Commissioner Joycelynn Straight grew up in a military family, and served in the Army herself, which provided her the opportunity to see the world and issues facing people everywhere. She worked her way through high school and college and then was employed in the real estate title industry. After serving in the military, she started and managed a genealogy business in Salt Lake City, helping families and adoptees get in touch with their living relatives and heritage. She raised two sons as a single parent and moved back to Spokane in 2007 to care for elderly family members. Her studies at EWU and WSU, in urban and regional planning and elementary education, provided her with the skills to research housing, healthcare and voting rights laws, statutes and ordinances. These became areas of lifelong advocacy for her: As a volunteer she analyzed legislation in these subject areas for various non-profit organizations; and, privately, she helped numerous individuals over the years navigate through personal matters in these areas. Her lifetime of passion for housing issues brought Commissioner Straight to the Spokane Housing Authority Board. As the Resident Commissioner, she appreciates the opportunity to represent other SHA residents at Board of Commissioners meetings.