Barb Blair
Human Resources Manager
I was attracted to The Next Door because it was a successful non-profit with a wonderful staff serving many needs in the community. That was back in 2002. Since then, The Next Door has exceeded my expectations. I have always enjoyed working with people and am truly honored to provide support to every one of our employees. It makes me feel good to know I am a part of The Next Door and the differences we are making.
A little about myself . . . I was born in Albany, New York, and grew up in Santa Clara, California. While there, I attended DeAnza Community College and worked for Hope Rehabilitation Services, serving adults with developmental disabilities, and for Jack LaLanne’s European Health Spa (I’m not kidding!) I then moved to Chico where I attended Chico State University.
After that, I moved to northwestern Montana and worked for the Flathead Valley School District, and then Glacier Insurance and Real Estate. It was in Kalispell that I met my husband, Alan. We spent a lot of time hiking, biking, camping and skiing, and eventually we took up windsurfing, which we loved! Unbeknownst to me at the time, I appeared, windsurfing, in Arizona Highways magazine!
Because we loved windsurfing so much and there was no consistent wind on Flathead Lake, we decided to move to the Portland area and look for property in the Gorge. During this time, I worked for Nike and North Pacific Insurance Company. In 1991 we purchased some property north of White Salmon and built our house. I worked for Klickitat County Human Services and Central Washington Comprehensive Mental Health.
I'm glad to have had all these great experiences, but I'm even more glad to have settled down in the Gorge, working for this great non-profit.
At our home in the woods we have a big, fluffy, orange cat named Kikki, nine free-range chickens and a rooster. We enjoy living among the wild turkeys and deer. I love nature and animals, hiking, working out, reading and watching movies.