Laura Albertini-Weigel BA- LSW
YWCA Wheeling
Director of WIND

Laura Albertini-Weigel has been a life long resident of West Virginia. She has spent the last 30 years working in social services in various capacities throughout WV. She has been the Director of the WIND (Women Inspired in New Directions) Program at the YWCA Wheeling since 2015. Her career has always been to advocate and be a voice for those that feel they have none and most recently to promote Hope in Recovery. Laura has 2 grown children and resides with her 2 dogs in Wheeling.

Fred Bañuelos
FHLBank Pittsburgh
Community Investment Business Development Manager

Prior to joining the Bank in 2018, Mr. Bañuelos worked for the Harrisburg Housing Authority, where he managed operations for the Housing Choice Voucher Program, Public Housing Program and Capital Improvement Program. Prior to that, he was Director of Housing Management for the Housing Authority of the County of Dauphin and a Deputy Director for the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development.

Mr. Banuelosserves as a member of several affordable housing organizations, including the Allentown Housing Authority Board of Commissioners, PNC Bank’s CRA Advisory Committee, Regional Housing Legal Services and the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials. He is also a founding member of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of the Lehigh Valley.

Mr. Bañuelos received a bachelor’s degree from Pennsylvania’s East Stroudsburg University. He is also a graduate of Rutgers University’s Executive Director Education Program, a Certified Public Housing Manager and a Certified Assisted Housing Manager.

Marie Beaver
Rea of Hope Fellowship Home, Inc.
Executive Director

Marie Beaver is the founding Executive Director of Rea of Hope, Inc. Under the leadership of Marie, ROH has become one of the most successful nonprofits in West Virginia being recognized by the Office of National Drug Control Policy with visits from the Director and two Deputy Directors since 2006. Rea of Hope has also hosted Secretary Ben Carson and then Assistant Secretary to Purdue, Anne Hazlett and numerous round tables. ROH has grown from one employee to eleven and from 10 beds to 47 with the addition of New Life Apartments, for ROH graduates and their children. Marie is a proud graduate of Clemson University and was named to the National Deans List. Marie has been working in the field of addictions for 34 years and housing for 17 years. Marie is a Licensed Addictions Counselor Supervisor; she also has over 35 years of personal recovery. Marie is married to Carl E. Beaver II and lives in Hurricane, WV.

James Becker
LG Financial Consulting LLC
Consultant

James M. Becker is a Consultant with LG Financial Consulting LLC and an Associate Attorney with Lewis Glasser PLLC. Prior to working with LG Financial Consulting, Mr. Becker served as a Senior Investment Banking Analyst with Bank of America Merrill Lynch in New York and a Commercial Portfolio Manager at Huntington National Bank. He received his B.A. from Vanderbilt University and his J.D. from West Virginia University.

Emily Birckhead MSW
WV Alliance of Recovery Residences
Executive Director

Emily Birckhead is the executive director of the West Virginia Alliance of Recovery Residences, which has been tasked with implementing nationally accepted best practice standards and ethical guidelines for non-treatment residential recovery houses in the state. She graduated from WVU with her BS in Political Science and received her Master of Social Work Degree from Marshall University in 2020. She is certified as both a CCAR Peer Recovery Coach and 200-RYT (Registered Yoga Teacher). Emily has previously worked as a Recovery Coach with the Partnership of African American Churches and as an AmeriCorps VISTA with Try This WV. She has also supported the development of organizations like WVU’s Collegiate Recovery Program and WV Recovers, an integrated, statewide peer recovery network for people with mental health and substance use disorders. Emily serves on the Board of Directors for the Kanawha Pastoral Counseling Center (KPCC) and the West Virginia Association of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors (WVAADC).

Erica Boggess CPA
WV Housing Development Fund
Executive Director

Ms. Boggess joined the Housing Development Fund in 1986 serving in various accounting and finance positions and was appointed Deputy Director in January 2005 and served as the Assistant Treasurer to the Board of Directors. On January 1, 2012, Ms. Boggess was appointed Acting Executive Director by Governor Tomblin and as appointed Executive Director in February 2017 by Governor Justice. Ms. Boggess has extensive experience in a broad range of housing programs and tax exempt housing bond issues of almost $4 billion. Prior to joining the Housing Development Fund she worked in public accounting. Ms. Boggess graduated from Marshall University with a Bachelor of Science, Business Administration and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Dave Clark
Woodlands Development Group & Community Lenders
Executive Director

Dave is the Director of Woodlands Development Group, a Community Development Corporation, and Woodlands Community Lenders, a certified Community Development Financial Institution. He manages programs related to new housing development and housing rehabilitation, downtown redevelopment, community facilities and planning, and small business lending. He is an AICP Certified Planner, is the current Chair of the Fahe WV Caucus, and serves on the boards of Community Works in WV, the Virginia Community Development Fund, and the WV Land Trust.

Cathy Colby MBA
West Virginia Housing Development Fund
Senior Manager - HOME & HTF Programs

Cathy began her career with WVHDF in 2007 in the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Department. In 2014, she became the Senior Manager of the HOME & HTF Programs. She is an alumnus of the University of Charleston, earning undergraduate and master’s degrees there.

Ernie Fletcher MD
Fletcher Group, Inc.
Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer

Fighter pilot, board-certified physician, statesman, and healthcare visionary, Ernie Fletcher was elected in 1998 to the first of three consecutive terms in the United States House of Representatives. In 2003 he was elected the 60th Governor of Kentucky. As Founder of the Fletcher Group, Ernie continues a legacy of innovative public service that promises to extend the company's unique model of "Recovery Ecosystems" to states across the country.

Johan Graham
AU Associates, Inc.
Director of Development

Johan Graham joined AU Associates, Inc. in April of 2007 as the Director of Development. While involved in all aspects of project conceptualization and development, his primary responsibilities revolve around structuring, underwriting, syndicating and monitoring AU’s current and future portfolio of LIHTC and Historic Tax Credit projects.

He is a 2000 graduate of Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky with a B.A. in Sociology and Anthropology and a 2002 graduate of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a Masters in Regional Planning with a focus on Affordable Housing, Historic Preservation, Real Estate, and Community Development. Prior to joining AU Associates, Johan worked as a Project Development Officer at Community Affordable Housing Equity Corporation (CAHEC), a tax credit syndicator, and was responsible for over $70 million in Low-Income Housing and Historic Tax Credit equity investments totaling over 1,100 units in Kentucky, West Virginia, and North Carolina.

Fran Gray
Recovery Point Charleston
Program Director

I am originally from Doddridge County, West Virginia. I have been with Recovery Point since 2016 and I am currently the Program Director at the Recovery Point Charleston’s women center. It has been an honor to be part of an organization that not only saves lives but believes in the continuum of care of individuals in the recovery community. As a person in long term recovery myself who has benefited from recovery housing, I understand the benefits of safe accountable housing.

Robert “Bob” Hansen
West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources Office of Drug Control Policy
Director

Bob Hansen, Director of the Office of Drug Control Policy for the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR), plans and directs West Virginia’s efforts in combating the opioid epidemic. He was appointed to this position in December 2018 by Governor Jim Justice. Bob also serves as the Director of Addiction Services for Marshall Health.

Early in his career, Bob served as Director of DHHR’s Office of Behavioral Health Services. He then became President and CEO of Prestera Center for Mental Health Services, Inc. of Huntington, West Virginia, where he managed an annual budget of $44 million and 825 staff members.

Bob has served as a governing board member of Mildred Mitchell-Bateman Hospital, President of the Behavioral Health Care Providers Association of West Virginia, and as a member of the statewide Governor’s Advisory Council on Substance Abuse. He earned a B.A. from Marietta College, and an M.S. in Rehabilitation Counseling from Syracuse University.

Vanessa Lominac Haste JD
Fahe
Program Manager

Vanessa Lominac Haste joined Fahe in 2019 as the Program Manager to develop and implement Kentucky Access to Recovery (KATR). Within her first year at Fahe, Vanessa coordinated the opening and staffing of three offices in Boone, Jefferson, and Letcher counties. Vanessa managed $3.66 million in KATR's first year and will manage $2.4 million in KATR's second year. Before joining Fahe, Vanessa spent thirteen years operating her own legal practice with offices in southern and central Kentucky. Vanessa also served as the first female Assistant Commonwealth Attorney for Knox and Laurel County, Kentucky. The majority of her professional life has been spent working with clients, families, and children involved in the addiction crisis.

Jennie Hill
West Virginia Alliance of Recovery Residences
Assistant Director

Jennie Hill is the Assistant Director for the West Virginia Alliance of Recovery Residences and is currently collaboratively developing a certification agency for recovery housing (WVARR). As leadership staff at the largest peer-led women’s program in the state, Recovery Point Charleston, she built strong professional relationships within the community with the goal of improving the quality of life for those with Substance Use Disorders. She is reliable and passionate; with 6 years’ experience working in recovery programs and 9 years in her personal recovery, she fiercely advocates for the healing space created by recovery housing. Her educational background is in Interior Design, with a BA in Art from West Virginia State University. She also achieved her Yoga Alliance 200-hour yoga teacher certification in 2018 and researches the evidence-base for mindfulness and yoga’s role in healing traumas in her spare time.

Jessi Hixon
Resident of MOV Fellowship Home

My name is Jessi, I have been in recovery for 11 months. I have been in multiple recovery residences and they have helped me to attain sobriety and to maintain structure in my day to day life.

Karen Jacobson
Randolph County Housing Authority
Executive Director

Karen Jacobson is the Executive Director of the RandolphCounty Housing Authority (RCHA). Keyprograms include the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program; YouthBuild,providing job prep and leadership development to at-risk youth; the HousingCase Management Program, which rapidly re-houses homeless residents; and theHealthy Home program, which provides care coordination to seniors living inaffordable rental housing. RCHA alsodevelops and manages rental housing, and promotes homeownership through single-familydevelopment and a partnership with the HomeOwnership Center, Inc.

Ms. Jacobson has been with the RCHA since 2001, becoming theExecutive Director in 2007. Ms. Jacobsonalso serves part-time as Loan Fund Manager of Woodlands Community Lenders(WCL), a small business CDFI she co-founded in 2012. Ms. Jacobson is the Chair of the Board ofFahe, a regional membership group on a mission to eliminate persistent povertyin Appalachia.

Darlene King
West Virginia Housing Development Fund
Multifamily Programs Administrator

Darlene King began her journey with the West Virginia Housing Development Fund (WVHDF) in November 2012 as an Administrative Assistant to the Deputy Director. She quickly becamea Loan Processor and Closer while gaining her college degree in business administration. Today, Darlene administers USDA’s Guaranteed Rural Rental Housing and the WVHDF’s Affordable Housing Fund programs among others while processing and closing loans. Darlene was the Multiple Listing Service Director with the Kanawha Valley Board of REALTORS prior to joining WVHDF and possesses management, training, and presentation experience.

Joseph McComas
Recovery Group of Southern West Virginia, Inc
Executive Director

Joey McComas is the Executive Director of the Recovery Group of Southern West Virginia, Inc. He served as Acting Director of New Beginnings Home for Men for four months prior to becoming the Executive Director in May 2016. He began working with the group as a volunteer. For over twenty years, he has had extensive volunteer experience in faith-based services and facilitating personal finance courses in the community. Mr. McComas has experience in Engineering Design/Permitting/Surveying and was trained as a Recovery Coach through Connecticut Community for Addiction Recovery (CCAR). As the Executive Director, Joey reports to the Board of Directors. He is responsible for the oversight, operations, and reporting functions of the organization. The Community Engagement Specialist and staff from the New Beginnings Home for Men report to him directly.

Phillip McKeough
HUD-CPD
Director

At HUD's Office of Community Planning and Development, we workwith State and local governments and non-profit organizations to ensure theirFederal grant programs comply with its respective regulatory requirements.

I became interested in community development at a young ageas I saw macroeconomic pressures, local public and private investment, and environmentaldesign impact my small West Michigan town and the behavior of its members. Ipursued my academic interests researching the impact of public policy onvulnerable populations, comparative political and economic studies, and thehistory of development trends. My first practical federal grant experiencebegan with the implementation of a FEMA-funded emergency preparedness plan atthe County level; followed by three years enforcing EEO compliance at the DOL; andfinally, working the last 10 years in HUD’s Office of Community Planning andDevelopment. I became the Director in our Pittsburgh Field Office in Septemberof 2019.

Beth Morrison MA
WV DHHR Bureau for Behavioral Health
Consultant

Ms. Morrison has worked for almost 40 years with communities, non-profits and government agencies, supporting community-based programs and engaging stakeholders in decision-making about their future. Most recently she managed Adult Services for the DHHR’s Bureau for Behavioral Health, including expansion of substance use disorder services. Ms. Morrison retired in 2019 but retains a contractual position with the Bureau to support Ryan Brown-funded initiatives. She has degrees in Clinical Psychology.

Mark Sadd
Lewis Glasser PLLC
Member

Mark A. Sadd is an equity member of Lewis Glasser PLLC of Charleston, W. Va. and a principal in its subsidiary, LG Financial Consulting LLC. His work emphasizes real estate, real estate development, real estate title, coal, oil and gas title, energy development, eminent domain and condemnation, common interest communities, servitudes, historic preservation, leasing, land use; and state and local taxation. He is a fellow of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers and is listed The Best Lawyers in America® in Eminent Domain and Condemnation Law and in Zoning & Land Use Law and West Virginia SuperLawyers® in Real Property Law.

Kate Swanson
FHLBank Pittsburgh
Community Investment Manager

Kate Swanson is the Community Investment Manager at the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh, where she manages FHLBank’s economic development programs, Banking On Business and the Community Lending Program as well as the FHLBank’s initiative supporting homeless services, Home4Good. Previously, Ms. Swanson has worked in fundraising and development for not-for-profit institutions. She received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Mary Washington.

Nathan Testman
West Virginia Housing Development Fund
Senior Division Manager - Multifamily Lending

Mr. Testman joined the WVHDF in 2016, where he provides oversight to the WVHDF's multifamily programs. Prior to joining the WVHDF, Mr. Testman worked in commercial banking where he gained experience in commercial lending and credit underwriting. Mr. Testman also served in the Army National Guard. He is a graduate of West Virginia University and holds a degree in finance.

Kris Warner
USDA Rural Development
State Director of West Virginia

Kris Warner is the State Director of USDA Rural Development in West Virginia. Mr. Warner was appointed by President Trump in November 2017. Mr. Warner has more than 30 years of experience in residential, commercial and energy development. He brings to the position his experience as an entrepreneur, small business owner and community leader. Mr. Warner has a wealth of experience in working successfully with a variety of public- and private-sector leaders to improve our communities and build stronger, more diverse economies. He and his wife Joyce, a public school teacher, are the parents of five children, four of which are serving on active duty in the United States Air Force. Mr. Warner and his wife are also proud grandparents of two grandchildren. As State Director, Warner uses his leadership experience to oversee Rural Development programs in a customer-focused manner to promote prosperity in rural West Virginia.

Victoria Watring
WVU Medicine
Peer Recovery Support Specialist

Victoria was born and raised in Kingwood WV. She is the mother to her children Brady, Landen and Lyla. Tory spent 21 years in active addiction and also during a CPS case where at the end her children were removed from her care and custody. Tory entered the WVSL program and stayed for 10.5 months where she was shown a new way to live and was granted custody of her children back. Tory is a state certified peer support specialist, fill in house manager, full time mother. Tory is active in her recovery community, a leader among her peers and is also a person in long term recovery.

Krista White PRSS
West Virginia Sober Living
Women's Sober Living Program Director

Krista was born in Webster Springs, WV and grew up in Cowen, WV. She is the mother to her daughter Brittany, and grandmother. Krista has been working with WVSL since 2018. Recently, Krista was promoted and relocated to Charleston WV to help WVSL open additional sober living homes. Krista is currently enrolled in WVU pursuing a master’s in social work. Krista is a state certified peer support specialist, is active in her recovery community, and a leader amongst her peers. Krista is also a person in long term recovery.

Michelle Wilshere CPA, MBA
West Virginia Housing Development Fund
Senior Manager - LIHTCP

Ms. Wilshere joined the Housing Development Fund in 1998 as the Senior Tax Credit Processor. In 2004, she became the Manager of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program and was appointed to her current position in 2011. Prior to 1998, Ms. Wilshere was an accountant for several companies in the hospitality and commercial rental industries. She graduated from West Virginia State College with a bachelor’s degree in Accounting, is a Certified Public Accountant, and earned her Master’s Degree in Business Administration in 2000 from Marshall University Graduate College.