ALLY
SUPPORTIVE SERVICES
MEET OUR TEAM
AMBER HANSON, MS
HOUSING & HOMELESS SERVICES DIRECTOR
Amber Hanson, MS, a Dakota County native, is our Housing and Homeless Services Director. She started Ally Supportive Services, LLC with her business partner, Nathan Tonnancour, in 2013 with the purpose of providing person-centered, clinically sound services to end homelessness in Dakota County.
Amber brings with her nearly 25 years of experience providing social services supports and housing and case management services to adults with Serious and Persistent Mental Illness, most of whom also had co-occurring chemical dependency issues.
Amber has received clinical training and clinically-supervised experience in all of the Evidence Based Practices pertinent to the clients served by Ally as well as advanced training in Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, Ethics, Crisis Prevention, and annual training in working with Vulnerable Adults.
Amber's role at Ally currently includes providing Housing Support services, supervising the clinical staff, and completing the administrative paperwork required to place clients in housing. She continues to provide direct service to clients and office support to all programs. Amber holds a Master of Science Degree in Counseling Psychology and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Psychology.
Nathan Tonnancour, co-founder of Ally, is the Chief Manager. Since 2007, Nate has provided case management services to clients with Serious and Persistent Mental Illness, prepared prison inmates for re-entry into the community, provided youth outreach and stabilization services, played a primary role in establishing a permanent supportive housing program for dually-diagnosed homeless adults with multiple barriers and coordinated the creation of the GRH housing program model with Dakota County before creating Ally in 2013.
Nate currently serves Ally’s clients by managing the operations and financial aspects of the business. In particular, for GRH, this includes collecting income data from clients, paying each client’s housing related bills, and managing the GRH housing and service payments from Dakota County.
Nathan holds a Bachelor of Sciences Degree in Vocational Rehabilitation.
NATHAN TONNANCOUR
CHIEF MANAGER
ISIAH MONTGOMERY
OUTREACH & INTAKE SPECIALIST/
HOUSING ADVOCATE
Isiah Montgomery, Outreach & Intake Specialist/Housing Advocate has been with Ally for nearly 10 years. He brings with him over 25 years of experience providing outreach to homeless, mentally ill and chemically dependent adults in Ramsey County, Dakota County and the metro area. Isiah has specific experience in finding housing and access to mainstream resources related to homelessness, mental health and chemical health for adults transitioning out of corrections institutions, providing supervision and crisis counseling services to mentally ill clients in Intensive Residential Treatment Services programs, and housing search and stability services to youth exiting foster care into scattered site housing.
Isiah has been trained in Critical Time Intervention. His primary duties currently are to perform outreach and provide initial contact with clients as well as provide housing support services to those in the GRH program.
Erin James is a proficient Housing Support Specialist at Ally, providing housing support advocacy and as the team's administrative support specialist for all programs.
Erin has been with Ally for nearly 7 years working with Housing participants.
Erin holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communication, and comes with experience as a reserve, substitute teacher, and tutor.
ERIN JAMES
HOUSING
SUPPORT SPECIALIST
JESSE GATLIN
HOUSING CASE MANAGER
Jesse Gatlin, Housing Case Manager, began working in the field in 2010, working at both a Detox Unit and in a Homeless Shelter. Jesse joined the Ally team in 2017.
Jesse worked as a Care Advocate for the homeless population for 2 1/2 years before transitioning to Ally. He comes with a deep interest for working with the homeless population and working with those working through stages of addiction recovery.
Chez Jones came to Ally in 2019 with over 4 years experience with advocacy and case management experience, primarily working with youth and families in urban settings. Chez has enjoyed her experience working as a Client Advocate, and most recently Client Advocate Coordinator at Higher Ground St. Paul, building on her experience working in Homeless Services in Minnesota. Chez also has experience as a Family Advocate & Engagement Specialist, working with a Rapid Re-Housing Program in Minneapolis. She also has experience as a career and employment specialist.
CHEZ JONES
HOUSING SUPPORT ADVOCATE
MELINDA BROWN
HOUSING SUPPORT ADVOCATE
Melinda joined Ally in 2020, bringing with her years of experience in social services as a case manager and case management supervisor and program manager. She holds a bachelor degree in Human Behavior Services.
STEPHANIE BRIETZMAN
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT
