Karina De la Fuente
Caseworker
Pronouns: They/Them
Karina De la Fuente is a Maryland native who graduated from Brunswick High School in 2014 and Hood College in 2018. Karina is a compassionate and caring mental health and LGBTQ+ advocate with over a decade of lived experience and recovery from ARFID, Anorexia Nervosa, chronic illness, and C-PTSD, as well as being impacted by substance use. They recently graduated from Project Peer Recovery in April 2024, a training to achieve certification as a Peer Recovery Specialist, which enables them to mentor, support, and motivate individuals in various stages of recovery. Karina is dedicated to guiding individuals to achieve personal goals and self-advocacy. They hope to return to school and earn their Masters in Social Work to enable them to serve others as a Trauma Therapist.
Karina’s life goal is to open an inclusive treatment center for lesser-known eating disorders, trauma, and substance use called the Betty House to help the queer community, ethnic and racial minorities, neurodivergent individuals, and those experiencing poverty – populations that are often forgotten or mistreated in higher levels of care. In their spare time, they enjoy listening to metal under their favorite willow tree at Baker Park, cross-stitching while watching Real Housewives, or creating and selling mental health resources and tools as the TraumaGoblin.
