Meet your Atlanta Chapter members:

Dr. JoAnn Hayward is the founder of Survival Skills for the 21st Century, LLC Company and has been in the field of Counseling Psychology and Mental Health for over 15 years. Her experience in that setting range from professional counselor, psychotherapist, vocational rehabilitation counselor, Equal Employment Opportunity Program Manager (EEO), and Community Development Coordinator, with several non-profit social service organizations, hospitals, and the Department of Veterans Affairs. She provided psychiatric evaluations, assessments, group therapy, individual counseling, psycho-education groups, and life skills training to low in-come women with children, veterans and the chronic mentally ill. JoAnn has traveled abroad and has shared these resources in Kenya Africa.

While in graduate school, JoAnn did research on homeless women and children that needed assistance and the tools to assist them in becoming self-sufficient. After completion of her Master´s Degree in Health Service Administration, and receiving certification as a CCFC (Certified Clinical Forensic Counselor) JoAnn founded an organization called Turning Point Enterprises, Inc. It is a non-profit women and children program. She provides counseling, education, training, and development. She is a certified Survival Skills for Women facilitator, which is the premise of the Turning Point organization. In addition she has received her certification as a Certified Clinical Drug and Alcohol Counselor (CCADC).

JoAnn is a visionary and believes in self-sufficiency, and when support is given, individuals grow in self-esteem and develop skills, behaviors, and energy that will help them achieve personal and economic independence. They learn how to set up and notice their own success and how to support other people´s aspirations.

Her latest book, Skills for Life was published in July 2008 and is available throught Barnes & Noble.

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Ericka M. She is married with 3 children - 2 girls and a boy. Ericka resides in the community of Riverdale. She loves to travel and has visited several states and many foreign countries. She is a U. S. Navy veteran and works for the IRS as a Revenue Officer. Ericka loves to work with people and loves to talk. She admits she's not big on exercise and likes to feel empowered...although not lately.
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Sharon Skellie is a Public Health Advisor at The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Sharon began her career at CDC, in 1998, in the Procurement and Grants Office (PGO) where she worked for 2 years as a procurement technician. She has also worked as a program assistant in the Epidemiology Program Office, working in the Prevention Effectiveness Branch and later in the OD of the Division of Prevention Research and Analytic Methods. She is a Public Health Advisor position in the Public Health Partners and Coordination Branch, where her team works on cooperative agreements and grants.

Sharon came to CDC from the USDA, Agricultural Research Service (ARS) in Orlando, Florida, where she worked in the Administration Office supporting personnel at the main lab and four satellite locations throughout central Florida. A retired chief petty officer with 24 years of service, she served in the U. S. Air Force and the U.S. Naval Reserve. Her last assignment was active duty with the Military Sealift Command in southwest Asia as a contracting officer and an assistant administrative officer in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

Sharon is a certified government administrative manager and a certified pharmacy technician, where she works part-time for a major pharmacy chain. While away from work, she enjoys reading a good mystery, quilting, gardening, working on her N-scale railroad, spending time Facebooking friends and family. Sharon volunteers her time through Hands on Atlanta—gardening, building houses,and she is a member of the Gwinnett County CERT and MRC teams.

Fun Facts: An avid Atlanta Braves and Minn. Viking fan, watches NASCAR racing and is a season ticket holder to the Gwinnett Braves. Enjoys riding her motorcycle on weekends. ***************************************************************************************
Note to Members: Please send bio and photos to S. Skellie add to this page of website.