The Houston Chronicle Meet Our Staff
- Chief Executive Officer — Kay Austin
Kay Austin has served as the Chief Executive Officer of Santa Maria Hostel since 2005 and has been with the organization for 12 years. Ms. Austin has served as Clinical Program Director and Chief Operations Officer during her tenure at the organization.
In 2007, Ms. Austin was elected by the Texas Association of Addiction Professionals, Houston Chapter, the 2007 Addiction Professional of the Year for Houston.
Ms. Austin has worked in the addictions treatment field in medical/surgical hospital settings and residential facilities since 1984 in both the private and public sector. She has worked with a general adult population, adolescent care, and, most recently at Santa Maria, with a specialized female population of women and their children.
Ms. Austin's commitment to the clients she serves at Santa Maria is to select talented, committed staff to provide the best possible evidenced-based curricula and to assist these clients by offering court liaison services, family therapy, and co-occurring psychiatric and substance use services to meet their needs.
Kay Austin is a mother, grandmother, and great grandmother. She utilizes her clinical training and experience each day, along with her education and personal life experience to recognize and provide for the full continuum of needs of the clients in treatment at Santa Maria Hostel.
- Chief Financial Officer — Barbara M. Page
Barbara Page joined the management staff of Santa Maria during 2006, bringing with her over 20 years of high level financial experience with non-profit organizations both in Houston, Texas and Richmond, Virginia, as well as medical group management and private financial and business development consulting expertise.
Although Barbara has managed the fiscal operations of businesses with revenues in excess of $18 million, her passion has been to work with organizations where revenues have an opportunity to change lives. From her years of dedication to the start-up of a residential non-profit organization serving abused and abandoned children, to leading a shelter for homeless women and children into an era of unsurpassed growth made possible through sustaining private donations coupled with over $500,000 in private foundation grants, Barbara has also excelled in the areas of development, grant writing, human resources, and operations. She is proud to be able to bring the strengths of this multi-faceted background to her position as Santa Maria’s CFO.
Barbara also brings in a fresh fiscal and operating perspective due to her service on numerous non-profit Boards of Director’s both in Texas and Virginia. Family, integrity, ethics, and faith are at the root of all Barbara’s work, both in the office and out. She challenges herself, her staff, and fellow employees at Santa Maria to earn the public’s fiscal trust each day. She creates a working environment aimed at setting and nurturing high performance goals, meeting and exceeding expectations, and working with attention to detail and perfection, not just to perform a job, but to change lives through the performance of that job. Barbara was recently nominated for the Houston Business Journal “2011 CFO of the Year” in the Large Nonprofit Category (gross receipts of over $5 Million).
Barbara and her husband, Wayne, have been married for 30 years; have three grown sons and one daughter who is a 2010 graduate of Clemson University and works as an international travel counselor with Odysseys-Unlimited, Boston, MA., and eight grandchildren.
- Fiscal Manager — Dorothea Malone
Dorothea Malone recently joined the accounting team of Santa Maria, bringing with her 21 years of diversified experience in various senior level accounting positions. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration and business management; with a concentration in accounting. Her background includes administration, operations and corporate positions in small, growing companies as well as large organizations. She offers experience in all aspects of financial management with an emphasis on business analysis and automation.
Dorothea began her accounting career as nationwide accounting manager for Bank of America; where she assisted with the consolidation of 38 regional sites to the Dallas area. She led strategic planning activities and automation of projects to integrate business and financial processes in trust banking. Following this, she moved to Ernst & Young as Associate Director where she hosted summit meetings with international management teams charged with implementing customer service level agreements which met audit objectives. She was recognized for designing and implementing a database that streamlined processes for her global accounts payable team.
Prior to joining Santa Maria, Dorothea worked as Finance Director for End Hunger Network and as Controller for Bonita House of Hope. It was these experiences and the passion for the mission of changing lives one day at a time that presented her with her lifelong job title. When asked what her role is – Dorothea’s response is “I am a public servant and I love it”. She attributes her successes to the teaching and solid foundation of humility and value added life by her mother and father.
- Accounting and Contract Administrator — Adriana Sandoval
Adriana Sandoval was born and raised in Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico in 1973 and graduated from Lawrence University, Appleton, Wisconsin, in 1995 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in anthropology, and Spanish Literature.
Volunteerism has always been a part of Adriana’s life. Throughout her schooling she focused primarily in social and cultural aspects of Anthropology and at times she seemed to be involved in many more hours of volunteer activities than class hours. Being so far away from home, she was always quick to utilize her university breaks to help coordinate and participate in Habitat for Humanity trips. She was co-founder of VIVA!, a student group dedicated to expand awareness of Hispanic Culture reaching members both within the campus and the greater community. She was also an active member of Kappa Kappa Gamma fraternity for women, in which she served as Philanthropy chair.Soon after graduating, she followed in her mother’s footsteps as she had done when she finished her studies: Mrs. Zahm had joined a church group in her native El Dorado, KS to volunteer three years of lay service in Barquisimeto, Venezuela. Adriana joined the now former VESS (Volunteers of Educational and Social Services) and selected to have Santa Maria Hostel become her “mission site” for a year. She later decided to renew her commitment with VESS at Santa Maria Hostel for an additional two years and has dedicated her career to Santa Maria ever since.
Throughout her trajectory at Santa Maria Hostel, Adriana has been involved in practically every department of Santa Maria Hostel. Adriana has seen Santa Maria Hostel grow from having a budget of less than one half million to over 5 million. In her current position, she is proud of being able to make decisions for Santa Maria Hostel with the knowledge of how her personal insight will be impacting the bottom line most effectively, our clients.
Adriana now calls The Woodlands home, where she lives with her husband and 4 year old daughter.
- Executive Director of Development — Jennifer Helley
Biography coming
- Court Liaison — Tommy Austin
Tommy Austin graduated from Sam Houston State University in 1975 with a bachelor of science in law enforcement/police science. Tommy was a U. S. Customs Service agent responsible for the investigation of the illegal exportation of American industrial high technology, weapons of war, nuclear weapons, nuclear devices, and enforcing the Trading with the Enemy Act from 1994 to 1997.
Tommy might have anticipated at least some of the dangerous and exciting assignments he has faced. What he did not anticipate, however, was meeting a four-year-old boy named Christopher Greicius in Phoenix, Ariz., in 1977, and what would happen as a result of that meeting. Chris Greicius was suffering from cancer and his greatest wish was to be a police officer. After Austin and his law enforcement friends gave Chris helicopter and police cruiser rides, a badge, and his own uniform, complete with police helmet and goggles, the Greicius Make-A-Wish Foundation was born.
Austin, now retired from the Customs Service, has earned his Masters of Social Work from the University of Houston. With the awards, memberships, and involvements he has amassed in his law enforcement and volunteer agency career and his education, Mr. Austin was appointed court Liaison in 2001, and his efforts in this capacity have resulted in better client outcomes in court and in Family Protective Services hearings. He has proven himself a real community leader who represents the clients served by Santa Maria and demonstrates daily a vested interest in the success of the families he serves.
- Director of Quality Management — Anita Anderson
Anita Anderson has worked in various capacities with Santa Maria Hostel. She began her career with Santa Maria Hostel in 1999; she was the Child Care Director at the Paschall location. In 2007, Anita worked as Program Assistant for the Women and Children's program and believes her role as Compliance/Client Satisfaction Coordinator has been her greatest opportunity so far to foster her dedication of being an advocate for Santa Maria's mission. In her current role as Director of Quality Management she will continue to promote quality achievement and performance improvement throughout Santa Maria Hostel. Currently, Anita is attending University of Houston-Downtown.
- Human Resource Coordinator/Payroll— Leslie Hamilton
Biography coming
- Volunteer Coordinator — Pamela Vangiessen
Pamela van Giessen is a native from The Netherlands who spent her childhood years in Holland, Belgium, and France. During her years working as a secretary and French-English translator (she speaks 6 languages) in the Oil & Gas industry she lived and worked in The Netherlands, Israel, Norway, and the United States where she arrived in 1967.
Pamela has a BS in Psychology from the University of Houston and a Masters Degree in Theological Studies from St. Thomas University also in Houston. Her interest in psychology and in spirituality slowly drew her to the religious life. She entered with the Dominican Sisters of Houston, Texas where she professed her final vows in 2001. As a member of the Dominican Sisters, she has worked as a ship chaplain in the Port of Houston where she ministered for 7 years. In that capacity Pamela visited on board ships with crews composed of multiple nationalities from all over the world. She has also worked as a hospital chaplain at the Memorial Houston Hospital System.
In 2007 Pamela started working at Santa Maria Hostel where she currently enjoys working as the Volunteer Coordinator. Pamela’s gift for languages, her creativity, her energy and enthusiasm, and her understanding of and openness to other cultures and nationalities, have been tremendous assets to her throughout her life.
- Recovery Transition Support Coordinator — Amelia Murphy
Amelia Murphy is a southern native, but was born in Oakland, California. She relocated with her parents to Houston, Texas and currently resides as a Houstonian. Amelia is working as a Recovery Transition Support Coordinator and Recovery Coach Supervisor for Santa Maria Hostel, Inc.
During her first 2 years of sobriety she entered the field of addiction as a volunteer and now with 21 years of recovery, serves a vast number of women with recovery support services. She was among the first graduates of Santa Maria Hostel, Inc. in 1990 and upon graduating the program she became a member of Santa Maria Hostel, Inc. Alumni Association. Amelia is currently doing undergraduate studies in Psychology with Walden University.
Amelia has been working in many capacities with the drug and alcohol treatment field for women and their children. She has a passion for people who need recovery coaching as part of the continuum of care and focuses on chemically dependent, incarcerated and homeless individuals. Amelia is an advocate for the Peer-to-Peer recovery model based on her trainings in 2009 as a graduate from Houston Recovery Oriented System of Care (ROSC) Recovery Coach Academy and in 2012 as a graduate from Communities for Recovery. Today, she serves as the Santa Maria Hostel, Inc. active member with The Reentry Coalition, The National Council for Community Behavioral, Houston Super Neighborhood Council and is successfully fostering relationships among a wide range of various Coalition Partners, Criminal Justice Practitioners, Harris County Drug Court, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Harris County Jail, law enforcements groups, and other community members that serve recovery efforts.
- Case Manager and Recovery Coach — Cynthia Branch
Cynthia joined the Santa Maria staff in May 2010. She is innovative and an energetic self-starter who has brought with her multiple years of experience in the treatment center arena and many years of administrative experience. Cynthia has worked as Program Assistant for the Outpatient, Residential Specialized Female, Women with Children and the Women Helping Ourselves programs. She has implemented the means to improve efficiency in the operations of the programs in which she has functioned. Her perseverance and work ethic here at Santa Maria has been a representation of her personal and professional mission to advocate for women. Through her studies she has found her calling in Social work and Recovery initiatives’.
Cynthia is currently a student at the Institute of Chemical Dependency Studies where one of her goals is to become a Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor. Cynthia currently has an Associate’s Degree in Human Services and her Bachelor’s is ongoing. She also has a Certificate as a Recovery Coach and a Certificate as a Train the Trainer from the Communities for Recovery Peer Recovery Coach Institute in Austin, TX.
Cynthia is currently a Recovery Coach and Case Manager for Santa Maria’s Recovery Support Services program which focuses on the Peer to Peer based model and the Path to Recovery program which focuses on Re-entry services from prisons and jails which also utilizes the Peer to Peer model. Cynthia has been in recovery for 10 years and passionately believes that being there to help guide, empower and support the women is imperative to their success in re-entering into society as productive and sober citizens.
- Medical Records & Billing Manager — Deddra McGee
Biography coming
- Executive Director of Programming — Donna White
Donna White has been in the field of addictions since 2000. She received her associate's degree in Mental Health from Houston Community College. She is currently attending University of Houston-Victoria and is in the Criminal Justice Program.
Donna began working with women involved with Child Protective Services in the beginning of her career in the addiction field. While as a counselor intern she developed an outpatient program for dual-disorder clients in 1999. Donna came to Santa Maria in 2000, loves her work, is dedicated to her client’s success, and is committed to providing the best quality care to clients and their children.
- Program Director, WHO — Sharon Perkins
Biography coming
- Program Director, COPSD Services— Penny Hardin
Biography coming
- Lead Case Manager, Female Veterans Supportive Housing and Adjunct Services — Elizabeth McClurg
Biography coming
- Director of Prevention — Kathy Ellis
Biography coming
- Education Coordinator — Linda Johnson
Linda Johnson graduated from Grambling State University with top honors in 1975. For over 30 plus years she perfected her skills in professionalism, project management, business analysis, career development, job training, and oral and written communications. Excellence, her zest for making a difference, and a strong sense of family faith-based values all contribute to the person she is today.
Linda is also a product of strong work ethics and the belief that knowledge is power. In 2005 she became a certified GED Instructor for North Harris Montgomery Community College. Her GED training and experiences continue in her work with the Houston Community College System.
Also in 2005, Linda began working with women and children as a volunteer for Bonita House of Hope. While serving as a volunteer, Linda accepted the position of Personal Education Career Development Specialist. She was responsible for the development, updating and maintenance of the Personal, Educational, and Career Development curricula. She also functioned as User Liaison for creating and maintaining networking relationships with community, business, vocational, services and educational leaders.
Linda began working with Santa Maria Hostel in January 2009, as the Educational Services Instructor. She welcomes the challenges and opportunities to contribute to the lives of the women and children at SMH.
- Project Manager, Housing — Sharon Klehm
Sharon Klehm joined the staff of Santa Maria in 2009, bringing over 35 plus years of secretarial and organizational experience with her. Her initial position was as the Executive Assistant to the CEO, Kay Austin. Utilizing the skills and organizational knowledge she gained while in this position, Sharon was then named Program Assistant for the Women With Children program at Santa Maria’s Bonita House.
In the spring of 2011 she was promoted to the position of Project Manager of Housing. Sharon is excited about this newest challenge, knowing that her dedication and loyalty to Santa Maria Hostel, her team attitude towards working with fellow employees, combined with her leadership and problem solving skills in working with clients, will help propel Santa Maria’s housing programs to great success.