Staff Anniversaries: Spotlight on Sheila Porter

Our wonderful staff here at DHIC makes everything we do possible. Please join us in congratulating the following team members who have recently celebrated an anniversary with DHIC, including Sheila Porter, who has been here more than two decades!

Sheila Porter, 21 years

Sheila was hired as a counselor in 2001 by Yolanda Winstead during her initial time at DHIC. When Yolanda came back in 2020 to take on the role of President of the organization, she was happy, but not at all surprised to see Sheila still here, thriving.

“From the time she initially joined DHIC, Sheila was a perfect fit,” Yolanda recalls. “She had been working to help DHIC’s mortgage-ready clients as a lender partner for years and she knew our organization well. Back then, the idea of a fully integrated homeownership center that could serve the residents in DHIC’s rental properties, and also the broader community was just an aspiration. The success of our Homeownership Center is a direct result of her continuous leadership.”

In 2013, Sheila was promoted to the Manager and Director of the Homeownership Center, becoming the first person in the organization to manage a second location, away from the main office. In this role, she has been directly involved in the oversight of over 10 different down payment assistance loan programs, including the Let’s Invest for Tomorrow (LIFT) program, which was funded by a $4 million grant from Wells Fargo.

Thanks to her hard work at the Homeownership Center, 6,100 households have graduated from the Bringing Home the Dream workshop and 2,288 families have become homeowners. For Sheila, that’s part of what makes this job feel like a dream come true. 

She says, “I absolutely love it here. I see it as a blessing from God. He opened the door for me to come in and I’ve enjoyed all 21 years of it. I have a passion for this work, I know DHIC is my place, and I know that this is more than a job; it’s a calling. I’m just grateful to be here and thankful for the success we’ve achieved together. None of it would be possible without the help of former teammates and my current team: Jackie Salvati, Lou Silvulka, Lillian Martin, Tiffany Wilkins, Tammy Simmons and Issac Reyes.”

Other invaluable team members celebrating anniversaries this quarter:

• Tiffany Wilkins, 15 years
• LaTonya Mckoy, 6 years
• Kayla Rosenberg Strampe, 6 years
• Timothy Fisher, 3 years
• Lillian Martin, 1 year