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Employees &
Interns of the
Lighthouse Shelter |
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Debbie Wallace
-Executive Director
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Tammy Anderson
-Victim Advocate
Sharon Fifer
-Shelter Support Advocate
Jeannie Page
-Case Manager
Dustin Parton
-Shelter Support Advocate
Dianna Fitzgearlds
-Outreach Advocate
Chris Piland
-Accountant
Lacey Sullivan
-Marketing Communications Coordinator
Mandy Baker
-PT Advocate
Mirian Umana
-Bilingual Advocate/Children's Program Coordinator
Melody Smith
-Counselor
Travis Breshears
-Maintenance
Alisha Lovelace
-Intern
Katie Kirby
-Intern
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Next time you visit the Lighthouse
Shelter Administrative office, you
will notice a new face. Alisha
Lovelace, a real "go-getter", is a
senior at Missouri Valley College
and has taken an internship position
with the Lighthouse Shelter in our
Marketing Department. Originally
from Blue Springs, MO, Alisha came
to Missouri Valley College on a
basketball scholarship and is
pursuing a major in Sports Marketing
& Management. Alisha hopes to get
more experience in this field of
work. In the summer of 2010, she
completed an internship with the
Sprint Center, setting up for
concerts and working them, which she
really enjoyed. With this internship
she hopes to see a different
perspective on planning events.
After graduation she plans to pursue
a career in event coordinating,
where she would help set up events
and come up with ideas for them. In
her spare time she enjoys playing
basketball, shopping, being
surrounded by people, and spending
time with family. Alisha, we are
excited to get to work with you this
semester, and look forward to seeing
what ideas you can bring us! |
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Katie is a senior at Missouri Valley
College and has joined us at the
Lighthouse Shelter to complete her
internship! Katie, originally from
Sedalia, is majoring in Psychology
with a minor in Alcohol & Drug
Studies. Katie is a busy girl, but
when she does find time to relax she
likes to draw, write, listen to
music, and is part of the MVC band,
playing the clarinet. From this
experience of interning with the
Lighthouse Shelter, Katie hopes to
see how the advocates and the
Shelter itself really impact the
clients to be strong and make a
better life for themselves. She also
hopes to get a real work experience
out of this internship by seeing and
learning what the employees do on a
day to day basis at the Lighthouse
Shelter. After only 3 days of
interning at the shelter, Katie can
already tell that this is the kind
of work she can see herself doing.
She wants to help people and is
looking forward to continuing her
internship with the Lighthouse
Shelter. A future goal of Katie's is
to open up a soup kitchen in
Marshall, so she is thinking of ways
to get that ball rolling. Katie also
plans to attend graduate school at
Missouri Valley College and study
Community Counseling. Katie, we are
all looking forward to working with
you!
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The Lighthouse Shelter is proud to
introduce the newest member of our
team effective January 3, 2012,
Dianna Fitzgearlds. Dianna is
outgoing and greets you with a
smile! Dianna has taken the position
as the Outreach Advocate at the
Lighthouse Shelter, and her
responsibilities include advocacy
for residential and non-residential
survivors and reaching out in the
community to find volunteers for the
Lighthouse Shelter. This position
interested Dianna because being new
to the area, she felt that this
would be a great opportunity to get
acquainted with the people of
Marshall by recruiting volunteers
from the community. Dianna moved to
Marshall about a year ago from
Harrisonville, MO. She has worked as
a substitute teacher for several
area schools and was previously in a
permanent position at E.W. Thompson
State School in Sedalia. She
graduated from Avila University in
December with a degree in
Psychology, and plans to continue
her education and get her Masters.
When Dianna isn't at the Lighthouse
Shelter she is spending time with
her boyfriend Bucky Failor, her 4
children, or reading a good book.
She enjoys hunting with Bucky and
taking long bike rides on his
Harley. Dianna plays the violin and
hopes to become a part of the
community orchestra. She and Bucky
are members of the Midwest Country
Dance Club in Columbia, MO and spend
Sunday evening's learning to two
step, triple step and waltz country
style. Dianna hopes to be a positive
addition to the Lighthouse staff by
finding ways to involve the
community through awareness of
domestic violence, recruiting and
training volunteers, and doing
whatever she can to help domestic
violence victims reclaim their
lives. Join us in welcoming Dianna
to our team! |
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It is our pleasure to announce
that Dustin Parton joined our team
at the Lighthouse Shelter on
December 12th, as an Over-night
Shelter Support Advocate! Dustin
genuinely cares about people and is
easy to talk to; qualities that make
him a great fit for our
organization. Dustin has lived in
Saline County since 1995 and brings
with him over eight years'
experience of being in the "people
helping business" by being a
Marshall Police officer. Dustin was
interested in the position because
he says "with law enforcement I was
able to help people get out of these
types of situations but then that
was it, we never knew what happened
after that incident." This position
interested him because he would be
able to help people through the
process of changing, do follow-ups
with them, and making sure they are
living a better life. In his spare
time, Dustin enjoys spending time
with his daughter, friends, and
playing the guitar. Something Dustin
would like to try at the Lighthouse
Shelter is music therapy; teaching
the residents some music on a guitar
as a relaxation method. Join us in
welcoming Dustin to our team! |
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Jeannie Page is a Case Manager at
the Lighthouse Shelter. We are
celebrating her 1 year anniversary
this month! Jeannie's daily
responsibilities include managing
the case load of each client,
conducting morning self-empowering
educational class, monitoring
progress of each resident and daily
discussions with each resident,
about the accomplishments they are
making. She also helps with the
process of housing applications, job
searches, and creating resumes for
the residents. Jeannie grew up in
Slater then moved away, and returned
about 4 years ago. Jeannie heard
about the Lighthouse Shelter from a
friend, and later found out they had
a Case Manager position open, which
is one of her passions in life; to
advocate for other people. When
Jeannie first started at the
Lighthouse Shelter she was
immediately impressed to be a part
of something in our community that
encouraged people to change their
circumstances and stand empowered as
the individual. She felt very
welcomed and fortunate to have the
opportunity to make a difference in
someone's life. Being a survivor,
Jeannie knows how vitally important
it is to have an advocate in times
of distress or trauma; something
that she didn't have throughout her
life. Now she is in a position to
give back and be the best case
manager and advocate she can be.
Jeannie feels that working for the
Lighthouse Shelter inspires her to
continue helping these women
understand how special and wonderful
they truly are, and to continue
advocating for positive social
change; one person at a time. Being
able to see the improvements the
clients make is something that
Jeannie values very much. Something
that surprised her when she started
working for the Lighthouse Shelter
is the amount of donations the
organization receives. She commented
that "It's great to live in a
community that is very supportive
and cares about their fellow
citizens." In her own time Jeannie
is a single mother of five and has
one granddaughter, so a large part
of her time is being a parent and
spending time with her kids and
partner; family is important to
Jeannie. She also enjoys horseback
riding, traveling, collecting Native
American things, and being creative
either with music, photography, or
paints. This fall, Jeannie will be
attending Mizzou to begin her
Master's degree in Social Work.
Jeannie, you are a valued employee
and we are so grateful to have you
as a part of our team! |
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Congratulations Sharon! Sharon Fifer is
one of the Shelter Support Advocates
at the Lighthouse Shelter. Sharon
is celebrating her 6th
year anniversary of being an
employee of the Lighthouse Shelter.
Sharon has lived in Saline County
since 1986 but moved to Marshall at
the beginning of this year. She
first became involved with the
Lighthouse by becoming a volunteer
for 1 ½ years. When asked, “What
was your first impression of the
Lighthouse?” She replied “I
absolutely fell in love with this
place. I am helping women go through
something that no one should go
through alone.” I also asked Sharon,
“What has surprised you the most
about working at the Lighthouse?”
her response was “there are
surprises, but then again nothing is
really a surprise; each resident and
case is different.” Since Sharon
did volunteer with the Lighthouse
Shelter, we were curious and asked
her “What would you tell someone
thinking about volunteering for the
Lighthouse Shelter?” Sharon’s answer
was to “come change your life, one
gets a pleasure in doing this work,
and when you come here you know you
are making a difference in someone’s
life.” The Lighthouse Shelter can’t
function without the help of
volunteers so we hope you will come
join our team! Congratulations
Sharon, we are very lucky to have
you as a part of our team! |
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Congratulations to Melody Smith! She has
been with the Lighthouse Shelter for
3 years now! Melody, originally from
Slater, first became involved with
the Lighthouse Shelter when she
moved to Marshall and decided that
she wanted to volunteer with us, but
was not able to for very long. When
she learned that there was an
opening for a part-time counselor’s
position at the Lighthouse Shelter,
Melody made contact again. "I have a
passion for counseling and when I
learned I would be helping women of
abusive relationships, I definitely
wanted to help.” When Melody is not
counseling with the Lighthouse
Shelter she is the Process
Coordinator at Bueker Middle School
in Marshall and she has been there
for 11 years. Congratulations
Melody, we are so lucky to have you
as part of our team!
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Congratulations Chris Piland!!! Chris has
been the Accountant for the
Lighthouse Shelter for 2 years now!
Chris is a valued employee and we
are so thankful to have you as part
of our team!!! |
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The Lighthouse Shelter would like to
welcome our newest team member
Mirian Umana! Mirian is our
Children’s Program Coordinator and
will be working with survivors &
their children. Mirian is also
bilingual and will assist in
bilingual services when needed.
Mirian was born and raised in
Marshall, MO and was attending
Missouri Valley College, majoring in
Broadcasting and minoring in Human
Services. Currently she is
completing her courses through State
Fair Community College. Mirian
enjoys soccer, working out,
listening to music and cooking.
Welcome Mirian!
We are
so thankful to have you as part of
our team and look forward to working
with you!!! |
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Congratulations
Tammy Anderson!!! Tammy has been an
Advocate with the Lighthouse Shelter
for 4 years now! Prior to that Tammy
was an excellent volunteer for
nearly 2 years! Tammy, you are a
valued employee and we are so
thankful to have you as part of our
team!!! |
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Employees of the
Lighthouse Thrift Store |
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Linda Ballenger
Manager
Charles
Brite
Thrift Store Coordinator
Lois Crawford
Lavona Lawton
Courtney Hoyes
Barbara Perkins
Bonnie Paige
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We would like to announce our newest
employee to the Lighthouse Thrift
Store, Charles Brite! Charles has a
friendly face, great people skills,
and is our Thrift Store Coordinator.
Charles lived in Arizona for the
past 30 years, but has been back and
forth to Marshall over that time
frame. Charles has a background in
Radiology, and at one time used to
be the supervisor of the Radiology
Department at Fitzgibbon Hospital.
Most of his career, Charles has been
in Medical Sales and specialized in
women's health, so he knows a thing
or two about customer service!
Charles' goal for the Lighthouse
Thrift Store is to make a better
system for sorting the donations and
getting them to the sales floor
faster. He is surprised by the
volume of donations the Lighthouse
Thrift Store receives. The donations
are good, but come in vast amounts
so frequently that the employees are
unable to get them sorted and to the
shelves very quickly. Charles
mentioned that "the Lighthouse
Thrift Store already has a nice
atmosphere, the employees are
friendly with good attitudes, and
once we get a better system for
donations, we hope to start changing
the sales floor appearance; give it
a new look." In Charles's spare time
he enjoys room & architectural
design, drawing, and spending time
with his wife & family. Join us in
welcoming Charles to the Lighthouse
team!!!
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This month these two bubbly ladies
are celebrating their one year
anniversary as employees of the
Lighthouse Thrift Store! Courtney
Hoyes (pictured left), who is from
Sweet Springs, is involved with her
church, enjoys spending time with
her family, four-wheeler riding, and
hanging out with friends.
Lavona Lawton (pictured right), a
junior at Marshall High School,
moved with her family to Marshall
about 7 years ago from Wayne, NE
when her father took the offensive
line position with the Vikings
football team at Missouri Valley
College. Her future plans are to
attend Missouri Valley College for 2
years to complete her core classes,
and then she hopes to transfer to
the Chicago Art Institute to pursue
Art Therapy. In Lavona's spare time
she enjoys playing softball,
spending time with her siblings,
playing guitar; she is also a part
of the high school orchestra, enjoys
going to concerts and being
adventurous. Courtney and Lavona,
you are great employees and the
customers really enjoy you! We are
so thankful to have you as a part of
our team!
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Congratulations
Lois Crawford!!! Lois is celebrating
her 5th year anniversary
of being an employee for the
Lighthouse Thrift Store! Prior to
that Lois was an excellent volunteer
at the Lighthouse Shelter for nearly
2 years! Lois, you are a valued
employee and we are so thankful to
have you as part of our team!!! |
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Congratulations
Bonnie Paige!!! Stop by the
Lighthouse Thrift Store and
congratulate Bonnie while
celebrating her 1 year anniversary!
Bonnie, you are a valued employee
and we are so thankful to have you
as part of our team!!! |
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Congratulations
Barbara Perkins!!! Stop by the
Lighthouse Thrift Store and
congratulate Barbara while
celebrating her 2 year anniversary!
Barbara, you are a valued employee
and we are so thankful to have you
as part of our team!!! |
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Our Board Members |
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Judy Kays
Board President
Chandra
Keuhn
Vice-President
Margaret Cott
Secretary/Treasurer
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Elizabeth Kennon
Board Member
Wilma Garrett
Board Member
Michelle Hanson
Board Member
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Carol Brown
Board Member
Tom Butler
Board Member
Barbie Criswell
Board Member
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