FuseDSM Quarterly Breakfast - "How does a woman in Iowa end up homeless or in prison?" Melissa Vine, Executive Director of The Beacon
The FuseDSM Quarterly Breakfast is in place of the Monthly Luncheon in November. We are holding a breakfast meeting quarterly to open up attendance to those members that may not be able to make the regularly scheduled luncheon due to conflicts. Each month the Chamber invites a dynamic speaker to provide timely information affecting our community, insight on issues concerning the community, or inspirational stories which resonate within the community.
There is networking time prior to the start of the program. Breakfast is a buffet so you will be free to network prior to filling your plate! This is the quarterly event you do not want to miss to maintain those important relationships with your fellow members.
"How Does a Woman in Iowa End Up Homeless or in Prison?"
Melissa Vine, MA, LMHC, Executive Director at The Beacon will provide a journey into the factors that lead to homelessness and incarceration for women in Iowa by considering your own life path. She will facilitate an increased awareness of what is happening in your community that you likely do not think about while going about your week. Finally, she will share what The Beacon is doing to address and even reverse some of these community issues so that we can decrease homelessness and incarceration for women in Iowa.
Melissa Vine, MA, LMHC, Executive Director of The Beacon
Melissa Vine, MA, LMHC, a licensed mental health counselor with 13 years of experience in business ownership, is a professional speaker and the Executive Director at The Beacon, a residential home and programming for women recovering from domestic violence, incarceration, homelessness, and substance use. She received a bachelor’s in Communication Studies in 2002, graduated summa cum laude with a master’s in Professional Counseling in 2016, and is a JD Candidate at Drake Law School as an Iowa State Supreme Court Scholar. Melissa was the 2022 Remarkable Woman of the Year, in the 2021 class of the Des Moines Business Record's Forty Under 40, and 2018 recipient of One to Watch. Some of her speaking engagements include the Business Record's Fearless launch, Iowa Board of Regents Campus Safety and Security Summit, Iowa Healthcare Financial Management Women's Conference, and the YPC Gala. She lives in Des Moines, Iowa with her four teenage sons.
