Consulting firm dedicated to balancing the strengths of the Public, Private and Nonprofit sectors in the interest of expanding healthy housing options and ending homelessness.https://balancecommunityadvisors.com/

Lorena created and led Wake County’s Department of Affordable Housing & Community Revitalization for six years. At Wake, she and her team were responsible for leading the charge on a wide array of affordable housing and Veteran's issues, including access to benefits, homeless services, permanent supportive housing and multimillion-dollar annual investment in affordable housing development.

Where Government, Nonprofit & Innovation Meet!Boutique consulting firm, helping communities unlock the power of collaboration,and to equipping them to use affordable housing as a platform for economic success.

In Northern Virginia, Lorena served as Vice President of Programs for NVFS, the largest human services agency in the State. In this role, she was responsible for realigning and overseeing the development and success of multiple agency departments, including: Housing & Homeless Services, Workforce Development, Youth Initiatives, Immigration Legal Services and a Multi-Cultural Center. In conjunction with the CEO and the Executive Team, Lorena's responsibilities included: ~Development and oversight of strategies and projects to ensure strategic alignment, programmatic excellence and positive community impact ~Direction of the programmatic work of NVFS, ensuring alignment with the organization’s mission and strategy ~Enhancement of organizational excellence by establishing operational benchmarks, timelines, and resources needed to achieve strategic goals

In Atlanta, Lorena’s work specifically focused on retooling the Atlanta Homeless Services Continuum of Care system. Her work resulted in the development and launch of a new nonprofit organization to act as Atlanta's Collaborative Applicant. Through implementation of the plans developed, this agency would quickly reduce literal homelessness in Atlanta by half, while also increasing positive long-term outcomes. Responsibilities included: ~Application, allocation and management of seven million dollars in HUD Continuum funding ~Consultation on strategic planning and allocation of twenty-five million dollars in ESG, CDBG, HOME & HOPWA funding ~Development of Coordinated Entry process, policies and procedures ~Redesign of Georgia HMIS system to integrate the needs of new citywide Coordinated Entry process ~Design and implementation of Community Scan Card system ~Conduction of city wide assessments and gaps analysis ~Coordination of annual Homeless Point-in-Time Count ~Assessment and submission of multiple city-wide Federal reports – AHAR, HIC, CAPER, PIT, etc.

In coordination with the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office and the Science Museum of Minnesota, Lorena worked to revive this struggling community center and to stabilize the ARTS-Us organization in the space.Responsibilities included: ~Board development and organizational strategic planning ~Workforce development, creation of training manuals and performance evaluations ~Fund development and financial operations ~Development and implementation of community engagement projects ~Oversight of all programs, community events, operations and outreach activities

Licensed Real Estate Agent and independent contractor.Responsibilities included: ~Sourcing and securing properties for residential and commercial use ~Recruitment of talent: hiring/firing, management and professional development ~Strong focus on volunteerism, community housing needs and the intersection of real estate and urban economics