“I joined the New Moms board in 2016 for a few reasons. First, years ago I served as the Director of Health Promotions at Westside Health Authority in the Austin community and New Moms was a partner of our Maternal & Child Health programs. Second, I live in the Austin community and saw the need for such quality services for young moms. Third, as the oldest of three siblings, I saw the challenges my teenage single mom experienced raising children. I lived this life. Finally, we adopted our son as a baby and while I am grateful to raise my son who is 7 years old and my sonshine, I wish his birth mother had accessed a program like New Moms to keep her children.“

One of Cody’s favorite children’s books is The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt. She and her son read this book many times from when he was 3 to 6 yrs old. She finally had to have him donate it because he was too old. They laughed hysterically every time they read the book and would give each character a different voice.