housing.
Minnesota One-Stop Staff
In Loving Memory
Demond Marco Jackson
November 2, 1972 - May 8, 2023
Minnesota One-Stop for Communities will greatly miss our colleague, Demond Jackson, who was with us from the very beginning when we started in 2015. Over the past 8 years, his role as a Parent Mentor Supervisor impacted over 75 families that experienced reunification. He took great joy in his work and because of it, lives were changed for the better.
Although our work will continue, we will truly miss Demond’s contribution and camaraderie.