She is also the Outreach Core Director for the Texas Center for Health Disparities, a National Institute of Health (NIH) Center of Excellence. She obtained her master's degree in social work from Florida State University and her PhD from Florida International University. She began her career providing crisis services to victims of crimes, and has been conducting research and evaluation studies in the areas of homelessness, victimization, poverty, and other areas for nearly 25 years. She serves as an evaluator for several community initiatives and has authored numerous reports, book chapters and scholarly articles on homelessness and interpersonal violence.