Charlie FalateaExecutive Director
Andrea Jones, LCSWClinical Director
Kim PetersonAdmissions Director
Julie SheppardDirector of Business Development
Whitney CooperProgram Supervisor (JHW & JHYA)
Donovan TagaloaResidential Director
Charlie has worked in the mental health field since 2002. He has extensive experience organizing, developing, and operating programs. Charlie enjoys working directly with youth, families, and his staff. Charlie focuses on the relationship which helps you feel his peace and guidance through difficult times. Charlie’s passion is in creating a healthy and healing environment.
Personally, Charlie is a huge sports fanatic, especially the NFL! One thing that will become very evident is his loyalty to his team…the 49ers. In his spare time, Charlie is a high school football coach. He is also the Founder and President of a successful youth basketball program called Se Soia. Charlie developed this program to help kids who cannot afford to play competitive basketball. Charlie enjoys giving back to his community in these ways and many others.
Charlie is proud to be a father of eight children, four boys, and four girls. He and his beautiful wife, Jamie, have a slogan in their home that they very much adhere to: “If not for the kids, then why?” This statement exemplifies Charlie and his life dedicated to working with the youth of today, with the understanding that they are the hope for tomorrow.
Andrea received her Master of Social Work from the University of Utah in 2013. She has over 15 years of experience in working in the social work field primarily working with kids, adolescents, and young adults with varied backgrounds in family dynamics, socioeconomic background, and sexual orientation. She has worked in all levels of care including residential, day treatment, and outpatient. She has developed and carried out programming in these levels of care. Her therapeutic approach is based on a person-centered and strengths-based perspective. She incorporates approaches in DBT, CBT, and Narrative therapies. She believes strongly in building skills, such as coping skills, life skills, and social skills in order to help improve mindfulness as well as emotion regulation in order to work through distress in more effective and healthy ways. She has experience in treating clients with PTSD, RAD, Anxiety, Depression, DMDD, Self-harm, ODD, ADHD, among other diagnoses.
Outside of work, Andrea enjoys time with friends and family. She has a strong passion for music and has played the violin and is interested in learning new instruments. She also enjoys spending time recharging and enjoying activities to laugh and have fun.
Kim has a Bachelors of Science degree in Political Science & Criminal Justice with an emphasis in Corrections from Weber State University. She has been employed at Solstice since February 2011 as a Mentor and is now Admissions Director at Journey Home Young Adult. She has traveled extensively around the world and has enjoyed calling various destinations home. This has given her the ability to empathize with the teens who may be at times homesick for home and family. Her hobbies include reading, writing, and socializing with friends and family.
Julie started her career at the Solstice programs in 2017, after working for a large medical corporation where she worked for over 16 years and focused on Customer Service, Marketing & Sales. She was drawn to Journey Home Young Adult because of the warm, small, nurturing family environment it provides and is excited to be part of something so special. Working at Journey Home Young Adult has not only helped her grow professionally, but had an even greater impact on her personally, being supported by the whole Journey Home Young Adult team, when it has come to her own adopted son and learning the best ways to support him.
Julie has been married for almost 20 years and has two teenage boys that keep her busy. She also has two dogs, Bruno and Charlie, and loves that she is able to bring them to work with her, and let the students love on them. Julie likes to work hard but plays harder. She loves spending time with her family & friends, traveling, biking and being outdoors. She loves going to the mountains with her boys or hiking with her friends as often as possible.
Whitney has a Bachelors of Science degree in Psychology from Southern Utah University. She has been working in residential treatment for the past 8 years, starting at an RTC in Cedar City, before taking a mentor position at our sister program Solstice. She transitioned over to Journey Home Young Adult in 2021 where she is now the Residential Supervisor. While she enjoyed everything she learned and experienced in RTC’s, she’s found a real passion in working with young adults. She loves the process of helping young adults find their own ways to thrive and create a life they are proud of. In her personal life Whitney enjoys traveling internationally and experiencing different cultures, spending quality time with family and friends, and spoiling her kitty Luna.
Donovan has been working in the residential treatment setting since 2016. In those years, he had experience helping to build and establish a preadolescent and adolescent program. He values many aspects of working in this field, but the feat that he values most is the relationships that he builds with youth, families and colleagues that he works alongside with. Donovan feels a special fulfillment from seeing a family reunify and strengthen their relationship. This is the sole reason he has loved working in the mental health field.
When Donovan isn’t working he is either spending time with his family or playing sports. His family is very competitive, which is how he came to love sports. Basketball, football and rugby are his favorite. Donovan is a die hard Chargers and Jazz fan, and has one dream to see one of them win a championship.