Education
Barnard College in New York and Tufts Medical School in Boston
What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
Michele is married to James Pickett, retired and founding Pastor of New City Fellowship East lake in Chattanooga. She is the proud mom of two amazing young women, Noah and Elena who are both college students.
Education
BA at Franklin and Marshall College, and M.D. at the Medical College of Georgia
What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
Cooking, yoga/pilates/barre, travel (my fantasy self travels, my actual parenting self is waiting until the kids are older), reading, volunteering at my children's school, hiking, puzzles, playing games with my kids.
Education
BSN Widener University, RN Helene Fuld School of Nursing
What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
"I love spending time with my family - especially at the beach!"
Rachel serves as LifeSpring’s Mental Health Director. She is responsible for establishing and managing the newly developed mental health program, pursuing and managing mental health grants, and developing community based workshops and programs. Prior to joining LifeSpring Community Health, Dr. Tolliver was a registered nurse and a licensed, board certified, psychiatric mental health prescriber at the UT-Chattanooga Counseling Center. She is a graduate of Southern Adventist University in Collegedale, TN earning a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree with a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner emphasis. Rachel desires to see each person experience holistic mental health restoration through an integrative approach that combines the best evidence-based psychotherapy and psychopharmacology care strategies. She has experience successfully treating sleep disorders, trauma-related disorders, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorders, depression, bipolar disorder, substance use disorder, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorders.
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Teddy studied medicine and completed a residency in pediatrics and a fellowship in pediatric endocrinology at Washington University in St Louis. After practicing medicine for a period of time, he got his MBA at Kellogg. Over his career he has been physician, director, founder and chief executive of several health and business ventures in the US and Jakarta, Indonesia.
He and his wife Janet have always sought the Lord in how and where to use their gifts, and God has led them to both sides of the world. By his grace he brought them to Chattanooga and in an answer to many prayers, to LifeSpring. We are grateful that Teddy will be using his gifts to help lead us as LifeSpring grows and continues to demonstrate the love of Christ to our patients, their families, the community, our supporters, and each other.
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Education
Grace Academy
Favorite Verse or Quote
Romans 8:37-39 "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, northings present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of Godin Christ Jesus our Lord."
Janet West Batanghari is a Chattanooga native who has returned after 23 years in Indonesia. She has her Bachelor's degree in Biology from UNC-CH, her doctorate in Microbiology from Washington University, and her post-doctoral fellowship at Stanford. She has extensive teaching and medical writing experience as well as numerous publications, not to mention a heart to use her gifts to serve the Lord. Janet brings her vast knowledge and experience to LifeSpring as our new Grant Manager.
Education
Undergraduate at Princeton University, MD at University of North Carolina
What do you love most about Chattanooga?
"My husband and I moved to Chattanooga in 2011 so I could attend residency here. We are grateful to live in this city."
Education
BS Covenant College, BSN University of Tennessee, MSN Frontier Nursing University
What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
"I enjoy working in my backyard garden and mixing up new recipes in the kitchen."
Fun Fact
Sadie is married with 2 daughters and 1 son and specializes in whole food plant based nutrition for kids
Education
BSN at Milligan University and MSN at Vanderbilt University
What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
I love long distance hiking/camping, yoga, rock climbing, and walking our dog, Teddy!
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Alyson's training as an MFT-I enables her to see individuals holistically, keeping in mind that all parts of an individual are interrelated. She specializes in utilizing her experience as a bilingual minority to serve the Latin community through culturally sensitive therapy options.
Jennifer volunteered with LifeSpring for a year in the nursing department before joining the staff, splitting her time between the COVID Team and the Nursing Team.
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Education:
Miller Motte
What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
"In my free time I enjoy going to the yogurt parlor with my four boys and loading our cups with different toppings. Going for walks at the park, church service and prayer day. "
Anna Joujan-Goss is a Scribe/Medical Assistant. Anna has lived all over the world, including Ghana, China, Afghanistan, and Zambia, but now calls a farm in Chicamauga home. She & her husband are members of Rock Creek Fellowship on Lookout Mountain.
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Wendy Wellington is the Coordinator of Community Health focused on educating vulnerable populations on the risk of COVID-19 and providing access to vaccines. Wendy has a Master of Science degree in Human Services from East Tennessee State University. She has been an educator for Early Childhood programs in the city and has worked as manager of the YMCA's Bingo's Market, a healthy corner store in the downtown area. Wendy truly has a heart for the flourishing of the community and she is delighted to join the holistic service that LifeSpring provides for our families. She attends Second Missionary Baptist Church.
Education
BA Covenant College
What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
I enjoy running, hiking, and anything Spanish related!
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Professor Emeritus, Public Health, UTC
Office Manager, Grace Baptist Church
Director of Development, Orange Grove Center
Owner, Daily Distribution,
Director of Women's Ministries, Grace Baptist Church
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Experiential Learning Coordinator, UTC
Registered Nurse, Erlanger
My primary passion is sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ through the gifts God has endowed me with via my personal testimony, gifts of helps, teaching, counseling, and serving vulnerable communities who are at high risks for health disparities, inequities and being disenfranchised. I have over 30 years of experience working with the uninsured and underinsured at Erlanger Community Health Centers where I served in various management positions working with patients, staff, and the community at large. I retired in 2019 as the Grants, Health Education and Site Manager.
My personal and professional goal in life is to make a difference in the lives of people I encounter along my journey on earth; supporting, listening, encouraging, and letting my manner of living serve as a beacon of light that points to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Ani Hernandez Johnson, M.A., is a bilingual Licensed Professional Counselor, licensed in the state of Tennessee. She received her M.A. in Marriage and Family Therapy with a concentration in Sex Therapy from Richmont Graduate University in 2011. She has a private counseling practice out of downtown Chattanooga, serving kids and adults through individual and family counseling. Though she works with a wide variety of presenting concerns like: depression, anxiety, grief/loss, and stress, she is especially passionate about her areas of specialization: working with trauma (of all kinds), working with parent-child relationships through PCIT (Parent-Child Interaction Therapy), and working with women experiencing infertility, pregnancy loss, and postpartum adjustment. Having grown up as a first generation born American, she uses her experience as a minority and being bilingual to serve and advocate for the Latino community through culturally sensitive therapy options as well. Ani and her husband Jon along with their son reside in the greater Chattanooga area and are passionate about serving their community wherever they can as a family.
After finishing his studies Pablo pursued a career in construction management, assuming that he would follow in the footsteps of his father, but quickly realized that social work within the Latino community is where he was meant to be. After working alongside underserved Latino children for a few years, Pablo pursued a degree in Marriage Family Therapy so he can provide counseling services to students and families who have been exposed to trauma.
Pablo works at the Family Justice Center as an Intervention Specialist facilitating support groups in the schools, and motivating children to reflect on their own story and engage in empathy. His philosophy is that “healing begins when our experience is felt and understood.” He is also a passionate storyteller producing short films that help people connect with one another; his films highlight the resiliency of Latin women and immigrant children in public education.
MyChelle is a Marriage and Family Therapist licensed in the state of Tennessee. She is a member of Journey Psychotherapy Center, a private practice in Chattanooga, TN. She enjoys working with couples, families, and individuals struggling with relationship difficulties, sexual issues, depression, and anxiety. She also works with those dealing with emotional challenges from pregnancy and pregnancy loss, grief and loss, and adjustment to life transitions.
In 2002, she received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. In 2005, she received her Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy with a concentration in Sex Therapy from Richmont Graduate University. She is trained in the Gottman Method Couples Therapy (Levels 1 &2). She is also trained in S.A.F.E. EMDR.
She has spent many years walking alongside individuals as they trudged through the muck and mire of life’s hardships. She has experience working in youth ministry, community outreach, and a pregnancy care center. She has been blessed with supportive, trustworthy people in her life who have seen her through many trials. Their example has taught her the ministry of “getting in the trenches” with people.
Mrs. Richardson-Pinkerton resides in Chattanooga, TN with her husband, Pierre, and their two precious boys.
Tracy McKay, M.A., is a Licensed Professional Counselor in Tennessee. She received her M.A. in Clinical Psychology from Wheaton College in 2008. She currently has a private practice in Chattanooga where she sees adults in individual and couples counseling. Tracy has been an adjunct professor at Richmont Graduate University teaching “Trauma and Biology” and also supervises graduate students toward licensure. As a trauma informed counselor, she has specialized training in Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Internal Family Systems, and Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing. She focuses her practice on seeing individuals who have experienced trauma in all forms from single episodic trauma to complex trauma, and is especially drawn toward holistic approaches. Prior to becoming a counselor, Tracy worked for Young Life and Big Brothers Big Sisters, feeling drawn toward vocations that facilitate growth and healing within the context of a safe relationship. Tracy and her husband reside in Chattanooga with their children.
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