A long way from her roots in NYC, when Laura stepped off the MV Malaspina in downtown Juneau about fifty years ago with only a pack on her back, she intuitively knew she had found her new home.
After short stints as a postal worker, baker, museum receptionist, and puppeteer, she drew on her undergraduate degree in graphic arts and opened her business Laura Lucas Design. For 25 years she operated as sole proprietor of her public communications firm providing design services for clients throughout rural and urban Alaska.
Contemplating a midlife career change, she was inspired by her varied volunteer experiences in the community (Meals on Wheels deliverer, Big Sister, AWARE crisis line counselor, and homeless shelter cook) and returned to school at the University of Alaska Anchorage to earn a Masters in Social Work. Her “work for pay” in a community health clinic, skilled nursing facility and independent living center, provided direct service to Juneau’s most vulnerable including persons experiencing homelessness, co-occurring disorders and other disabling conditions.
After retirement Laura joined the Board in 2023 and is proud to be a part of JAMHI’s mission to “help people live their own best lives,” knowing all too well about the uneven playing field so many face trying to reach that goal.
With her husband, Bob, she has enjoyed three and a half successive lifetimes of husky orphans and counting. She finds a sense of well-being spending time in the forest and alpine country and yes, she even loves the rain.