Teresa Rafael, CTF Alliance Executive Director

Shelina Flarisee

Shelina Flarisee is a crafty mom of four boys, ranging in ages four years old to 25 years old. She has been married for 15+ years. Originally from a small town in NC, she now lives in Columbia,SC. She enjoys spending most of her free time, and not so free time, with her rambunctious family. In addition to their Flarisee Family Adventure (FFA’s), which include everything from hiking, festivities, museums, and pretty much anything else you can think of, she also enjoys learning and being creative.

Shelina is an Children’s Trust Fund Alliance Certified Trainer for Bringing the Protective Factors Framework to Life in Your Work and a huge advocate for all families on the local, state and national level. She loves partnering with many organizations in her pursuit to help change the child welfare system, some of which are Thriving Families, Safer Children South Carolina (TFSC-SC), TFSC Lived Expert (LEx) Roundtable, Alliance National Parent Partnership Council (ANPPC), Department of Mental Health Community Planning Council and many more. Having opportunities to elaborate on and have discussions about the work she is doing adds to her love of the work.

She believes that all families should have the resources and support needed to take care of their families without having to compromise their values to get those resources. She believes that all families should be able to feed their babies in any way they see fit, with assistance from a properly trained professional when needed.

She believes that all families should have the proper resources available to them to get help with all mental health issues that come up for them and their children, without judgment. Shelina’s ultimate prayer is that one day we wouldn’t have to spell out the differences between all of us, because the world will be accepting and celebrating our differences. Mostly, she enjoys helping anyone and everyone in any way that she can. And if she can’t, she loves helping them come up with creative solutions so that they can help themselves.