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Meet our professional staff!

Carla Alexander

Carla has lived in the North State since 1972. She grew up in Gridley, California and considers herself to be just a country girl at heart. She attended California State University, Chico, where she earned a BA degree in Social Welfare and Corrections. She has forty-two years of experience working with families and individuals by creating and developing programs in the non-profit social services and medical services fields. She is a successful grant writer and has worked in numerous community collaboratives and partnerships to help make the North State a better place.

Carla believes that good physical, mental, and spiritual health is something we all need. The Annex in Anderson provides a place where she can share information and encouragement with all people who are interested in improving their overall wellness. Carla loves her family, gardening, swimming, reading, Sam the dog, and meeting new people.

Carole Hodges, R.N.

Carole (Tomei) Hodges was born and raised in the North State. She is a proud graduate of Anderson Union High School. After graduating from St. Francis School of Nursing in San Francisco with her R.N. degree she returned to Redding and worked as a registered nurse at what was then, Memorial Hospital, which later became Redding Medical Center. As a nurse she worked in every area including as a surgical nurse, intensive care, and emergency room which led to her becoming a pre-hospital nurse on the ambulance/helicopter. The last fifteen years before her retirement from hospital nursing she was the night supervisor. She has also been a legal consultant, nursing instructor at Shasta College, and a nurse practitioner for thirty years. Carole is finally (mostly) retired.

Carole has a passion to see people realize their full life potential. Through her work at The Annex she is committed to "giving back" to the residents of the North State by teaching and empowering people to make life-style decisions that will lead to more full and productive lives. She is grateful to be able to continue to serve and help people envision health and happiness.

Addie Jackson, Ed.D.

Addie moved to the North State four and a half years ago from Hawaii where she lived for nearly 20 years. She grew up in Texas but spent most of her adult life in central and Southern California. She earned a Master's degree in marital and family therapy from Azusa Pacific University and is a licensed marriage and family therapist in Hawaii. After working for many years in various areas of behavioral and mental health in California and Hawaii, including working in substance abuse treatment, community mental health, outpatient behavioral health for a Christian hospital, and private practice counseling and therapy services, her career moved to teaching graduate students and to positions within higher education. She earned a doctoral (Ed.D.) degree in organizational leadership with an emphasis in higher education administration. Currently, she is the Dean of Graduate Professional Studies at Simpson University in Redding.

Despite a busy career at the university, Addie is excited about being part of the team that has established The Annex in Anderson, California, and about the mission and vision of this unique community based service. She, along with the entire leadership team, is dedicated to helping people in the North State achieve maximum wellness in all areas of life by providing education and information, group and individual support. She believes her calling is to serve and empower people who may be struggling or searching to find meaning, wellness, and wholeness, even in perplexing or discouraging circumstances.

Jean Peterson, R.N.

Jean was born in Painesville, Ohio, not very far from Lake Erie but grew up in Ohio, Oregon, and Washington (or maybe she is still growing up, so add California). She received a B.A. in English from Walla Walla College in Washington and taught high school students for almost three years. Jean took some time off working to have three sons but then went back to school to earn her R.N. degree. She has spent most of her nursing career working in critical care areas but she has also worked as a public health nurse and as a surveyor for California Department of Health Services. More recently she has returned to a first love and now teaches nursing students and is the Director of Nursing.

In Jean's role at The Annex she is able to combine her two passions of teaching and nursing. Our bodies are "fearfully and wonderfully made." No matter how many times she studies a body system, she is amazed at how complex God made us. Jean loves being able to share her enthusiasm for healthy, happy bodies with our new friends who attend programs and benefit from the services we offer at The Annex.

Sylvia Yzaguirre

Sylvia was born and raised in Southern California where she graduated from Mountain View High School in Santa Ana. A very wise and caring woman, she believes that her life experiences have provided the most important education. She has worked in many different areas of service including as a waitress, cashier, cook and as a receptionist for the Women Infants and Children (WIC) program. For the past fifteen years she has been working for the Shasta County Health and Human Services Agency, Public Health at the South County Regional Office in Anderson. For seven of those years she worked as a Community Health Advocate and for the past eight years has been a Community Organizer. She works to partner with and support the efforts of grass roots organizations and local residents to improve their community, neighborhoods, and well-being by empowering them and creating opportunities to help develop leadership skills.

Both in her professional role with Public Health and in her volunteer work at The Annex, Sylvia is committed especially to helping the Hispanic residents of Shasta County. As a rural community this population lacks the resources to help them achieve their full potential. Sylvia has dedicated her time to help break down barriers this population faces. She provides assistance from the knowledge she has acquired working in Public Health and others.

Our Wonderful Support Staff:

Without the support and generously of these and many other people we could not offer the services we do. We consider ourselves blessed beyond measure to be able to work together to serve others.

Webmaster: Susanne Chazotte gives generously to create and maintain our website.

IT Support: Mark Peterson volunteers his time and resources to ensure that our IT systems are working properly.  

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