Meet Shamekia Davis

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Shamekia Davis a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Shamekia , we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.

I found my purpose after My husband and I was homeless ourselves, we had got help from an agency. During that time I had asked about employment.
After getting hired, I started offin one position and I loved. I actually mastered the position. I loved what I was doing as a Retention Coordinator however I was more interested in getting the housing position.
After 3 years I decided to go for the housing position, and got it. At that moment I knew that was my purpose.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

In 2019 my husband Ernest Davis and myself started talking about starting Us First that would bring wrap around services.
In 2020 we started with resources to the community. We connected the community to agencies for eviction prevention, and low income housing. We also have several relationships with apartment complexes that would give people second chances where we could get people housed.
In 2023 we added our Community Hub into our services. The community hub provides free food for housed and unhoused people. We provide free clothing for children (Newborn -18 years of age), ladies and men, as well as household items.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Honesty
Community needs
Core Value

Be honest always with the person(s) your working with. In order for anyone to trust you it has to be Honesty.

Understand what the community needs. Listen to them and you will hear what they need without them saying it.

Your core Value is very important. Make sure your doing whatever it is from your heart.

Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?

I would say our biggest challenge is finding a grant writer that go after grants that relate to our services.

We’re currently advertising what we’re looking for.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Www.usfirstoregon.org
• Instagram: Us_first_pdx
• Facebook: Us First PDX