Janne Swearengen

Janne Swearengen has had many jobs, but only two vocations. As a junior high teacher in Hartsville, TN, she adored teaching and learned more from her students than they ever did from her. Her second vocation evolved after becoming a surveyor of Long Term Care facilities in MS. She joined the Center for Healthy Systems Research and Analysis and the Long Term Care Institute of Madison WI as a Quality Assurance analyst and Director of Training. The experience of helping nursing facilities across the country assess the quality of their care delivery along with powerful and moving interactions with the residents and staff was incredibly rewarding. After retiring in 2012, Janne reinvented herself by becoming a passionate vegan known as The Elf in the Kitchen and publishing a daily vlog title The Chronicles of Pondlandia. Janne lives in Madison MS with a few 'failed fosters'. In May of 2023, her husband of 39 years, Larry, affectionately known as 'Big Solid', lost his battle with cancer.