Meet the Team
Linnea Brutlag
Operations / Program Manager
Linnea loves working for Colorado Artists in Recovery. She is honored to be working for CAiR and to be a part of others' recovery journeys. Linnea is in long term recovery and her sober date is 4/4/2015. Creating and helping others find their own creative gifts brings Linnea joy. When not working, Linnea enjoys painting, reading a good book, playing Scrabble, thrifting and spending time with her cat Tumi.
Nat Stiles
Program Manager for Northern CO
Nat Stiles is very grateful to be apart of Colorado Artists in Recovery team as the Program Coordinator. Based in Loveland, Nat is thrilled that they have the opportunity to bring CAiR events to the Northern Colorado area. Nat is in long term recovery and their sober date is 6/7/2022. When not working with CAiR, Nat spends their time helping others as a Personal Trainer & Water Safety Instructor. Nat's motto is "you don't have to be good at something to have fun."
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Kaki Young
Peer Navigator and Program Coordinator
Kaki is a local artist and group facilitator in the Denver community, and the newest member to the CAiR team! As a person in recovery, Kaki uses this experience to create art and connect people within the recovery community. Starting March 18th, she will be the peer facilitator for the weekly Circle of CAiR (Wednesdays from 6:30-8 at FREE Recovery Community), which is an all-pathways recovery meeting for those who seek to spark their creativity and dive into their recovery! In addition to this, Kaki will also be taking on the role of Peer Navigator for CAiR participants. This will mean more access to recovery resources for the CAiR community, and better outcomes for CAiR participants.
Natalie Pacheco
Program Assistant
Natalie Pacheco is the daughter to Maria who was born in Guanajuato, Mexico. Natalie is Mexican-American (also known as a Chicana). Born in San Antonio, Tx and raised in Denver Metro area. She is the mother of 3 boys Benji, Andres, and Anthony. Natalie has always worked with different communities and is dedicated to the work she does. In 2017 she faced multiple surgeries after two brain aneurysms were discovered. She then decided to pick up a paint brush and has not set it down since. She has found recovery through Art. She believes Art is healing and therapeutic and would recommend it to anyone going through challenges in life.
Becks
Marketing Assistant
Becks has a background in film photography, graphic design, and visual art. Her recovery has been shaped by humor, creative expression, and the ongoing struggle to better herself as she navigates the messy, imperfect path of healing. Outside of work, she finds joy and grounding in the everyday moments shared with her partner and their wonderfully goofy doggo, Bubz.
Jason Link
Program Assistant
I am a transplant to Colorado initially from Iowa, and very grateful to have been introduced to CAiR. This is my second time with an extended period of sobriety. The difference this time is that I am actively engaged in community through organizations like CAiR and the Free Recovery Community.
To have the space to create and express my journey through art is paramount to understanding why I started, along with why I continue. In times when inspiration wanes, observing the creativity of others is a gem. When we come together it gives depth. When we come together to create, its powerful. I am proud to be a part of CAiR.
Meet the Board
Board President
Isabel Serafin
Professionally, Isabel Serafin is a full-time House Manager and Certified Peer Support Specialist for Recovered Humans Recovery Homes, as well as a Registered Behavioral Therapist working with children and young adults with cognitive, behavioral, and learning disabilities. She is also full-time student in her final year at the University of Northern Colorado, majoring in International Affairs and Gender Studies.
Isabel identifies as a person in sustained long-term recovery, and is a proud alumni of the Harmony Foundation and Recovered Humans Recovery Homes. She has gratefully been able to rediscover her lifelong passion for helping people to realize their true potential throughout her own recovery journey. As a queer woman of color, she is particularly dedicated to lifting up marginalized voices and helping these individuals to identify their own specific, personal challenges to recovery. When she is not busy helping residents in her sober living home, sponsees, or other fellow alcoholics, she likes to spend her free time creating art as a painter and songwriter, and has recently begun learning the piano. She currently resides in Loveland, Colorado, and hopes to help grow the recovery services currently available to people on the Front Range.
Instructors
Quana Madison
Art Instructor
Quána Madison is a multi-disciplinary African-American Queer artist with disabilities, a healing arts facilitator, and a well-being advocate. She dived into the world of arts and research-based wellness topics to support her holistic well-being journey, after a life-changing near-death experience from cancer previvor treatments and the sudden onset of chronic illnesses. Quána has lived with chronic pain since childhood. Quána strives to inspire, educate, empower, and uplift people through her artwork, consulting services, and community engagement. She collaborates with Habitat for Humanity, the National Pain Advocacy Center, the National Institutes of Health - HEAL Initiative, Colorado Artists in Recovery, and LBGTQIA+ organizations. A graduate of New York University and Colorado College, Quána holds an MA in Education and a BA in Philosophy.
More information is available at www.quanamadison.com and www.linktr.ee/quanamadison.