Lynn Donohue

Brick by Brick: A Woman’s Journey Summary: Lynn Donohue is the author of the critically acclaimed memoir, Brick by Brick: A Woman's Journey, which was a 2001 Ben Franklin Award finalist. Her presentation style is educational and motivational, and inspires audiences to overcome obstacles through positive attitude, perseverance, and "can do" spirit. Lynn will be available after lunch for a book signing.

GARY ALLSUP
Kansas Housing Resources Corporation

Gary serves as Executive Director of Kansas Housing Resources Corporation, the state’s leading affordable housing agency serving the needs of low to moderate-income Kansans. KHRC’s mission is to enhance Kansas communities with housing opportunities using a variety of strategies and approaches, including increasing homeownership opportunities, promoting energy efficiency improvements for owner-occupied and rental housing and providing rent assistance to low-income families, senior citizens and individuals with special needs.

Allsup’s responsibilities include overseeing the agency’s operations, providing leadership for the development of multi-family and single-family affordable housing programs and establishing partnerships with public and private sector entities at the local and national levels.

Allsup joined KHRC in April of 2006 and has over 21 years management experience in the healthcare, local government, non-profit and housing fields. Prior to KHRC, Allsup served three years with the Missouri Housing Development Commission in Kansas City.

A native of Oklahoma, Allsup holds business degrees in both management and human resources management from Oklahoma State University.

LYNN AMYX, LSCSW
Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center

Lynn has been with the Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center in Lawrence since 1999 serving as the Community Support Services Team Leader and is the Residential Service Coordinator, Housing Specialist, PATH (Projects for Assistance in Transitional from Homelessness) Outreach Supervisor, and City of Lawrence Homeless Outreach Coordinator. She supervises a team of 15 staff comprised of case managers, outreach workers and attendant care staff who provide homeless outreach and residential supportive housing and supportive services.

Lynn is the Chairman of the Practitioner's Panel for Housing and Homeless Issues, a member of the Commission on Community Concerns and the Governor’s Mental Health Services Planning Council Subcommittee on Housing and Homelessness. The Bert Nash Center's Residential Services were recently awarded the Ad Astra Award for Innovation in Housing and Community Development.

ANN PARRETT ANDERSON, LMHT
Valeo Behavioral Health Care

Ann has over 15 years of experience serving the homeless mentally ill in Topeka. She began her employment with Valeo Behavioral Health Care on the PATH (Projects for Assistance in Transitional from Homelessness) team in 1992, providing both case management services and assertive outreach for the past 15 years.

Prior to working at Valeo, Ann worked at Topeka State Hospital for eight years, giving her over 23 years of experience providing mental health services to individuals suffering from a mental illness. Throughout this period, Ann has maintained her LMHT license.

SHARON BARFIELD
Kansas Health Solutions

Sharon has over ten years experience in public and private mental health care, both as a provider and researcher. Prior to joining Kansas Health Solutions as Director of Quality Improvement, Sharon spent six years as a Project Manager in the Office of Social Policy Analysis and Office of Child Welfare and Children’s Mental Health at the University of Kansas, School of Social Welfare. During this tenure, she was responsible for outcomes in Kansas, produced, and disseminated publications surrounding “best practices.”

She conducted research in mental health, such as an examination of the Bruce Perry model for serving children who have experienced trauma, and several large-scale system evaluations including the most recent independent evaluation of the HCBS-SED waiver and a three-year study of wrap around fidelity and quality of care. In the course of these endeavors, she made numerous site visits to community mental health centers in Kansas and has been involved in a variety of activities within this system of care. She has taught research and other classes at KU and Park University.

KARLA BIBER
Valeo Behavioral Health Care

Karla has been employed with Valeo Behavioral Health Care since 1999, working the entire time in Valeo’s homeless program providing both case management services and assertive outreach. Karla graduated from Kansas State University with a Family Life Counselor degree.

RANDY L. CRANDALL
Deputy Director Homeless Services, Veteran’s Administration

Randy was a part of a work-group that formed the Kansas Statewide Homeless Coalition (KSHC) in 2000. Randy served as the first Chair of KSHC and continues to serve in this capacity. He started his career with the VA in 1976. Randy was selected to direct homeless services at the Topeka VA in 1996. A successful grant application provided the first national funding for homeless veterans at the Topeka VA in 1999 thus establishing the Health Care for Homeless Veterans program.

Randy was appointed to the Governor’s Committee on Housing for the State of Kansas in 2001, he currently serves on the Kansas Interagency Council on Homelessness, and has served on the Governor’s Mental Health Services Planning Council Subcommittee on Housing and Homelessness since 2000. He also served as Chair of the Shawnee County Homeless Task Force (HTF) from 1998 to 2001. Randy serves on the Advisory Board for the Homeless, Mentally Ill at the Mental Health Center for several years. Randy served on various HTF committees involved in grant writing that successfully competed for over six million dollars in additional Federal and State funding to serve the Homeless throughout Shawnee County. Grant writing at both the VA and in the community has been a part of Mr. Crandall’s responsibilities for a number of years.

Randy and his wife Linda have seven children and are heavily involved in their children’s activities and in their local church.

SHEILA CROWLEY
National Low Income Housing Coalition

Sheila is the president and CEO of the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC), where she heads a membership organization dedicated solely to ending the affordable housing crisis in America. NLIHC’s annual flagship publication, Out of Reach, analyzes the mismatch between incomes and rents in every jurisdiction in the United States, and produces the frequently cited measure of housing unaffordability, the housing wage. NLIHC’s weekly review of federal housing policy is considered a must-read by all low-income housing advocates. NLIHC leads the National Housing Trust Fund Campaign, which has been endorsed by over 5,500 organizations across the country.

She is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Housing Trust, the Poverty and Race Research Action Council, Enterprise Community Partners, the Technical Assistance Collaborative, the National Housing Conference, and the Alliance for Healthy Homes.

She joined the staff of the National Low Income Housing Coalition in December 1998, after two decades in Richmond, Virginia in organizational leadership, direct service, policy advocacy, and scholarship. She is a social worker with a bachelor’s (1976), master’s (1978), and Ph.D. (1998) from the School of Social Work at Virginia Commonwealth University. She has worked in staff, board, and consulting roles with organizations that focus on family housing, AIDS housing, senior housing, housing for people with disabilities, and homeless services.

She was the 1996-97 Social Work Congressional Fellow, where she served on the Democratic staff of the Housing Subcommittee of the United States Senate Banking Committee. From 1984-1992, she was the Executive Director of The Daily Planet, a multipurpose homeless service and advocacy organization in Richmond. She was the founding director in 1979 of the YWCA Women’s Advocacy Program in Richmond, the shelter and service program for battered women and their children. She is a founding member of the Virginians against Domestic Violence, the Greater Richmond Coalition for the Homeless, and the Richmond Better Housing Coalition.

She is married to Kent Willis, Executive Director of the ACLU of Virginia. They have two daughters and five grandchildren.

LYNN DONOHUE
Author, Entrepreneur, Builder and Community Activist

Before Lynn Donohue built walls for a living, she had to tear down a few.

Raised in a working class neighborhood in New Bedford, MA during the 1970's, Donohue entered her teens with virtually no sense of self worth, no life skills, and no plan for her future. A junior high school drop out at the age of 15, Donohue was living out of her car and earning minimum wage as a bar tender at a local biker hang out when she stumbled onto an article in the newspaper about a new training program for women interested in the construction trades. Seizing the opportunity to steer her life in a new direction, she quit the bar and began taking classes towards becoming a professional mason. The brick masonry training taught her to develop inner calm and focus and gave her the structure and purpose she had been searching for her whole life.

Donohue entered the masonry trade as an apprentice and the only woman in her local union, which was dominated by men with little interest in diversity. As a mason's apprentice, she was subjected to harassment from her fellow co-workers on numerous construction sites. Every day she came back to the job with steely determination to get her weekly paycheck on Friday, which was more than she had earned in a month at the bar. In 1981, Donohue gained recognition for her skills by becoming the first (and to this day only) female apprentice bricklayer to win the state masonry competition. Even after winning the competition, which for a man would have secured his career with the union, Donohue could not get assigned to a crew. Finally, she was able to get the union to give her work on government-funded jobs requiring minority participation.

Donohue loved bricklaying - the rhythm of setting brick upon brick - and the rewards of meaningful work. She became a sponge, learning every aspect of the masonry process including estimating and bidding on jobs. She began reading books on finance, self-improvement and business - and she continued to develop her own skills in every aspect of her work. When the time came for her finally to bid on her own job, she didn't pick a small one. She made an ambitious first bid - a major drugstore chain was building a new store in a Boston suburb. Donohue won the contract to build the store, without having financing, a truck, or even one employee working under her. But the store got built - on time and on budget.

A believer in the resilience of the will in the face of adversity, Donohue channeled the negativity and discrimination she faced as a woman into a staunch resolve. In 1982, she founded Argus Construction. She hired a crew, many of whom were the same men who tormented her on earlier jobs. Now, she signed their paycheck -- every Friday she put it in their hands personally and thanked them for their contribution to the success of the job. Eventually, Donohue grew her company into a multi-million dollar operation. Before the age of 40, the former drop out was a millionaire entrepreneur.

Today, Donohue devotes much of her life to taking care of her two children, Kelsey and Daniel, and to giving back to her community. In 2000, Donohue used her wealth and financial independence to found Brick By Brick, a New Bedford-based non-profit organization that helps teenagers foster creativity, and adults struggling with career choices enhance their personal and professional development. Passionate about education, Donohue has returned to school and is working toward her M.B.A. at Lesley College. She is also the author of a critically acclaimed book, Brick By Brick: A Woman's Journey, which was a finalist for the 2001 Ben Franklin Award for best autobiography.

Building still remains central to Donohue's life. As a masonry consultant for a construction material manufacturer, Donohue continues to blaze her path in a world almost exclusively run by men. A leadership and sales motivator, she travels nationally as a speaker, presenting to companies, women's conferences, and trade associations on the topics of perseverance, positive attitude, and overcoming obstacles to personal and professional success.

SARAH PAIGE FULLER, MSW
Institute on Homelessness and Trauma

Sarah currently serves as director for Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness (PATH) National Technical Assistance Center under the Institute on Homelessness and Trauma's contract with SAMHSA. She provides oversight, planning, resource development, content development, and direct technical assistance in support of PATH programs and their community partners.

She has over ten years of experience as a street outreach worker for PATH programs and has worked in the mental health field since 1990 in both clinical and administrative positions. She resides in Norfolk, Virginia.

SOPHIE GEORGE
Topeka Housing Authority

Sophie has served the Topeka Housing Authority as Director of Operations for over eight years. Sophie came to the Topeka Housing Authority from the Mayor’s office after spending fourteen years working as Legislative Staff with the Kansas Legislature. She has received her Public Housing Manager Certification.

JAMES M. GLENN, MSW
The Mental Health Association of the Heartland

Currently the Senior Vice President, Housing and Community Services, at the Mental Health Association of the Heartland, James has over fifteen years of experience in the field of mental health and over 10 years experience in researching, designing, and replicating supportive housing programs. Over the last two decades, he has worked in both clinical and administrative positions with adolescents and adults with serious and persistent mental illness, most of whom have experienced homelessness.

He began working in 1994 at The Mental Health Association of the Heartland, a grass-roots advocacy organization. Since his arrival, he has designed coordinated, developed, enhanced and supervised seven community-based support programs for persons with mental illness. Three of his programs have been recognized as national “best practice” programs, won several national and regional awards, and have been replicated in other parts of the country.

James has extensive experience in advocating for the mentally ill and for the homeless, both on a systems level as well as on an individual case-by-case basis. James currently serves on the Governor’s Mental Health Services Planning Council Subcommittee on Housing and Homelessness and is a member of the Kansas Statewide Homeless Coalition Board of Directors and Finance Committee.

He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Kansas State University and a Master’s Degree in Social Welfare from the University of Kansas. James Glenn’s proudest accomplishments to date however are his two children, Colin and Christopher, both of which bring him daily inspiration and hope for a better world.

MICHAEL GOLDBERG
Kansas Health Solutions

Michael has over 18 years of management experience within hospital systems and managed care, both public and private sectors. Goldberg began his career in healthcare at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis and an Intern Consultant providing training and organizational development. Goldberg then spent seven years at Blue Cross Blue Shield Missouri as the Director of Health Promotion and Preventive Services and as a Director within the Operations Division. In the latter position, he led his team through the conversion to new HMO software.

Following his time at BC/BS, he was employed by BJC HealthCare in St. Louis, first as the Director of Managed Services and then as the Director of Behavioral Health Partners. During his tenure with BJC HealthCare, he was successful in winning a bid to provide behavioral health services for a Medicaid HMO by creating a coalition of community mental health centers.

From 2004-2005, while employed by Wellpoint Behavioral Health, he recruited a Medicaid mental health network for bid submission in Georgia. Prior to joining Kansas Health Solutions as the CEO in 2007, he was the Vice President of Operations and Projects at ValueOptions in Arizona, the largest Medicaid managed mental health program in the country, where he was accountable for the crisis system, the training department, transportation services, and projects with the 1500 employee direct services division.

SHARA GONZALES
New Beginnings

Shara has a life long history of involvement in legal projects that champion individual and human rights, land, and housing issues. She has been a Greenpeace coordinator between indigenous and environmental projects. In 1980, one such project forged a new type of development for native people that brought together traditional native living with environmentally appropriate technology and construction. Her career has also taken her to Washington, D.C. as the head of congressional offices that sought to revise a law that was to remove 10,000 Indian people from their ancestral land creating one of the largest homeless populations from a self-sufficient people.

Today, Shara uses these experiences and skills as President of New Beginnings, Inc. to help displaced and disadvantaged people while working on a model of services and sustainable building to create sustainable lives. New Beginnings provides emergency housing and has or is building 149 units of transitional and permanent supportive housing. New Beginnings, along with Manske & Associates, are on the forefront of "green building" in Kansas.

CARRIE HARRIS
Kansas Housing Resources Corporation’s Reentry Housing Specialist

Carrie is the Kansas Housing Resources Corporation’s Reentry Housing Specialist for Northeast Kansas. Carrie’s primary responsibilities entail working as a liaison between the Kansas Department of Corrections and housing providers/developers to find housing options for ex-offenders.

Carrie has recently focused on creating the Tenant Responsibilities curriculum that will be used in a statewide training program. This training is a ten hour workshop offenders will be able to utilize to learn how to find and maintain safe and affordable housing.

Carrie received her degree in Computer Information Systems from Friends University. Carrie’s previous experience includes advocating for the chronically homeless population while performing case management and delivering life skills training for the Topeka Moving Ahead Program.

JOHN C. JOHNSTON
Topeka Housing Authority

John Johnston has been the Executive Director of the Topeka Housing Authority since February of 1999. He has served as the director of a national training center for community development organizations, and the director of a state housing and community development agency. He also owned a consulting firm that provided assistance to community development organizations in 45 states and throughout Micronesia.

KELLY W. KENT
Corporation for Supportive Housing

Kelly is Senior Program Manager with the Corporation for Supportive Housing’s (CSH) Strategic Partnership Division. Prior to joining CSH in 2003, Kelly spent the past 7 years working in the affordable housing field providing federal contracted technical assistance through HUD to housing authorities throughout the country.

Kelly completed his undergraduate work in African-American Studies and his Master’s Degree in Urban Planning with a concentration in Real Estate Finance and Housing Policy at the University of Kansas for both degree programs.

ROCKY NICHOLS
Disability Rights Center

Rocky has 13 years of experience in non-profit management consulting, and also 13 years of experience in the Kansas Legislature (11 as a member of the Kansas House of Representatives and two as legislative staff), and he is a veteran advocate for disability rights issues. Rocky is also a former member of the Next Generation Leadership Committee of the President's Committee on Mental Retardation CRM.

Rocky is the recipient of more than 20 awards for legislative leadership and advocacy, including many significant awards on behalf of persons with disabilities: Elizabeth M. Boggs Award for Outstanding Leadership in the area of Mental Retardation, Presidents Committee on Mental Retardation, 1998; Outstanding Public Official of the Year Award, Kansas Association of Community Mental Health Centers, 1996 and 2002; Kansas NAMI Advocacy Award, 1996 and 2000.

Rocky received his undergraduate degree from Washburn University and a Masters in Public Administration from the University of Kansas.

KIM PENTICO

Kim has been working with and on behalf of survivors of sexual and domestic violence since 1990. She first spent seven years at a local program in Kansas, then three years at the Kansas Coalition against Sexual and Domestic Violence. She then went to work for the STOP TA Project in Washington, D.C. for a year and then the National Network to End Domestic Violence for a year and a half. Kim is now back at the Kansas Coalition against Sexual and Domestic Violence as the Economic Justice Coordinator.

JAY PRESTON
My Father's House Community Services

Jay is Executive Director of My Father's House Community Services in Paola, Kansas. The organization provides transitional housing and supportive services for people without housing in the Miami and Linn Counties. The project is funded by a Supported Housing Grant issued by HUD. The program operates under many of the latest, best-practice philosophies including “harm reduction.”

Jay serves on the Governor’s Mental Health Services Planning Council Subcommittee on Housing and Homelessness, the board of directors for the Elizabeth Layton Center, the board for the Paola Adult Education program as well as other involvements within the community. He also heads a 9-county division of the Balance of State Continuum of Care organized through the Kansas Statewide Homeless Coalition.

Perhaps Jay’s greatest qualification for the work he does is that he has experienced homelessness, addictions and severe depression simultaneously.

STEPHANIE PRUITT
Mid-America Assistance Coalition (MAAC)

Stephanie is the MAACLink Database Administrator. Stephanie is responsible for MAACLink implementations, database issues and administrative training for all MAACLink users. She is a graduate of Rockhurst University and previous experience includes work for Sprint and IBM.

BETH SAVITZKY
Kansas City Anti-Violence Project

Beth has her bachelor’s degree in sociology and gender and women’s studies from the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. She joined the Kansas City Anti-Violence Project in 2005 as the Victim Advocate. Earlier this year she moved to the position of Outreach and Education Coordinator.

SANDY SWANK
Inter-Faith Ministries

Sandy is the director of Housing and Homeless Services at Inter-Faith Ministries. With over 17 years of experience working with the homeless population, Sandy supervises a staff of 19 employees and oversees the daily operations of five housing programs.

In addition to local boards and councils focused on homeless and poverty issues, Sandy serves on the Governor's Kansas Interagency Council on Homelessness. In addition to the involvement at the State level, she also serves on the Board of Directors for the National Coalition for the Homeless in Washington, D.C.

JANA TAYLOR
Hope Unlimited, Inc.

Jana is the Victim Service Coordinator for Hope Unlimited, Inc., a non-profit domestic violence and sexual assault center in Southeast Kansas. In her seven years of service, Jana has provided training and community education to rural communities served by Hope Unlimited. She has spearheaded the agency’s Healthy Initiatives Project, aimed at improving healthcare access to victims and their children.

She has completed numerous continuing education hours and is a certified trainer for the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center.

ROBERT TATE TOEDMAN
Kansas State Department of Education

Tate is currently the Educational Program Consultant, for the Kansas State Department of Education. He has worked in the Kansas school system since 1994, starting out as a teacher in Topeka public schools; he moved to a counselor position and in 2004 became the Athletic Director for Wetmore Academic Center.

He has a Master’s of Education in Building Leadership from Washburn University and another Master’s of Science in Educational Counseling from Emporia State University, and a Bachelor’s of Education in Elementary Education from Washburn University.

He is a Youth Mentor for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Topeka and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Topeka Jazz Workshop.

ERIC VAN ALLEN, MSW
Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitative Services

Eric is the Assistant Director for Mental Health Services with the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services, Division of Health Care Policy. His responsibilities include administrative and program oversight for the Kansas Mental Health Prepaid Ambulatory Health Plan. This includes administrative oversight of Kansas Health Solutions, the contracted Medicaid mental health managed care organization.

Eric has a Masters Degree in Social Work Administration from the University of Kansas and has been with the State of Kansas for the past 5 years in various roles including work with the Children’s Mental Health team and the Medicaid Support Team.

DOUG WALLACE
Valeo Behavioral Health Care

Doug has over 13 years of experience serving the homeless mentally ill in Topeka. Doug began his work with Valeo Behavioral Health Care in January of 1994 working on the ACCESS (Access to Community Care and Effective Services and Supports) case management team. In 2000, Doug took over the position of the Housing Resource Specialist, working with the Shelter plus Care grant and other housing related duties, including writing grants to provide housing for Valeo consumers. In 2003, Doug created a transitional housing program to serve Valeo consumers being discharged from state funded institutions.

Since 2000, Doug has been an active member of the Topeka-Shawnee County Homeless Task Force, volunteering for various subcommittees including working on the HUD Continuum of Care application. Doug serves on the Board of Directors for the Kansas Statewide Homeless Coalition and is a member of the Governor’s Mental Health Services Planning Council Subcommittee on Housing and Homelessness

CARLA WOZNIAK
Kansas Housing Resources Corporation

Carla is Kansas Housing Resources Corporation’s Statewide Reentry Housing Specialist. The Reentry Housing Specialists work as a liaison between Kansas Department of Corrections and housing providers/developers to find safe and affordable housing options for ex-offenders. This unique position is also designed to provide housing training to correction’s staff and offenders.

Before taking on her current role, Carla worked for Bert Nash Mental Health as a Homeless Outreach Specialist helping clients’ access community resources, secure, and maintain affordable housing. She has also worked as an Employment Specialist with Kansas Legal Services Job Success program.

The Kansas Statewide Homeless Coalition invites all attendees to visit the 2007 Summit on Homelessness and Housing Information Fair. Vendors will display the latest resources and information about services and housing options for individuals experiencing homelessness.

Kansas Health Policy Authority/Working Healthy

USDA Rural Development

The Mental Health Association of the Heartland

Children’s Mercy Family Health Partners

Manhattan Social and Rehabilitation Services

Mid America Assistance Coalition-MAACLink

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

Photographs used with permission from Gary Clark. You can see more of his work at http://www.fotolog.com/mashuga/

Landscape photograph by George Jerkovitch courtesy of the Kansas Department of Commerce

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