Lauren (Lola) Jones is the executive director of Samaritan House Family Shelter in Newport, Oregon. Since joining the organization in 2012, Lola has endeavored to honor the community-owned, grass-roots origins of the mission while widening its lens to be responsive to the needs of vulnerable families and children. Through targeted partnerships with ODHS Child Welfare and the Treatment Court system of Lincoln County, she has developed connections to resources and services for parents and children who would otherwise stay separated. This is an approach she has also applied to partner agencies, bringing together the strength of early childhood development, substance use treatment, housing, and parenting support in a way that is uniquely relevant to client families.

Lola was born in southern Indiana and raised in Woodinville, WA. She met her husband at Linfield College, and they moved home to the coast in 2009. Grant is a Sergeant with the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office, and they have one son, Forrest, and another on the way, Dale. Prior to joining Samaritan House, Lola was an AmeriCorps VISTA with the Lincoln Commission on Children and Families under Barb Dougherty, who continues to be her mentor and greatest professional inspiration. She was identified by the Ford Family Foundation as a Catalytic Community Builder in 2017 and continues to work with the Rural Community Builder program as a consultant, presenter, and advocate for rural innovation and ingenuity. She loves her community, barnacles and all, and is committed to building a world where all parents have the tools necessary to thrive.