Corrina Welding

"I grew up on the creek," says Lane County native Corrina Welding, "out past Pleasant Hill on Lost Creek Road, a mile from the dead end." Her father, Alfie Welding, was a welder. He had a structural steel construction business and managed a crew of employees, working mostly in Eugene and Springfield. He was also a Viet Nam veteran who had been exposed to the insecticide Agent Orange. He developed cancer years later, and died in 2010 at age 59. Following graduation from Pleasant Hill High School, Welding studied at the Cascade Institute of Massage and Body Therapies. "I've been doing deep tissue massage for 20 years," she says. "I've been told it's the deepest people have seen. My brother thinks I should work for the government to get secrets." After 12 years at Healing Spirit Integrative Health Center, she opened a private practice in January of 2016. "I started doing massage for veterans for free," she says. "I've always wanted to help vets. I saw what my dad went through." During November of 2016, she is offering a free massage to any vet, and she has an ongoing sliding scale for veterans. Find her online at corrinaweldinglmt.com. "I've seen a huge improvement in their range of motion and pain level," she reports. "It can help them get through emotional stuff like PTSD." A marriage now ended has left Welding with two daughters, 26-year-old Chelsea, herself a mom, and 16-year-old Isabella, a junior at South Eugene High. They have sparked a second part-time career as a self-taught child and family photographer. View her portraits at corrinaweldingphotography.com.