Cathy Rousse, LICSW, MA
LADC1, President
After years of working in laboratory medicine as a
medical technologist, Cathy went back to school and received
a degree in psychology from Smith College. She earned her
MSW 12 years ago from Boston College. An LICSW, Cathy also
holds a MA LADC1. When not working,
Cathy tends to her horses and competes in Eventing. Cathy
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Tuipate Mubiay, MSW, Vice-President
Tuipat is the Diversity Coordinator at The Howard Center,
Burlington. He is active in many community events and
groups, including the Association of Africans Living in
Vermont. He earned his MSW from the University of Vermont.
Tuipate lives in Colchester, VT.
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Merle Edwards-Orr, PhD,
LICSW, Treasurer
Merle is the Flexible Choices project manager at the Vermont
Department of Disabilities, Aging and Independent Living. He
has also worked as a critical care social worker at Fletcher
Allen Health Care and taught at the undergraduate at
graduate levels. He received his MSSW from the University of
Tennessee-Knoxville and his PhD in Social Welfare from the
University of Wisconsin-Madison. He lives in Burlington with
his wife, Jamie, also a social worker. He has two children
who are quite self-consciously not social workers.
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Lynda C. Shoenbeck,
MSW, Treasurer-Elect
Lynda is the Program Coordinator, Madison-Deane Initiative,
VNA of Chittenden and Grand Isle Counties. Lynda earned her
social work degree from The University of Vermont. She will
work closely with our current Treasurer, Merle Edwards-Orr,
for one year and then take over as Treasurer in 2010. She
recently completed a term as Vice-President and has many
Chapter service credits to her name, including Past Board
Treasurer, Chair Nominations & Leadership Committee,
Practice Advancement and Professional Standards Committee.
She was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004. Lynda
lives in Waterbury.
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Kelly Mills-Dick, MSW,
Secretary
Kelly Mills-Dick, MSW is a Lecturer and Ph.D. candidate in
sociology and social work at Boston University. Kelly
received her BSW from the University of Vermont and MSW from
the University of California at Berkeley and currently works
as a consultant in the areas of social work education and
program evaluation. Kelly recently served as a Lecturer in
Social Work at Skidmore College, where she taught courses in
Social Work Practice, Social Welfare Policy, and Death and
Dying. Previously, as Curriculum and Evaluation Manager at
the Institute for Geriatric Social Work at Boston
University, Kelly was involved in the design and evaluation
of both online and face-to-face training in geriatric social
work. Kelly has served as a clinical practitioner in the
areas of geriatric mental health and substance abuse, as
well as housing for older adults. Her current dissertation
research focuses on housing and homelessness among older
adults, and her other research interests include social work
training and education, geriatric mental health, caregiving,
and long-term care.
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Sara Chase, LICSW, ACSW
- Director
Sara graduated form Trinity College with her
Bachelor’s degree in Social Work and Psychology. She also
graduated from Florida State University with her Master’s
degree in Social Work. Sara attended the City University of
New York’s Graduate School and University Center’s Doctoral
program in Social Welfare which specialized in macro level
practice including social policy analysis and social welfare
administration. Sara has worked primarily in community
mental health as a psychotherapist and social work
supervisor specializing in adults with co-occurring
disorders. She also enjoys providing field instruction to
the University of Vermont’s MSW and BSW programs.
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Mark Gagnon,
MSW, LICSW, Director
Mark is the Director of Counseling Services and the STEPS
Program at the College of St. Joseph. Mark is also a member
of the social work department at Rutland Regional Medical
Center providing short term crisis intervention. Mark
graduated with his BSW and a double major in sociology from
Castleton State College. He went on to earn a clinical MSW
from the State University of New York at Albany. Presently,
Mark serves as a board member on the advisory council for
the BSW program at Castleton State College. Mark has
clinical experience working with individuals and families
specifically in the areas of depression, anxiety and PTSD.
His social work interests include family therapy,
integrating spirituality within social work practice and
substance abuse treatment. Mark enjoys spending free time
reading, watching movies and kayaking.
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Cathy Hartshorn, MSW,
Director
Cathy received her MSW from UVM in 2008. She is a
case manager with Central Vermont Council on Aging and can
be reached at
479-7524.
Cathy lives in Berlin and in her free time enjoys spending
time with her dogs Bear & Noah. Cathy’s volunteer projects
are animal welfare related.
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Brenda Pitmon, MSW, Director
Brenda moved to Vermont in 2005 deciding that a
career change was in order after 20 years in New York City
working in healthcare and advertising to help support her
acting career. Brenda has performed in Europe and NYC and
was a founding member of Synchronicity Theatre Group in SoHo.
She received her MSW from the University of Vermont in 2007.
Brenda is the Direct Services Advocate for SafeSpace, the
anti violence, anti discrimination program at the RU12?
Community Center. In addition to her work as an advocate for
the LGBTQ community, Brenda is the Volunteer Coordinator for
RU12? She most recently served the Chapter as co-chair of
the 2009 Social Work Month Committee. She also is on the
Board of Directors for Island Arts, a non-profit in Grand
Isle County working to raise money for youth scholarships in
the arts. Brenda is always on the lookout for opportunities
to combine social work with artistic expression as a way of
creating new dialogues between communities.
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Christina Cosgrove, LICSW,
Director
Christina is the Director of the Dementia Program at the
Vermont Veterans’ Home in Bennington, VT. Their mission is
to make life worth living for people with memory loss.
Christina has helped initiate some innovative programs, such
as Namaste, and the expressive arts program. She was elected
to complete the remainder of a current term of the
Director-at-Large. Christina received her MSW from the
University of Michigan. She discovered her passion for
working with the elderly during an internship at the Turner
Geriatric Clinic at the University of Michigan Hospital and
graduated with a specialty in aging certification. Christina
currently represents the field of social work on the
Governor’s Commission for Alzheimer’s disease and related
dementias. Christina lives in Rupert, VT and enjoys reading,
music and walks in nature.
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Carol Kelley, LICSW,
Director
Carol is a
school social worker now in a special education
position in the Montpelier Schools. Carol lives in Hardwick.
She also serves on the Chapter Professional Development and
Education Committee.
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Jenni Campbell, MSW
Student Director
Jenni is a concentration year student at The University
of Vermont and will have her internship at Gifford Medical
Center working with former Chapter president, Sandy Conrad,
in the coming year.
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Karin Hammer-Williamson, BASW,
BSW Representative
Karin serves as Education Resource Coordinator at Champlain
Valley Area Health Education Center. She previously worked
at Essex CHIPS & Teen Center; the VT Dept of Disabilities,
Aging & Independent Living; HomeShare Vermont; and Women
Helping Battered Women (she held other positions as a
paralegal). Karin received a BASW and Certificate in
Gerontology from Trinity College and undertook a year of
graduate work focusing couples and families through the life
span and across cultures at McGill University. She decided
to become a social worker after serving as an administrative
aide at NASW’s national office. Karin grew up in St.
Johnsbury, lives in Essex and has five stepchildren and two
grandchildren.
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Naomi Roche, BSW Student
Director
Naomi is a rising senior in the Castleton State
College undergraduate program. She will serve a one-year
term as a current BSW student. She aims to become a
generalist in social work practice. She completed
internships with the Rutland County Head Start program and
Girls, Inc.
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Rilla A. Murray, M.S. (Soc.Adm.)
DrPH - Executive Director
Rilla Murray chose social work as her career with an eye to
advocacy and social action. She earned a M.S. (Soc.Adm.) at
the School of Applied Social Science at Case Western
University. Later, she specialized in public
health policy after earning a DrPH at the School of Public
Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Her career spans the public, private, and
non-profit sectors, and ranges from executive management to
policy and resource development, advocacy, and training. A
Michigan native, Rilla has lived all over the eastern U.S.
and abroad. She now lives in Montpelier and enjoys kayaking,
knitting, and basketry. She has one daughter, who works in Spain as a
U.S. Foreign Service Officer.
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Betsy E. Cody, Chapter
Coordinator
Betsy started at NASW-VT in 2003 as the Administrative
Assistant. As office needs and Directors changed, so did
her job description and duties. Betsy now works with most
facets of the Chapter organization from bookkeeping to
conference coordinating. In her personal life, Betsy sits on
the Executive Committee of the Barre Congregational Church
Board as well as the Finance Committee, and the Barre
Community Baseball BOD, which she Chaired for several years.
She volunteers for many youth organizations in and around
Barre, and has been an active volunteer for the homeless
shelter, Good Samaritan Haven, for over 20 years. Betsy
lives in Barre with her husband, Michael, two teenage sons,
Ethan and Connor and two Golden Retrievers.
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