This month’s member spotlight features Erin Baker-Meno (she/her), a clinical mental health counselor who has called Vermont home for the past 24 years. Erin is deeply committed to fostering healing and liberation in her practice. To learn more about her background and mission, and to schedule a consultation, visit her website at Throughtothrive.org.
Tell us a bit about your background before arriving in VT and what brought you to the state!
I moved to Vermont in 2000 from PA to finish college.
Why are you a member of the Vermont Professionals of Color Network?
I am a member of Vermont Professionals of Color Network because we finally have an organization that centers the growth and joy of BIPOC people in Vermont. To be apart of this magic is to be apart of a chosen family.
What aspects of life in VT do you find most fulfilling? What about your professional life here stands out to you?
I love living in Vermont! In my personal life, be in a place that allows me a chance to reconnect with the land with my BIPOC community is something I did not expect to happen while living in VT. I am a new Mental Health Therapist in Burlington and I love being able to work with our community in a way that supports our healing and liberation.
Looking back, what advice would you have appreciated receiving about being a professional of color in VT before you arrived?
When I first moved to VT I wish I would have said yes more. Yes, to the invitations to events that I did not think I belonged. We belong in Vermont and deserve to call this state home.
What are some challenges that you’ve faced on a professional level since living in VT?
Being new to the mental health field in private practice I find being siloed is the most challenging. It is hard to find other BIPOC mental health professional who want to collaborate on ways to make our community healthier. I know we are out there, I am just having a hard time finding us.
Tell us about the work you’re currently doing and what drives you in your profession!
I am currently working with couples and college-aged students in a theraputic setting and I love this work! It feels so good to finally do work in service of others that supports deeper healing in my community!
