Elder Tamara (Tami) Milbourn
Tami is a self-directed person with strong drives to complete what she starts. At age 32 it became important for her to get a higher education so she started College. At the same time she was a mom of five daughters and working full-time so it took her 14 years to complete her BA. It was a struggle but well worth it and she would strongly recommend to anyone that they hang in there and complete their goals.
Having experienced chemical use, abuse and dependency in her family of origin, Tami has first-hand knowledge of addiction, which propelled her to become an accomplished Licensed Chemical Dependency Professional. She started as a counselor in 1977 and worked for St. John's Hospital, first as a family counselor then several years as an outpatient, inpatient and aftercare counselor for adolescents and adults. During this time amidst managing a caseload, she also provided intern training, and developed and provided program materials including educational didactic and discussion sessions. Tami utilized her expertise to develop a counselor training program, where she supervised instructors, and has also taught, counseled and advised trainees and community interns, including medical students. She moved on to become the director of Jane Dickman Extended Care Center, a female residential treatment facility where she hired, trained and supervised a staff of 21, then went to work for United Hospital in St Paul where she managed their Chemical Dependency Services. Tami has also served as adjunct faculty at Minneapolis Community College in Minneapolis where she taught assessment and adolescent treatment classes, and has developed and implemented an inpatient program with a Spanish bilingual component. In 1997 she moved to private consulting in Chemical Dependency and has worked in this to the present time.
As a Human Rights Activist Tami was an active member of the Guatemala Solidarity committee in MN. She went to Guatemala on several occasions with other activists to meet with and support Guatemalan Human Rights organizations, unions, and individuals who were working for Peace and Human Rights there. A lot of her work was focused in the USA working for changes in policy of our Government in relation to its support of the military regimes and provision of torture training for these regimes. During this time Tami co-coordinated a coalition of peace activists who successfully stopped the U.S. military from training troops in Guatemala. These were amazing experiences for her and added a lot of meaning and depth to her life.
Tami came to the Wellness Center through helping a couple Guatemalans design, develop, implement and get funding for and English as a second language program. Classes were at the Wellness Center for several years as an incubated initiative, and while there she learned about the Center. Since then she has served on the financial committee and Northern European cultural council. Tami has been taking part in Northern European studies by taking several year-long classes and other offerings. These include The Western Way, Tree Lore, and Elders chat. She was also asked to participate in a journaling class as an Elder, where participants examined areas within themselves and created options for thinking and functioning in radically new ways. She found this to be a powerful experience for all involved and was personally grateful for the opportunity. Currently Tami is active with the Northern European Elders Chat.
Always striving to better herself, at age 60 Tami started taking watercolor painting classes. In high school she enjoyed art classes and in her college entrance exams she scored highest in art. With the responsibilities of children, work and education this area of herself had been neglected for to many years. She is a creative person in so many ways and is so glad to have been painting now for several years. She is also involved in the NorthStar Watercolor Society with over 300 other members. Many of the members are professional artists who have been painting for most of their lives. In her experience, it is never too late to develop one's talents, and age doesn't need to be a barrier. As an elder, she provides a vibrant example of a zest for life-long learning. Tami would like to continue with building the role of Elder at the Wellness Center and in the broader community.