A resident of Cincinnati for the past twenty years. Her point of origin is Asheville, North Carolina. Rita was a founding member of both the Asheville, Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday celebration and Goombay, an African-Carribbean Festival. Over the years Rita has advocated on behalf of domestic violence victims and substance abusers. She is president and founder of Sistuh Circle of Cincinnati; a womens's nonprofit, which in 2007 became a sponsor of the Walnut Hills Kitchen. A ten-year foster parent with HCJFS, she was recently appointed to the Ohio Child Welfare Training Program Committee.