Member Bio
I grew up in SE Pennsylvania in Lancaster County. I attended Millersville University and graduated in 1994 with a B.A. degree in history and geography. After working for about a year and a half with the Lancaster County Planning Commission, I started out on a journey at the end of 1995 that I thought would only be three months, but has turned into much longer!
Starting in September 1995, I volunteered 3 months to work in the dining room on the Anastasis. I was captivated with the work of the Mercy Ships and knew that I wanted to devote more of my time to an organization that helps the poor and needy in developing nations. I completed a training course with Mercy Ships in 1996 on the Anastasis and by February 1997 started to serve long term on that ship. I worked as a secretary and then administrator for the Outreach Department. A few times I was a tour guide in Europe when the Tour Department needed extra help. I also co-led and then led teams in South Africa and in Norway to prepare for the ship's docking and visit to a port in each of those nations.
After living on this ship for almost 5 years, I transferred to the International Operations Center (IOC) for Mercy Ships in east Texas in January 2001. Since then I have been volunteering my time and skills here and working as the Coordinator for the Orthopaedic Team and co-leading teams to Central America to provide free orthopaedic surgeries. I was also on the Africa Mercy (Mercy Ships current ship) a few times with the Orthopaedic Team.
In May of 2008, I accepted a new position at the IOC as a Staffing and Recruiting Manager. I am now working in Human Resources as a Medical Staffing Manager. My focus is to staff all of the OR positions and the Biomedical Techs positions on the Africa Mercy, as well as the Ophthalmic Field Team. This has been a great chapter in my time with Mercy Ships and I am happy to be with the team in Human Resources. I love to be able to help people find the right place in Mercy Ships.