Marilyn was born and raised in The Dalles and has been a resident of Portland since 1985. She graduated from The Dalles High School and from Lewis and Clark College with a major in music education and a minor in business. She and her husband, Steve, have two children and four grandchildren who all live in the Portland area. Before retiring, she was last employed as office manager at a local CPA firm for over 16 years. Her responsibilities included keeping the books for the firm and providing bookkeeping services for several of their clients. In her words: “While I don’t have a history of being in the trenches helping the homeless, I have felt a growing alarm at the magnitude of the problem in the Portland area and I want to have a part in helping find a solution.”