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MEET OUR TEAM

Jamaica Imani-Nelson

Executive Director
MSW, QMHP, CADCIII, CSWA

Jamaica Imani-Nelson is a very active, devoted servant to her community. She takes every opportunity to improve herself personally, professionally, and supports women as they make positive changes in their lives. Jamaica has passionately pursued the realization and is co-founder of The Purtty Home, which provides emergency for women being released in the middle of the night during hours when community resources were unavailable.

Having been deeply moved by the racism, gentrification, marginalization, oppressive policies and practices endured by African Americans in Portland, Oregon, Jamaica became a highly effective advocate for Social Justice, Social Equity and brings a deep connection to, and understanding of the community that Holistic Healing Behavioral Healthcare serves.  Jamaica is PSU alumni, a McNair Scholar, and was presented with the Black Achievement Award at Portland State University in 2016. She is a Master of Social Work, a Qualified Mental Health Professional, and Master Addictions Counselor.

Jamaica is also an inspirational and motivational speaker in the Portland Metropolitan Area and provides training on the deconstruction of racism and the pathologizing of African Americans and its relationship to the exacerbation of  mental health.

Jamaica enjoys spending time with family, working out, spiritual dance and the beach.

Diana Sapera

Chief Operations Officer

Diana Sapera is a passionate about dismantling systemic oppression for our most vulnerable populations. She believes the path to a better future for generations to come requires community collaboration and the uplifting of our black and brown communities. Diana comes to us from the Oregon Department of Human Services where she has advocated for children and families in the Child Welfare system since 2017. Diana is known for her engagement skills and coming alongside a family to work with them, especially during difficult situations. Diana values family preservation whenever possible and values the importance of community involvement in being there for children when they cannot stay home with their parents. The foundation of Diana’s work is around family engagement, community engagement, and the proper implementation of equity, diversity, and inclusion. She is a fierce advocate to ensure systemic inequities are addressed and replaced with policies and procedures that do not continue to harm communities. Diana can accomplish these changes because she is a listener, advocate, disrupter, and educator. Diana is known for wanting to bring people together and ensure voices are heard. She was previously the Chair of the statewide Hispanic Network Group at the Oregon Department of Human Services. She was responsible for statewide community engagement and outreach, communications, continuous improvement of policies & procedures, and workforce development for the Hispanic/Latinx community. As an elected leader, she worked closely with other marginalized groups and the executive leadership team at ODHS.

Sara Love

Medical Director, N.D

Dr. Sara Love is a licensed Naturopathic Physician in Oregon.  She appreciates the community approach of the health care team at Holistic Healing Behavioral Healthcare; and is privileged to be a part of the talented team.  Dr. Love has been invited to speak at many conferences including the 2019 Oregon Conference on Opioids and Other Drugs, Pain and Addiction Treatment.  Her proudest accomplishment during the COVID-19 stay-at-home period was the continued successful feeding of her baby sourdough starter, whom she named Clyde.  During her free time, you can find Dr. Love trail running or hiking with her family.

Katheryn Henninger

PMHNP

Kathy Henninger is a native Oregonian, residing in Portland Oregon with her partner of 15 years.  She has one daughter, three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren—all residing within 100 miles of Portland.  Kathy has been a nurse since 1987 and a psychiatric nurse practitioner since 1997, receiving first her Baccalaureate and later, her Masters’ degree from Oregon Health Sciences University, School of Nursing, in Portland OR.

Kathy has spent the bulk of her nursing career caring for veterans at the Portland VA Medical Center.  She started out on the inpatient psychiatric unit as a staff nurse, then as the unit charge nurse.  During her graduate training, she continued to work for the VA Mental Health Division—branching out to spend several years doing psychiatric evaluations and dispositions for veterans presenting to the Emergency Department.   She spent the last 14 0f her 27 years with the VA providing therapy and psychotropic medication management for veterans admitted to the PTSD Clinical Team (PCT).  The PCT was an outpatient team that offered specialty trauma-focused group and individual therapy for veterans diagnosed with PTSD.  This opportunity allowed Kathy to gain a wealth of experience working with people who had survived horrific combat trauma, military sexual trauma, trauma related to child abuse and/or neglect and traumas related to military operations in non-combat settings.  In addition to doing direct care with veterans, Kathy enjoyed many years of mentoring nurse practitioner interns working on their own schooling needed to practice independently.

Kathy retired from the VA early 2015 and spent 18 months working on home and garden projects, as well as on other interests for which time had previously been short.  In 2017 she began to do short ‘locum tenens’ assignments for a medical staffing company, gaining additional experience at civilian facilities at both in- and out-patient settings.  She enjoys working directly with clients, finding that work highly satisfying.

Outside of work and family, Kathy likes to keep up on current events, beading, gardening, home design and repair, hiking, movies and documentaries, reading, taking road trips, having dogs and being in nature.  She continues to love the Pacific Northwest and is excited to work with clients and staff in this new clinical setting.

Carol Posluszny

Clinical Supervisor
LCSW

Carol has been a helper, a maker and a social activist for 55 years. During this time, she has worked for social and environmental justice while creating art with youth and the elders. Carol’s career includes pre-school teacher, landscape designer, elder care, alcohol and drug counselor, grant writing and creation of community-based programs, expert witness in courts to advocate for the marginalized, domestic violence advocate, medical social work, women’s health social work, and private practice counseling. She has also done community organizing in Mexico, including establishing a recycling program, teaching life science and English and providing free art classes to children and adults. Carol has spent many years in academia and has degrees in horticulture, fine arts, women’s studies, sociology, psychology and social work. She has lived in Portland since 1968, where she maintains a counseling private practice. In her spare time she enjoys, painting  and selling her art, gardening at her home and on the street, and participates in an earth-based spiritual practice. She has 2 daughters and 6 grandchildren which she loves and enjoys spending quality time with.

Candia Elliot

Executive Administrative Assistant

Candia and her family are originally from Vermont.  The family moved to Oregon in 1958.  She attended Lane Community College and the University of Oregon; graduate work was done at the University of New Mexico.  She majored in Psychology and Intercultural Communication.  Candia worked in the addictions field from 1988 until 2015, specializing in Multicultural and Women’s treatment. She was a member of the State of Oregon Office of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Programs Multicultural Task Force for five years, doing training around the state for social service programs.  She also served as the Program Manager for the federal Northwest Frontier Addictions Training Center for four years.  For 24 years, she was an instructor at Portland Community College in the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counseling program. She retired from PCC in 2015.   Candia enjoys writing, riding her bike, listening to music and walking her dog “Lucy.”

Robert McDonald

Culturally Relevant Educator
CR- M.Ed.

Robert is the firstborn and the only male child of 6 siblings. After graduating high school he made a made a choice not to pursue any further educational endeavors until 20 years after graduating. Robert returned to school in 2010, enrolling at Portland Community College where his humble beginnings took root.
Currently,Robert is in the process of becoming a Middle School Math Educator and feel as if I was chosen be a conduit in helping African American students achieve their boundless; and discovered that his gift as a profound mathematician was entrenched in being of mathematical proficiency and empowerment to students. While Robert has encountered a broad range of teaching methodologies along this path; and while each method had its own validity, there are only select methods of pedagogy which Robert have fused with numerous life experiences, in order, to create a means in which math becomes comprehensive and more relevant for African American students.
Robert has had the pleasure and opportunity of assisting many to overcome and transcend their barriers, and in their comprehension of how very relevant and applicable mathematics is to our everyday life. He firmly believes that students are, and will always be the most important aspect of the learning experience.
“Through Humor and laughter, learning is stealth”
~ Robert A. McDonald II ~

Mary Lopez

MA, QMHP

Education, Training, and Experience

Mary graduated from Lewis & Clark College with a Master of Arts degree in Professional Mental Health Counseling-Addictions. She is registered as an intern by the Oregon Board of Licensed Professional Counselors and Therapists. Additionally, Mary has worked with children and families from diverse backgrounds as a therapist since 2013. Mary has worked for different nonprofit mental health clinics in the Portland Metropolitan Area and her diversity of experiences lends towards a compassionate and empathetic approach to counseling based on therapies that are predominantly humanistic, behavioristic, and constructivist in nature with individuals and families who are trying to navigate often difficult life circumstances. Mary strives to instill hope and an advocate for needed support that promotes mental health well-being for individuals and families.

Overall, she believes that people find meaning and connection through relationships and therapy can help individuals and families to create stronger, healthier, happier bonds.

BRYAN BISHOP

Transitional Housing Manager

Bryan is from Portland Oregon. He has a long history in working with Dungarvin of Oregon, working with individuals that have complex medical and/or behavioral needs.  Bryan offer a vast range of services and supports in order to meet the needs and preferences of each individual he helpsHe is well experienced and practiced in supported living services. Bryan worked as a housing manager and peer support specialist in a culturally specific capacity for mental health and addictions agencies. He has a passion to empower men transitioning back into the community in self-sufficiency and housing stability. Bryan is a family man and an all-around athlete with expert skills in Wrestling and Boxing. Currently, Bryan volunteers his time as a no contact boxing coach to children and adults ages ranging from 10 to 50 years old. Bryan plays the drums, electrical keyboard and composes music in his spare time. 

Olan Ray Nelson, Sr

Safety Compliance Officer

Olan Nelson has a professional history that date back to the early 70s. Olan worked as a coast guard, worked for the Portland Fire Department achieving progressive levels of promotion up to the Fire Marshal’s office, has appeared in several televised commercials regarding the department and public safety. Olan worked for Intel as a Fire Scientist. Olan has many layers of academic accomplishments, has traveled the States and the world. Olan is a leader, working for social justice on a grass roots level, breaking the barriers of racial discrimination as it impacted African Americans In the late 60s and early 70s and their ability to be fairly employed in blue collar jobs in Portland, Oregon. Olan is a musician master drummer and blues singer, having played in notable blues groups such as Destiny, The Norman Sylvester Band, and band leader of the group KODE BLUUZ. Olan enjoys listening to music and debating real issues with his siblings and children but most importantly Olan’s life is matched with a better half, his wife Jane “Momma Dee” Nelson his true love.