RETREATS

In times of crisis and mass disaster, people look for the helpers - and Spiritual Caregivers are often at the forefront of the care provided in the midst of chaos. In order to best equip ourselves to respond to community disasters, the focus of this year’s fall retreat is on Disaster Spiritual Care. We have an excellent lineup of facilitators and speakers to lead the way - as well as time for rest and rejuvenation in the scenery of the Catholic Conference Center in Hickory NC.

 

Speakers at the retreat include:

 

• Frank Chapman, Disaster Spiritual Care Regional Program Lead for the North Carolina Region, is a Commissioned Lay Pastor in the Presbyterian (USA) church and a Ruling Elder in his home church. In his professional life he ran large, complex medical practices. He retired on Halloween night 2019 to go live with his wife in Swaziland where she was starting a graduate nursing program in one of the universities. Mr. Chapman joined the American Red Cross in November of 2019. He is currently a Disaster Spiritual Care Manager and acts as the Regional Program Lead for all Spiritual Care volunteers in North Carolina. He has deployed in support of the American Red Cross Disaster Recovery Operations (DROs) after hurricanes, tornados, floods, and wildfires. He recently returned from a three week deployment to Saipan in support of the recovery effort from Super Typhoon Sinlakku where he facilitated the delivery of disaster supplies via five Catholic parishes, two Muslim mosques, and a Baptist mission.

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• Kaye Lynn Hall, Disaster Spiritual Care Southeast Division Advisor/Disaster Spiritual Care Manager T-1, supports disaster response efforts through spiritual care, community resilience, volunteer leadership, and community engagement. She joined the Red Cross in 2018 through the Service to the Armed Forces program and helped co-create the “No Vet Dies Alone” hospice program at the Charles George VA Medical Center, where she also serves as the Services to the Armed Forces Representative. A highly experienced disaster operations manager, Kaye Lynn has supported communities impacted by hurricanes, tornadoes, extreme flooding, wildfires, severe winter weather, and mass casualty incidents. Her specialty training includes mass casualty response and management, integrated care condolence teams, disability integration, active shooter response, chaplaincy, and trauma-informed spiritual care. Drawing on her background in trauma response, she is dedicated to building strong community partnerships and equipping organizations to provide compassionate spiritual care and emotional support during times of disaster, loss, and recovery. Outside of her professional work, she enjoys spending time in nature, including hiking, mountain biking, camping, and off-roading with her Jeeping For Jesus group.

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• Colleen Thompson, Disaster Spiritual Care Division Advisor/Disaster Spiritual Care Manager T-1, is a woman of deep faith, a wife, mother of three adult children (and blessed with three additional children through marriage), grandmother of twelve, daughter, sister, friend, colleague, and lifelong learner. She enjoys reading, hiking, gardening, volunteering and spending time with her family. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Social Ecology with a minor in Early Childhood Education from the University of California, Irvine. Her educational pursuits have included Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) training, theology, biblical counseling, trauma-informed care, community resiliency, critical incident stress management, chaplaincy, and disaster spiritual care. She is currently continuing her professional development as she works toward becoming a Board-Certified Chaplain. Professionally, Colleen has served as both Human Resources and Safety Coordinator for her family business and as Women's Ministry Director at her church. In 2018, wanting to help her community after a mass casualty event, she signed up to volunteer with the American Red Cross. Today, nine years later, Colleen serves on the Disaster Spiritual Care Division Advisors Team, the Integrated Care Condolence Team, as Interim Regional Program Lead for Disaster Spiritual Care in the Texas Gulf Coast Region, as Co-Lead for Disaster Spiritual Care in Ventura County, California, and deploys nationally as a Type I Disaster Spiritual Care Manager on disaster response operations