The Family Access Network (FAN) announces Emily Woodworth and Jen Enna have accepted staff positions, while Tasha McFarland is a new board member with the FAN Foundation. Board members are dedicated volunteers working with Foundation staff to improve the lives of our most needy children in Deschutes, Crook, and Jefferson Counties. For over 25 years, FAN has connected children and families in need with crucial resources such as nutritious food, safe shelter, clothing, health care, and much more, enabling children to thrive in school and beyond.
After many years of volunteering for FAN, Tasha McFarland accepted a position on the FAN Foundation Board. Tasha and her husband, Matthew, moved to Central Oregon in 2000 to work at Hoodoo Ski Area. All four of their children have attended Bend-La Pine Schools, with one since graduating from Mountain View High School and heading off to college. A graduate of the University of Oregon and an avid Ducks fan, Tasha’s proud of, and grateful for, her Oregon public school education. She finished her MBA in 2006 with the Concordia University program in Bend. Aside from raising her children, her experience as a community volunteer has been her most rewarding. She has been a classroom volunteer, served on her elementary school’s site council, attendance area review committee, and the District’s Budget Committee, which she chaired for 6 years. Tasha has also volunteered with her schools’ PTSOs and booster club, Scouts BSA, Girl Scouts, Oregon Battle of the Books, Bethlehem Inn, her church, and is a new Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) volunteer. These experiences cemented her strong conviction in the importance of the services provided by the Family Access Network and FAN advocates. In her free time, she likes to ski with her family.
Emily Woodworth accepted the position of Development Specialist with FAN in December of 2020. Growing up in Sisters, Oregon, Emily developed a love of the woods and small-town life. After earning her BA in Creative Writing at Pacific University in Forest Grove, she braved the wilds of Los Angeles to earn her Master of Fine Arts in Writing at California Institute of the Arts. She graduated in May of 2020, and with the COVID-19 pandemic in full swing, she moved home and set her sights on helping her community. When she saw an opportunity open with FAN, Emily realized how her extensive experience in writing and administration could contribute to aiding her beloved community. In her free time, Emily is still an active writer, filmmaker, and fiction editor, and she still loves her long walks in the Deschutes National Forest.
Jen Enna accepted the position of Donor Relations, Events & Marketing Coordinator. After spending several years in various mountain towns, Jen and her husband moved to Bend in 2011 and have called Central Oregon ‘home’ since then. Drawn to the nonprofit sector since a young age, Jen got her Master’s degree in Nonprofit Management from Regis University and has been involved with various nonprofit organizations including animal welfare, community arts organizations, and youth development programs. Most recently, Jen took a hiatus from the nonprofit sector and expanded her management, sales, and marketing skills in the outdoor industry working at a local outdoor lifestyle retailer. The pull back to nonprofit work intensified when COVID-19 started to impact Central Oregon and her desire for service-driven work drew her to FAN. In her free time, you can find Jen outside (trail running, skiing, gardening, mushroom hunting, etc.) or spending time with her husband, her teenage kiddo, and her three dogs.
Unique to Central Oregon, FAN began in 1993 and currently employs 26 advocates at 62 sites in Deschutes, Crook, and Jefferson counties. These advocates work tirelessly to help families break the cycle of poverty. The direct placement of FAN advocates within schools allows FAN to effectively reach and connect disadvantaged children and families to essential basic needs.
To learn more about the Family Access Network, please visit
familyaccessnetwork.org/ or call (541) 693-5675.
Family Access Network’s mission is to offer assistance, possibility and hope to Central Oregon families in need by connecting them with crucial resources that will help children flourish in school and in life. Every year, FAN advocates improve the lives of over 8,000 children and family members in Deschutes, Crook, and Jefferson counties.
