Blazing trails and redefining what’s possible for girls everywhere, Girl Scouts have been true to this since 1912. At a time when women in the United States couldn’t even vote and were expected to stick to strict social norms, Girl Scouts was encouraging girls to embrace their unique strengths and create their own opportunities for […]
ALANI FLORES CARRILLO
Editor s note: This is the first in a series of articles profiling the future residents of Brenkle Court, who are building their own homes as part of a self-help affordable housing project organized by Our Town St. Helena.
As a born and raised native of St. Helena, Anai Ortiz knew there was no other place like home.
She graduated from Sonoma State in 2010, lived in Atlanta short-term and did her fair share of traveling, but she came back in 2015 to be closer to the family and community she had missed so much.
Ortiz began a part-time job working at Stonebridge Apartments for the nonprofit EAH Housing and taught Spanish grades K-8 part-time at the St. Helena Catholic School, where she also coached girlsâ soccer. When the school closed in 2018, Anai got promoted to Lead Resource Coordinator at EAH, supervising the counties of Sonoma, Napa and Marin.