At Magdala House, we hire people who lead with heart. People who advocate, show up, and fight for the dignity of those we serve—people like Amber.
Amber joined Magdala in June 2023 as a case manager for our Unhoused and Emergency Shelter Programs. From her very first day, it was clear—she wasn’t here to simply do a job. She was here to make a difference. She had moved to St. Louis from Arizona after calling daily for a week just to land an interview. She wasn’t waiting for opportunity—she created her own.
But Amber’s impact didn’t stop at the door.
Amber’s recent promotion to Assistant Director of our Intellectually and Developmentally Disabled (IDD) Program was inspired by a powerful experience she had while serving in our Unhouse and Emergency Shelter Programs.
While supporting two clients with intellectual disabilities who had been living in shelters and navigating homelessness, Amber discovered how easily people with complex needs can be forgotten when systems don’t communicate. They had no housing stability, no benefits, and no clear path forward.
Amber didn’t see it as someone else’s responsibility. She made it her mission.
She pieced together their records, connected the dots between agencies, and partnered with state and federal offices to secure long-overdue services. Along the way, she became more than a case manager—she became their advocate, their support system, and someone they now call “Momma.”
“They didn’t have anybody,” Amber said. “I just became their person.”
This experience didn’t just change the lives of those clients—it shaped Amber’s calling. Her move into the IDD Program was a natural evolution of her work, grounded in compassion, advocacy, and a deep commitment to ensuring no one falls through the cracks.
Amber’s advocacy runs deep because it’s personal. She’s the mother of a preteen autistic son and has fostered—and eventually adopted—14 children from the same extended family. Many came from environments marked by trauma. Some had been placed in group homes. Others were at risk of slipping through the system simply because no one stepped in.
Amber stepped in.
“I spent my twenties raising kids,” she says. “Now in my thirties, I’m living my best life—but they made me who I am.”
Raised by her grandmother in Arizona, Amber grew up in a home filled with compassion. Her grandmother often cared for the children of single moms in the neighborhood so they could go to work or interviews. That legacy lives on in Amber—only now, she’s extending that care to adults who have never had a place to feel safe, seen, or supported.
Whether she’s taking clients to appointments, advocating for services, or hosting community-building nights in our Independent Supportive Living homes, Amber shows up—loudly and fully. She’s the voice in rooms clients aren’t invited to. The one who cuts through red tape. The one clients call “Momma.”
“I don’t think I want to be a politician,” she says. “I just want to be the bridge. I want to be the voice.”
Amber, you already are.
