Hello North High Alumni…It has been such a long time since I have had the pleasure to see any of my classmates of 1961, so when I met with a few of the very special women that I was friends with it made me realize how fortunate I am to have had such wonderful people in my life. Then seeing even more of my classmates at the planning sessions, was well what can I say!

Some of you may remember me as Kitty, given the name by Lola Turner (Palmer) after I believe I had one of those “bad perms” Anyone else remember those home perms?…OMGJ  Well anyway enough of that.

After high school I married Joe Mitchell and we had two beautiful children. Unfortunately we were way too young to get married and after seven years we went our own way.  Late in life we became very good friends and Joe passed in 2003 .  I have four wonderful grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.   

In 1984 I moved to Phoenix, Arizona and went to college and became a Chemical Dependency Counselor.  I started the first support group for women who had been involved in prostitution in a county jail anywhere in the United States. I worked in a domestic violence shelter and Catholic Charities of Phoenix until I retired in 2007. During my time working with Catholic Charities I developed transitional homes for women who were homeless and being used in prostitution.  I also wrote Diversion programs for the City of Phoenix Prosecutor’s office for women prostituting and men who were soliciting, as an education program and an alternative to jail.  I created Outreach programs and worked closely with Health and Human Services in DC in their Rescue and Restore campaign to identify those who have been domestically trafficked in the US.  I was invited to the White House for the signing of the Re-Authorization Act of the Human Trafficking Bill in 2006. (What an honor it was to meet the President.)

I have received numerous awards for the work I have done. Just to name some: The Power of One Award from Senator John Mc Cain, one of the top ten women of Maricopa County and The City of Phoenix named May 1^st as Kathleen Mitchell Day. (No it is not a recognized holiday with anything closing or day off of work )

All this is great and good but the most important thing that has happened to me is the women and youth I have had the honor to work with and watch the change happening in their lives. I have been humbled and grateful by them letting me share their journey in recovery.