Kari Wilson has a heart that beats to the social work drum.
Kari joined the Hannan Family in April of 2012. Currently, Kari has two homes: one at the Royal Oak Manor Cooperative and the other at the Madison Heights Cooperative. Kari’s undergrad was at the University of Missouri, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism. Kari’s path drove her to acquire a MSW degree from Wayne State University and she is currently a LLMSW.
Kari worked as a copy editor for the Free Press for 10 years. During that time, she edited many special projects, including some about child abuse and neglect. Kari felt helpless but at the same time she felt a need to do something. During her MSW program, she had two great internships: one as a service coordinator at Bethany Villa senior apartments in Troy, and one with Citizens for Better Care as a volunteer long-term care ombudsman. Kari worked to resolve problems of individual residents and to improve residents’ care and quality of life. This is when she met Ann Kraemer, also part member of the Hannan family. During this time, she worked at Ambassador nursing center on Jefferson Ave in Detroit and Sorrento Care Center on West Chicago (now closed), and also worked on a research project about adult guardianship.
Kari spends her free time reading mysteries and historical fiction, especially medieval, regency and Victorian. Kari has too many favorite authors to list but she did name a couple: Dorothy Dunnett was a Scottish historical novelist who started her career as a press officer in the civil service, and she was also professional portrait painter. Iain Pears is an English art historian, novelist and journalist. Deanna Raybourn is an American author of mystery novels set in Victorian era England. If she wasn’t a social worker, Kari would love to be a professor of medieval European history.
Kari loves Monty Python, classical and New Wave music, the Stratford Shakespeare festival and “The Princess Bride.” One of Kari’s favorite quotes is by “Great Gatsby” author F. Scott Fitzgerald, “I am a cynical idealist.”
Kari has passed on her love for reading and the arts to her children, Tristan, 11, and Annabel, 8. She has traveled to London and Ireland with her husband, Jeff, and to Ireland with Tristan as part of a Suzuki Royal Oak music tour. This summer, Kari and Tristan will be traveling to Estonia and Russia, also on a music tour. History, music, art, what a grand adventure for this history- and music-loving mother.
Written By: Monika George
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