Tori Shuler is the Denver Director for Fostering Great Ideas, a non-profit organization that reimagines foster care. Tori also serves on the Board of Directors for The Colorado Child Protection Ombudsman and The Office of The Child's Representative. Tori experienced foster care multiple times in her childhood and exited the system on her 18th birthday through emancipation. Motivated from her foster care experience Tori is dedicated to improving foster care and elevating the voice of people with lived experience. Tori is a graduate of University of Colorado-Denver and lives in Aurora with her family. Tori enjoys decorating cakes as a hobby and is an avid lover of basset hounds.

Gracie moved from Wisconsin to Duluth to attend the University of Minnesota-Duluth, where she quickly fell in love with the city. At UMD, she earned bachelor’s degrees in both Biochemistry and Criminology. During her undergraduate career, she served on the Sexual Misconduct Hearing Committee, tutored in math and chemistry courses, was a teaching assistant for the criminology department, and completed an internship at First Witness. Throughout her time at UMD, Gracie focused on coursework in Psychopathy and Crime, Understanding Violence, Criminal Forensic Psychology, and Sociology of Gender. After graduation, Gracie continued her work with First Witness as the Operations Assistant.

Before working at First Witness, Gracie worked at a local residential addiction treatment facility, where she gained a passion for advocating for marginalized individuals who had experienced severe trauma in their lives. She also worked at afterschool programs in the area for three years, and spent her summers outside at camp, teaching kids how to paddle, climb, bike, and hike. These positions, combined with her education, fostered her love for working with children and families and strengthened her knowledge of how trauma affects children, adolescents, and adults.

In her free time, Gracie enjoys paddling up the North Shore, trying new coffee shops, going on long hikes, and watching even longer movies.

Kara is passionate about helping parents navigate attachment issues with their children and provide them with practical tools they can use in their everyday life that will help provide opportunities for connection and attachment.

Amy has had a heart for children in foster care since the age of 15, when she was recruited as a counselor for Camp Horizon of Georgia, a summer camp for children in care. What started as a week-long commitment turned into a passion that spanned more than twenty years. Amy also served as a foster care counselor in a residential treatment home and as a CASA. Her work as a School Psychologist and life coach for teenagers gave her a front row seat to the ups and downs of school life children encounter including the joys, the scrapes, the disappointments, and the victories. 

Amy is currently earning her master’s degree in counseling at Adams State University and plans to practice from an attachment based lens, incorporating Internal Family Systems (IFS). Her goal is to walk alongside those she works with, supporting their healing while encouraging empowerment and agency. She is grateful to be at Be the Source as part of her graduate training, and considers it a privilege to contribute to such a vital mission.

Her entire extended family lives in the South, which makes her family a bit of a tumbleweed out here in Colorado. For the past 11 years she has lived in Colorado with her husband who has an affinity for endurance races and their tiny white dog, Gizmo, who unashamedly runs the household. Their two wonderful adult daughters, ages 21 and 24, have stretched her heart and mind in countless ways.

When she is not studying or working, Amy loves all things outdoors (except snakes!) and dreams of living in eternal summer weather one day. She finds joy in gardens of every kind, loves belly laughing with friends, and treasures time with animals. She also speaks a little French and is fairly fluent in sarcasm.

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Karen Wolf is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, born and raised in Colorado. She has two decades of experience as a mental health professional with children of all ages and families. Karen currently serves as the Manager of Mental Health and Intervention Services at Clayton Early Learning in Denver and worked for several years in residential treatment before that. She has a strong passion for helping people understand trauma in a way that makes practical sense. Karen also has a great deal of experience with and appreciation for foster and kinship caregivers. With a deep understanding of how important it is for children to have connections with safe and trusted adults, she always looks forward to facilitating sessions for Be the Source!

Sarah has her degree in social work from Metropolitan State University with an emphasis in child and adolescent mental health.

She has worked for Denver Department of Human Services Child Welfare for over 3 years as an ongoing social caseworker and currently holds a senior caseworker position in placement navigation. She has worked as a counselor at a residential treatment program for youth corrections, as a counselor for dual diagnosis adult men at a halfway house, and an independent living specialist for the disabled community/outreach specialist for individuals experiencing homelessness.

Sarah writes:

In my spare time, I spend most of my time with my two teenage daughters. I am a huge advocate for social justice issues which I spend a lot of my time supporting through peaceful protests, education, volunteer work, etc. I love camping, crafting, karaoke, road trip adventures, and dancing in my living room. My favorite place in the entire world is the Mojave Desert.

Sheila has been in her current role for the past five years. She oversees adoption
and permanency programs and supervises and supports counties across
the state. Sheila’s previous experience includes working on investigations,
adoptions, and family engagement. She has also worked as a probation officer
and in residential treatment.

Sheila holds a master’s degree in public administration from Penn State
University. She believes that you are never too old to need a family and
has always been a strong advocate for those she works with.

Timothy J. Eirich is an honors graduate of the Loyola University of Chicago School of Law. At Loyola, Tim was as a Philip H. Corboy Fellow (member of the National Trial Team), a Curt N. Rodin Fellow in advocacy, and a Civitas Childlaw Fellow. Tim was also an associate editor for the Children's Legal Rights Journal. Tim received his undergraduate degree from Santa Clara University where he majored in English and was a captain of the NCAA Division 1 Crew Team. Tim focuses his practice on adoption, child welfare, and guardianship cases. Tim represents prospective adoptive parents, foster parents, relatives, birth parents, and juveniles charged with delinquent acts. Tim is an experienced litigator who has tried over twenty-five jury trials, litigated dozens of contested hearings, and has argued in the front of both the Colorado Supreme Court and Court of Appeals. Tim litigated the ground-breaking case, both at the trial level and before the Colorado Supreme Court, that addressed the rights of foster parents and other caregivers in dependency and neglect cases. Tim has also received a number of awards recognizing his work. In 2012, Tim received the Excellence in Practice Award for a Juvenile Law Attorney at the Colorado Summit for Childen Youth and Families. In 2014, the Colorado State Foster Parent Association honored Tim with the Champion Award for work and efforts on behalf of Colorado’s foster parents. Also, in 2014, the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute awarded Tim the prestigious Angels in Adoption Award for his work in adoption and positive child welfare practices. Tim has handled dozens of private, public, and contested adoptions and has been recognized as a Fellow with the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys. Tim has lectured frequently on the rights of foster parents and the child welfare system and is a regular presenter for the Colorado State Foster Parent Association. In addition to training foster parents and relative caregivers, Tim teaches trial skills to fellow attorneys as an instructor for the National Institute of Trial Advocacy (NITA). Prior to joining the Grob & Eirich, LLC, Tim was the Deputy Director of the Rocky Mountain Children's Law Center where he litigated some of the center's highest profile cases; represented foster parents, prospective adoptive parents, relative caregivers and juveniles; and supervised a multi-disciplinary staff of attorneys and social workers who served as guardians ad litem for abused and neglected children in Denver Juvenile Court. Prior to his time with the Children's Law Center, Tim was a trial attorney with the Office of the Colorado Public Defender where he represented adults and juveniles charged with felony offenses.

Eli Harwood is a licensed therapist, author, and educator who has more than 17 years of experience helping people process relational traumas and develop secure attachment relationships with their children and partners. Eli has three children, one husband, two cats, and an extraordinary number of plants.

Vincen was born and raised in Colorado with over 15 years of experience as a technical agile coach and IT manager with a wealth of knowledge in collaborating with various stakeholders to define and deliver value streams through the use of technology.  Vincen and his wife Doreen are former foster parents and through the use of technology want to help other foster parents successfully navigate their journey as well.  Vincen plays ice hockey in an adult league and has a 1957 Chevy that he occasionally takes to car shows.