Berlinda was born in the Cherry neighborhood of Charlotte, North Carolina — a place where children were loved by everyone and where community meant belonging. Her earliest years were shaped by neighbors who carried her from porch to porch, by great‑aunties who sewed her clothes by hand, and by a family who believed in her long before she knew how to believe in herself.

She grew up in a community shaped by generations of resilience. Cherry was built by formerly enslaved families who claimed their first piece of land and created a place where children were held by many hands. Her father’s skill, independence, and ingenuity came from that lineage — from people who had to build, repair, and imagine their way forward. As a child, she often found herself in rooms where no person of color had ever been, though she didn’t know it then. Her family wanted her to grow without hesitation or self‑doubt, to move through the
world without carrying the weight of other people’s expectations. Their care shaped her belief that every person has the right to be fully themselves, and that caregiving — in all its cultural forms — is part of our shared inheritance.

Her parents, Corrine and Sonnie, were working‑class people whose resourcefulness taught her that dignity has nothing to do with wealth. When she needed a violin for school, her father carved a missing peg from a tree branch. It never slipped. From him she learned that problems can be solved, that creativity is a form of love, and that you can always find a way forward.

As a child, Berlinda discovered her creative voice. As a young woman, she discovered her courage. She studied at the North Carolina School of the Arts, where teachers and legendary artists encouraged her to trust her instincts and honor her gifts. Her professional life took her from New York to Washington, D.C., to California, where she worked in theatre, film, and television for more than forty years. Through it all, she remained grounded in the values she learned in Cherry — honesty, fairness, curiosity, and respect for the human spirit.

When her parents’ health declined, Berlinda stepped away from her artistic career to care for them. Those years changed her. They deepened her compassion, sharpened her clarity, and revealed the quiet heroism of caregivers everywhere. She learned that caregiving is a form of love that often goes mis-seen, and that those who give so much need a place to rest, to heal, and to be understood.

The Advocate Room was born from that understanding.

Today, Berlinda brings together her creative life, her community roots, and her caregiving journey to build a place where caregivers are met with dignity, connection, and renewal. She believes in the power of shared stories and in the simple truth that real, human connection can change a life.