Christina Anderson is the picture of an engaged resident. The licensed independent social worker lends her expertise to a number of boards and causes in the community.

She’s served as the precinct committee representative for her neighborhood and is a part of Warren’s Community Violence Injury Prevention Program (VIP), which was created by the mayor to respond to rising violence in the city. Earlier this year, she was elected to the board of the YWCA Mahoning Valley. And that’s not all.

“I like to be wherever there is a need,” she said. “I don’t focus on one particular population.”

Whether she is supporting students, seniors or victims of violence, she is driven by a desire to make the world around her better.

“Really seeing the change happen—that is what keeps me going,” she said. “When I see the improvements, when I see a difference, that motivates me to continue the work.”

In her role as social worker, she has the chance to support a number of student-based initiatives. For example, she has led talks on mental health for Inspiring Minds’ afterschool program. She is coordinating the Limitless Ambition-Purposely Chosen Teen Program in the Warren City Schools, which is focused on empowering young girls and teaching them personal hygiene, self-care and self-love.

She also works closely with seniors and disabled residents, connecting them to community resources, like transportation and meal delivery, and supporting their independence.

“When I see a need, I try to find a solution,” she said.

As part of the city’s VIP group, Anderson is working with police officers, pastors, health care workers and others to research effective ways to respond to violence, looking at examples of initiatives in places like Detroit and San Francisco. The idea is to have a team come in after a shooting or other violent incident and conduct a needs assessment with the victims, their families and the community to understand their challenges and connect them to resources like anger management, housing and employment.

“We know most gunshot victims are repeat victims,” said Anderson, who has personally been affected by gun violence. “We’re trying to provide people with resources so they don’t continue to choose that path.”

Anderson says her time at Trumbull Neighborhood Partnership (TNP), first as an intern and later as the community outreach and programming coordinator, propelled her into the work she does today. While at TNP, she was introduced to the Wean Foundation and became a member of its first Emerging Leaders class and later, served on its Resident Council. She credits those experiences as life changing.

When asked what’s next, Anderson says she wants to continue to be a community advocate, to seek out where the problems are and find solutions. She notes that housing is becoming more of a focus for her, since many of the individuals she works with face housing insecurities. As a new board member at the YWCA, she is looking forward to working more closely on this issue.

“People know I’m going to get the job done,” she said. “I’m going to have some sort of results that make a difference.”