In addition to extensive professional leadership positions, including as Director of a nonprofit serving disadvantaged women and teens, Sharon's life experience has offered many opportunities to serve and know a variety of people.

Sharon has a reputation for service and working to create solutions for those in need. She finds joy in helping others. A memory from early grade school is of her first service project. The painted bottle cap project lacked artistic talent but came from a well-intentioned 6-year-old who delivered a box of them to a nearby orphanage.

She and her first husband wrote a grant and created a first-of-its-kind group home, which took children from the Montana State Hospital, for what at the time was called the mentally retarded. At the time, it was common for children who were developmentally disabled to be placed in an institution in early childhood. The grant was part of a project to bring children into the community and teach them skills that would lead to placement in foster homes. They developed training programs and created the environment needed to best prepare the children for life in the community.

Sharon also had the opportunity to foster over 25 children with a variety of needs, including teens from the juvenile justice system, and provided a home for 15 foreign exchange students and a Cambodian refugee family.

When the need for housing to assist those with mental illness became apparent, it was natural to decide to ‘just do it.’ Her personal and professional experiences led her to feel that everything she has ever done has prepared her for the mission of Oasis Housing.