While Tina LeGris was in Leadership Northern Kentucky, she visited Emergency Shelter of Northern Kentucky and was impressed by the staff’s level of excellence. Four years later she can’t imagine spending her time doing anything else. She says she recalls Kim leading them in an experience of laying down in one of the beds that are used for their guests and thinking,
“It must be scary to not know where you are going to sleep tomorrow and it must be nice to know that you have a safe place to sleep for the night.”
She struggled to sleep at night when the shelter had to reduce capacity because she knew all of those potential guests didn’t know where they would shelter for the evening. Especially since many of those guests might not be accepted at any other shelter due to the barriers that they have in place. ESNKY fills a vital need in the community because they are the lowest barrier shelter in the area.
Tina believes in the importance of creating a sustainable business model, so organizations stand a chance 
of lasting for years into the future. This is why she makes it her mission to ensure that ESNKY create such a plan, so they can continue to serve those in need. She works at St. Elizabeth as the Director of St. Elizabeth Business Health Services so she knows a thing or two about building a lasting foundation for an organization. Her favorite day at ESNKY was when they were able to have a nurse practitioner onsite in the evening to help the guests and she hopes to create more avenues where this can happen again in the future.
Tina serves on the Executive Board as the secretary, so she sets the important parts of the meeting and ensures that they are recorded for later use. She is able to take notes about the meeting and still participate in the conversation by adding valuable input. She says by being on the board she has become more humble.
” I value being able to sit down with our guests and having a conversation with them. The smiles and ‘thank you’s from our guests make all the long days worth it.”
In her free time, she spends time with her daughters and the family dog. She also enjoys spending time with her boyfriend traveling and exploring to local breweries.
Emily Broyles
The Scripps Howard Communication Intern