For Alisha Shelton, helping others has always been a family affair. At age 16, Alisha found herself on the side of the road in her Omaha neighborhood, assisting her mother and rendering first aid to an accident victim just after her brother pulled them from the overturned car. They saved a life that day because they’re the kind of family that stops and helps when they see a problem. And though that was the first time they saved a life – it wouldn’t be the last. Growing up, Alisha’s mother would say, “We have to pay attention. When somebody needs us, we have to be there for them.” These words have shaped Alisha’s life and are the reason she’s running for Congress today – because everyday Nebraskans need someone looking out for them, and Alisha is always there when you need her – no matter what.
Alisha moved to Omaha when she was 12 years old. Raised by her single mom with her seven brothers and sisters, she learned the value of helping others. As a kid, Alisha watched her mom go back to school for nursing and work in a youth center, treating the children there like her own.
Alisha’s first job was detasseling corn in the hot summer sun of Nebraska and later she worked at the Kellogg’s factory in Omaha and Home Depot. Even if the job was dangerous, she took it in stride – one time climbing to the top of a shaker pan to clean it as she struggled to stay on her feet. That hard work enabled Alisha to graduate from Burke High School, pay her way through college, graduate pre-med from Xavier University of Louisiana, and go on to grad school for counseling at Bellevue University. Her commitment to helping others continued while in college when she volunteered as a tutor for second graders and answered phones for a sexual assault hotline. Growing up, faith was important to Alisha and continues to play a big role in her life today.
A proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and HBCU graduate, today Alisha Shelton is a licensed mental health practitioner and professional counselor. Her job as a counselor is to listen to people first–something Washington has all but forgotten how to do. She has dedicated her career to helping those most in need, understanding the challenges real people face everyday. Through her work as a counselor, she has helped many Nebraskans navigate both their own mental health needs and the challenges posed by a flawed healthcare system. Alisha isn’t a politician – she’s an everyday Nebraskan whose experience and perspective can help shape our laws because she knows what we’re going through.
As an advocate for Nebraska, Alisha saw first hand that too often politicians in DC didn’t have the same commitment to helping us back home – as a regular citizen, she tried to talk to her Representatives in Washington, D.C., and was unable to directly contact a single member of Congress – that experience is exactly why she’s running now. Like many hard working Nebraskans, she knows we have been left behind for too long by career politicians like Don Bacon – we deserve better. We need an economic recovery that puts us first. We need quality education and job training programs that help us land better quality and higher paying jobs. We need health care that we can actually afford. And most of all, we need confidence that our Representatives are willing to work together to ensure a bright future for our region and our families.
Washington is forgetting about the Heartland; in Congress, Alisha will always put us first – no matter your political party, income, identity, or education. She will always put working Nebraskans ahead of big corporations. She will always put families ahead of special interests. And she will always be our advocate and put us over partisanship. Just as she learned early on, when you see a problem, you help fix it.