Jennifer Yakunovich joined the board in 2021.  She is the Development Director at NewStory Center, the local service provider for survivors of domestic and sexual violence. She is responsible for fundraising and relationship building, grant management, outreach activities, event planning, and other administrative tasks. She graduated from Southern New Hampshire University with a B.A. in History and a M.Ed. in General Education. 

Jennifer was raised in Rutland and believes that the best decision she ever made was returning home in 2014 after living in Manchester, NH for 11 years. She’s appreciative of all that Rutland has to offer and is inspired by those who work to make our community a great place to live and work. Jennifer is a mom to an active toddler and spends her free time exploring the world with him.

Tom Atkins has been on the board since 2024.  He is pastor at Rutland and Rupert United Methodist Churches in Vermont.  He also owns Quarry House, a coaching and consulting firm based in West Pawlet, VT, with clients worldwide. Before becoming a pastor, Atkins spent 30 years building and owning three technology companies focused on building studios and control rooms for Television. He is a published writer in magazines and books, writing essays, poetry and informational writing. In addition, Atkins is a painter with studios in Middle Granville, NY.  Atkins is married, with three grown children scattered around the globe.

Judy lives in Clarendon and joined the board in 2025.  She worked for over 30 years at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center where she was the Director of the in vitro fertilization (IVF) laboratory. She taught courses about the medical, ethical, social, and legal implications of IVF and infertility treatment. She did research under several NIH grants including grants on the study of health outcomes of IVF treatment for women and children. Judy has authored numerous peer-reviewed scientific publications and is currently an Emerita Professor of Ob/Gyn at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. She moved from New Hampshire to Vermont in 2014 and lives here with her husband and their dog. She has a daughter, three stepsons, grandchildren, and step-grandchildren.

 In addition to being on the Board of Rutland Neighbors Judy is a Board member of the Rutland Jewish Center where she is also Chair of the Events Committee. She is an occasional volunteer with Planned Parenthood. She enjoys dancing, gardening, swimming, reading, and being retired.

Terese lives in Rutland City and joined the board in 2024.  She retired from 18 years of teaching and 16 years as the Director of the Rutland Dismas House. She also serves as Chair of the Rutland Dismas Council, is Vice President of Bridge to Rutland, and is on the Council for Christ the King Parish.  She loves to volunteer when she has the time, Rutland Neighbors being her favorite place but she also helps with Veggie Van Go, Mentor Connector, and a variety of other organizations.

Terese grew up in Minnesota but has lived in Vermont for the past 34 years with her husband.  They have a daughter who lives in Santa Monica, California, a son who lives in Tacoma, Washington, and a stepdaughter and her two sons who live in Georgia, so they pretty much cover the four corners of the U.S.  She loves to travel, especially in their Black Squirrel Mobile, a funky Sprinter Van in which they have covered 45 states in 2 years, although she also loves to travel to foreign countries having been blessed with many trips.  Her hobbies and past times are too many to list but they keep her busy and happy.

Sandi lives in Rutland City and joined the Board of Rutland Neighbors in the spring of 2025. She is happily retired after a 34-year career being a general and special educator in various schools in the Rutland area. She is a member of Grace Church, where she first heard of the opportunity to volunteer at Companions in Wholeness. After volunteering for two years, she heard of an opening on the Board and knew she wanted to be part of it. Sandi was welcomed with open arms. She finds it an honor to serve the neighbors in our community.

Sandi’s other passions, besides working with the great staff, volunteers and neighbors at Rutland Neighbors, focus on health, family, and travel. You can often find her walking the streets of Rutland in all types of weather. She and her husband recently discovered the joy of international travel, having been to Portugal, Ireland, and Italy! They also travel to Eugene, Oregon quite a lot to spend time with their son, daughter-in-law and three happy grandsons! They are also blessed to be expecting a grandson born in October to join their daughter and son-in-law in Saint Albans.

Kathleen lives in Rutland City and joined the board in 2022.  She was born in New York but has been a Vermont resident since 1968 when she attended college here. She majored in Music and went on to earn a Masters’ degree in Early Childhood Education. Kathleen’s 44-year teaching career spanned the Brandon Training School, Vermont Achievement Center, Wallingford Nursery School, Wallingford Elementary School and Manchester Elementary School. She retired in 2015 and is now enjoying her time on several non-profit boards, including a children’s home and secondary school in Kenya. She has three adult children and three young grandsons who are the lights of her life!

 Kathleen is a member of Grace Congregational Church where she has sung with the choir for many decades. She is also the current chair of Grace Church’s Mission and Service Committee. Charged with the responsibility of deciding how the annual budget should be best utilized, they have prioritized the work that Rutland Neighbors has done for so many in need. When she is able to do so, she enjoys camping, traveling, meeting new people and sharing the company of friends.

Pastor Patti live in Rutland City and joined the board in 2021.  She is an ordained American Baptist pastor currently serving two congregations in two different denominations. She moved to Rutland with her family in 2014 to pastor The First Baptist Church of Rutland. In August of 2024 Pastor Patti was elected to serve as the settle pastor of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church of Rutland. Both congregations share space with Little Lambs Early Learning Center at 6 Church Hill Road in Rutland – and now they share Pastor Patti as well. Patti believes in being involved in the community where she serves. Both congregations that she leads have made Rutland Neighbors their local mission project.

Patti has served as Vice President of the American Baptist Churches in the USA & Puerto Rico from 209-2011 as well as on the Board of the American Baptist Home Mission Society. She has served on the Board of American Baptist Women’s Ministries and as National President of that organization from 2013 – 2015. Patti is married to Jon, an elementary music teacher in the Mill River Unified School District. They are the parents of 4 grown children, a niece and nephew, and they have 6 grandchildren.

Sarah has lived off and on in Vermont her whole life.  She currently lives in Rutland City and joined the board in 2023.  Although she left when she went to college, she came back in 2011 to be close to family. Before returning to Vermont, to live fulltime, she lived in South Dakota for 12 years, where she worked for Indian Health Service and several of the tribes as a clinician and faculty in two tribal colleges. Sarah’s long career in nursing has given her many opportunities to live and work in various parts of this country and in China, Russia and several countries in Europe. She became a nurse midwife and a pediatric nurse practitioner in the 1980’s and worked with infants and children with conditions that made feeding difficult. She has been a speaker at many conferences all over the world and has written and published about feeding neurologically impaired infants and premature infants. Sarah retired from teaching nursing at Castleton University at the end of 2022 and now pursues several volunteer activities including being a Board member of Rutland Neighbors since its inception. She is exploring the possibility of working with our unhoused neighbors in other capacities including providing them with healthcare.

One of Sarah’s four sons and his family lives in Rutland. She is committed to this area. She enjoys music and plays two instruments. She has a degree in Art History and enjoys reading in that area as well. Her research for her PhD in nursing had to do with medical provider presence and the correlation that the perception of provider presence had on pregnant women and the outcomes of their pregnancies. She believes that being present for clients is a privilege and has a positive impact on outcomes in healthcare.

Marsha has been a lifelong resident of Rutland and a steadfast supporter of her community. A graduate of Fanny Allen Memorial School of Nursing in Winooski (Class of 1970), she dedicated 43 years of her professional life to caring for others as a nurse at Rutland Regional Medical Center before retiring in 2013.

Following her retirement, Marsha found new joy and purpose in volunteering—spending countless hours giving back to her community and cherishing time with her daughter and son-in-law in Ticonderoga, New York.

In 2018, Marsha founded The Comfort Zone, now known as Rutland Neighbors, at the Rutland United Methodist Church. Her vision was simple yet profound: to provide a warm, welcoming space for those who were homeless, elderly, or simply needed refuge from the elements. With refreshments, activities, and a listening ear, Marsha helped create a place of belonging and care. She is deeply gratified to see how that small beginning has grown into the thriving organization Rutland Neighbors is today—and proud to continue to be part of its mission.

Marsha’s greatest passion has always been helping others. She has served as Superintendent of the Rutland United Methodist Church’s Sunday School and has taught for many years, sharing both her faith and compassion with children and families.

Beyond her church and Rutland Neighbors, Marsha is a 61-year member of the Marble Valley Grange, where she currently serves as Master (President) and Community Service Chairperson. She is also an officer of the Vermont State Grange, serving in the Office of Pomona, and is a 7th Degree member of the National Grange. In addition, Marsha contributes her time and talents to the Vermont State Fair Association, where she serves on the Board of Directors, as Superintendent of the Fair Museum, and oversees the Writing Contest and Bucket of Junk Contest.

Terry is a proud Rutland, Vermont native who returned to the area in 2014, first settling in Castleton and later moving back to Rutland in 2025. He joined the Rutland Neighbors Board of Directors and its Financial Development Team in 2023, bringing a deep commitment to community, service, and hospitality.

Terry currently serves as Pastor of Grace Congregational United Church of Christ, where he has been joyfully leading the congregation for the past three years. A longtime volunteer with Companions in Wholeness—now Rutland Neighbors—he can often be found on Tuesday mornings behind the counter as our enthusiastic coffee barista,which is his favorite way to connect and care for our neighbors.! He also has served our brunch or has been found prepping in the kitchen.  

In addition to his pastoral work, Terry is a Registered Nurse with experience at Rutland Regional Medical Center’s fourth floor and at Spring Lake Ranch in Cuttingsville, where he worked for five years. He is deeply proud of the teamwork, compassion, and shared mission that shape Rutland Neighbors, and grateful to be part of a community that consistently shows up for one another.

Tracy began her involvement with VFFC in 2012 as a volunteer while serving Grace Congregational UCC Church. She continued volunteering through the launch of the Farmacy Project in 2015 and joined general operations in 2019. During COVID-19, Tracy helped coordinate VFFC’s Online Market to support local farmers and provide safe food access — a program that continues today. She also assisted with the Everyone Eats program and coordinates use of VFFC’s commercial kitchen.

Tracy is passionate about building community through food and strengthening a local food system that supports farmers and expands access for all.

In addition to her work at VFFC, Tracy serves as part-time pastor of Pawlet Community Church (UCC), co-chairs the Rutland County Hunger Council, and is active in several local community organizations. She enjoys hiking, kayaking, skiing, pickleball, local sports, and spending time with her family.