About Us

The Dandelion Hive is committed to elevating the most marginalized and intersectional voices in the LGBTQIA+ community in mental health and recovery spaces. We purposefully engage with the local community to help expand access to equitable and safe resources and care in mental health and recovery spaces.

Our Team

Jayden LeBlanc (He/Him) — Director and President

Jayden LeBlanc (he/him) was one of the first "out" transmen in local Richmond recovery spaces at a time when most transgender and gender non-conforming individuals were either not "out" yet or not in recovery. He watched as more and more of his own community found their way into the local recovery spaces. A few stuck around while many backed out of the recovery spaces because they felt unsafe. He heard countless stories of transgender individuals getting denied recovery housing because they would not be accepted into a mens or womens house. In 2020, he helped co-found the area's first LGBTQIA+ recovery housing organization and proceeded to help build it from the ground up. He has spent a few years learning the ins and outs of recovery housing and leadership. When the original director had to step down in the Fall of 2022, he managed the only LGBTQIA+ recovery house in the area. He also worked on the “Intercept-0” part of the Marcus Alert Project, researching resources and creating a specialized searchable website called the Virginia Community Resource Equity Hub (VACREH). He produced two self-guided interactive training modules for the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services in the first half of 2023
In January of 2023, he made the decision to create The Dandelion Hive as a nonprofit in order to continue to bring greater awareness to all intersections of LGBTQIA+ recovery and mental health in a more sustainable and accountable way. Jayden has a background in management and small business operations, which lend well to recovery housing operations. He is a Peer Recovery Specialist who committed to learning and growing while he implements the nonprofit’s mission.

Omri Morris Reid (She/Her) — Board Chair

Omri grew up in Chesterfield County VA as a black pansexual woman in the south, during a time when sexual identity wasn't talked about as something that is a "spectrum". It was very heterosexual or homosexual. On top of not feeling like she belonged in regards to sexual orientation, she was bullied a lot for liking metal music and presenting differently than what stereotypical black women at that time should be. So she escaped using many addictive behaviors to cope, which included years of drug and alcohol addiction. In 2013 Omri decided to step into recovery by moving into a recovery house and from there began to rebuild her life, and finally found acceptance for all aspects of herself. During that time she noticed she was (and still is) a minority in recovery spaces, and became passionate about changing that. One of the ways she did that was by starting Richmond's first AA meeting for POC people alongside other BIPOC warriors in recovery, which became a safe space for folks who look like her to gather to talk about recovery from our perspective. She began working at the Chesterfield CSB as a Certified Peer Recovery Specialist for their Adult SUD Outpatient Team, there she got to show clients in services how to find and live a life in recovery free from addiction and mental health crisis. In November 2022 she left the CSB to work at VCU for Rams in Recovery, the collegiate recovery program at our local university. There she gets to be a beacon of hope for students in recovery and show other POC folks that we are here and can thrive in life after darkness. Omri is also an ally and advocate for the harm reduction community, which includes folks who choose Medication Assisted Treatment as their pathway to recovery. She also loves educating folks on safe using practices and spreading awareness about how recovery cannot be "one size fits all".

Hillary Wakefield (They/Them) — Board Secretary

Hillary Wakefield, LCSW, (they/them) is a social worker who was guided to their career through their experiences in active addiction and recovery. Hill started drinking alcohol compulsively at age 19, as a direct attempt to manage symptoms of depression and anxiety, and found 12-step recovery through the assistance of the courts within two years of their first drink. Hill has been sober for over a decade, sought a graduate degree in Social Work, and has worked in treatment for substance use and mental illness for the past 8 years. They currently work in a harm-reduction focused Medication Assisted Treatment program at a CSB in central Virginia and has worked on a series of committees to increase inclusivity within their agency and the larger community for people who identify as BIPOC and LGBTQIA2S+. Hill has realized through their own work in recovery how to break barriers and be genuine as a queer, non-binary member of the community. Hill is passionate about not only offering a safe space for people to find and be authentically themselves without shame or judgment, but also in advocating for changes in systems that contribute to the exacerbation of mental health symptoms and substance use. When they are not doing this work, they enjoy all of their free time with their partner, their 5 year old child, and a cat that thinks he is a human. They can regularly be found at the river or anywhere that live music may be playing.

Mission, Vision, and Values

We work collaboratively with community and professional partners to increase funding and programming around mental health and recovery resources that center the most marginalized and intersectional people in the LGBTQIA+ community.

We will continuously work to identify the missing links within local coordination of care structures. We will help connect resources and knowledge. We will facilitate the research and establishment of more trauma-sensitive spaces for the LGBTQIA+ community in mental health and recovery spaces. We will directly impact the lives of LGBTQIA+ people in these spaces by expanding access to resources, recovery housing, and trauma-informed care.

We can do hard things. We can still flourish like the dandelion, which is labeled a weed that must be destroyed, does in the face of immense odds.
We acknowledge difficult or unpopular truths. We speak up and speak out.
We have difficult conversations and make space for emotions to breathe in order to progress forward together. We understand the nature of trauma and work to bring a trauma-sensitive perspective to everything we do.
We manifest action through our enthusiasm for the community we serve. We approach progress/growth and setbacks/opportunities through a mixture of experience, knowledge, and creativity.
We always work to increase learning and knowledge around the needs and experiences of the intersectional LGBTQIA+ communities that we serve. We work to advance the accessibility of needed or missing resources and services for these individuals.
We establish partnerships and work in cooperation with local and peer-led organizations and businesses to help achieve our mission. We value everyone’s experiences and knowledge in achieving our common goals.
We are active in our local community and in the communities that we help uplift and serve. We foster a sense of togetherness through our work and advocacy in pursuing our mission.
We work together to link our community’s resources, goals, and needs. We invite people to partner with us. We foster a sense of being “a part of” rather than “apart from”.
We help deconstruct harmful systems and build equitable ones in their place. We understand that inclusivity does not by itself give people the baseline resources and help they need to be safe and successful.
We foster safe spaces for people to fully realize who they are. We illuminate pathways that can turn trauma into triumph. A group of caterpillars can close themselves up as cocoons in which their bodies are broken down - only to be rebuilt and ultimately emerge as a beautiful hive of butterflies.