At its December 2024 meeting, the Avalon Board of Directors voted to add three new members: Aaron Palmer, Karen Wanza and Jeff Wojcik.
Aaron and Karen have been members of Avalon’s Voices of Community Advocates and Leaders (VOCAL) for years, and Jeff has served on the board’s Finance Committee since 2022. Jeff will serve as the board Treasurer.
Aaron Palmer
Hello, my name is Aaron Palmer. I was born in Midland, and during my life have lived in other cities throughout Michigan, even spending time as a child living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
At 13, I was sent to live on a farm with my cousin and her boyfriend, both of whom struggled with addiction. I started abusing substances as well, and have spent years after the fact as a homeless drifter looking for an answer, a purpose to my life. Today, however, I’ve been sober for almost three years, and I try to use my experiences to help others.
I came to Ann Arbor back in 2015 after hearing that the recovery community was excellent. However, never being able to find long term, stable housing I relapsed on many occasions, and eventually sought help through Washtenaw Community Mental Health.
In 2020, after decades of on and off, mostly on homelessness, by the graciousness of our caring community, I was housed.
I have been an active member of Avalon’s VOCAL for almost three years now, and have found a sense of belonging within the community.
Aside from our local VOCAL meetings, and the community activities we support, I try to take part in as much activism as possible. I go to Lansing a few times a year and meet with lawmakers in hopes of impacting policy change that will benefit our society.
I was recently a part of Ann Arbor’s A2Zero, a program that stresses carbon neutrality and community engagement as an imperative to achieving that. Over the years I have also worked with groups like Alcoholics Anonymous, leading meetings, and have taking active roles like Treasurer.
I’m looking forward to using my lived experience, proficiency in activism and community engagement to help Avalon alleviate homelessness in Ann Arbor and Washtenaw County.
Karen Wanza
Karen has a JD from NYU School of Law, where she had a Root-Tilden public-interest scholarship. She has a masters in Sociology and has written about Clarence Thomas and the book ‘The Bell Curve’ for a scholarly journal called ‘The Black Scholar’. The issue on Clarence Thomas was made into a book which was reviewed favorably by the NYT Book Review. Before coming to Ann Arbor, she worked at the UN and as Assistant Corporation Counsel for
the City of New York.
Right now she is a member of the Housing and Human Services Advisory Board (she was just reappointed to a term ending in 2027), and she has been a member of VOCAL since it began about 10 years ago. She was also involved in the Community Leadership Committee for the Dunbar Tower project. Her hobbies are gardening, baking and vegetarian cooking.
Jeff Wojcik
Jeff Wojcik is an independent consultant, providing CFO advisory and strategic management consulting services to clients across different industries. Jeff has served as a member of the Finance Committee since 2022, and he also serves as the Treasurer for the 5 Healthy Towns Foundation in Chelsea, MI. Jeff and his wife Erika have two daughters in the Chelsea School District, and they enjoy exploring the area’s many parks, playgrounds, and festivals.