Associate Director
Jessica
Jessica began working as a caregiver in 2004, from 2004-2011 she worked in multiple hospitals and facilities where she saw firsthand how the medical system wasn’t set up for effective long-term care. During this time Jessica had started and grew her family and decided it was time to move back to the Methow Valley where she is from, to raise her young family and be closer to her extended family. It was here that she was able to first experience the greenhouse model we have at Jamie’s Place (the first and only at the time in Washington State) she fell in love with how different this home was compared to other adult care facilities she had worked in. Through hard work, dedication and the love of the elders she cared for Jessica began working as a shahbaz for Jamie’s Place, became a manager, then administrative assistant of Jamie’s Place and is now leading Jamie’s Place elders and staff as the Associate Director, along with teaching multiple classes to our staff and community members. She was able to go back to school and further her education around long-term care and end of life while juggling raising a family and working. Jessica is a true example of how the greenhouse model works and can succeed for both caregivers and the elders they care for, creating a wonderful job and home.
Jessica lives in the Methow Valley with her amazing children and family, her faith is the motivation behind all things in her life and is what pushes her to be a great mother, caregiver, and boss.
Executive Director
Rana
Rana Clarke has been a Registered Nurse for over 30 years specializing in critical care, trauma and cardiovascular surgery. Through the intensity and complexity of critical care nursing she has found a new focus and passion for end-of-life care. Rana has worked with pioneers in the field, the founder of No One Dies Alone (NODA) and The Sacred Dying Foundation. Rana collaborated with Sacred Dying developing an innovative web-based educational tool for the training of health care providers to care for patients as they go through the natural dying process. Rana traveled to Kenya in 2013 and fell in love with the natural beauty, traditional cultures and the Maasai people. Rana worked with the local villages for 6 years to develop a women’s health initiative to put an end to female genital mutilation. Rana is currently the Executive Director of Jamie’s Place, an Adult Family Home in Winthrop, Wa. where she is working with local agencies to improve access to resources and barriers to care.
Yadira
Admin Assistant
Yadira grew up in the Methow Valley, graduating in 2010. Her first job as a caregiver was in a well known “institutionalized” facility in 2013. Having an entire floor with over 10 residents to attend to on a strict and short time schedule, she immediately felt the frustrations of not being able to spend quality time with the residents, who needed quality care and attention. She would try to spend as much time as possible with each resident during rounds, only being able to do so for minutes at a time before being paged and asked why it was taking so long to finish the assigned tasks. “It never felt right. They needed companionship, i really wanted to provide that, but the job didn’t allow for the extra time—everyone else also seemed more focused on just doing a “job” and going home. I never forgot about them, and that was over 10 years ago.” Moving back to the Valley in 2017, Yadira was introduced to Jamie’s Place and the Green House Project. She worked as a Shabaz from 2017-2018, returning in 2022. Yadira is now Administrative Assistant at Jamie’s Place where she has been working on implementing more streamlined administrative processes.
“Being in a Green House setting where the focus is on all resident needs, feels right. Caregiving is so much more than just a job.” Yadira lives with her crazy orange cat Miko, and hopes to someday start an animal sanctuary.
Elizabeth
Elizabeth moved to the Methow Valley in 2010. She graduated with her diploma from the Independent Learning Center in 2014. Elizabeth is a mother of two girls Jennifer and Natalia Rodriguez. She lives with her husband Luis Rodriguez, her two girls and their dog (Luna) in Twisp. Elizabeth started working at Jamie’s Place in 2022, she wanted to give something back to the community and her mother Edu Dominguez has been a caregiver at Jamie’s Place since 2014. She asked her mother about her role as a caregiver and after listening to her love for Jamie’s Place it drew her interest and curiosity for the job. On her first day Elizabeth says she fell in love with the elders and the way they are treated at Jamie’s Place. She loves that it is not like a traditional nursing home, that we support the elder’s independence. Through Jamie’s Place she was able to obtain her health care aid license, and her Certified Nursing Assistant license. Elizabeth says “I see Jamie’s Place as family, I know the elders and they know me. The admin staff, nurses and my caregiver peers, we all support and care for each other”. Eli has recently been promoted to Jamie’s Place Manager.
Shahbaz/ Manager
Social Media Manager/ Website design
Mallory
Mallory has worked at Jamie’s Place for a number of years. Her roles have included shahbaz, house manager, and most recently our social media manager, as well as re-designing and updating our website. Mallory is a second-generation end-of-life specialist, watching and learning from her mother as she grew up, her mother gave her the passion to help care for elders in the final years of their life, and pursue a career in healthcare for the last decade. Mallory recently has become a Death Doula and works with a multitude of organizations in the community to help serve our elders and find more care and support for those in need. She lives in the Methow Valley with her Husband, two dogs, cate and chickens. She follows her passion for nature into the woods, which is where you are most likely to stumble upon her, with twigs and leaves in her hair, and a smile on her face.