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STAFF

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Jennifer Stuhmer, Executive Director

director@arclincoln.org

Jennifer Stuhmer has been a member of The Arc of Lincoln since 2014 and served as Vice President of the Board of Directors for the last 5 years. She was raised in North East Lincoln and graduated from Lincoln Northeast High School and Hastings College.   

She has been active in the Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities community for many years.
She has been an ADHD Coordinator for the Northeast Family Center, ParaProfessional and Substitute Teacher for Lincoln Public Schools, and Deaf-Blind Family Engagement Coordinator for the Nebraska Department of Education as well as being a mom. Jennifer and her husband Ryan have one son. Damon is a senior at East High School in the Life Skills Department. Damon was born with multiple complex medical diagnoses including developmental disabilities. Damon’s life experiences have given Jenny a unique outlook and dream for The Arc of Lincoln and its community.

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Danielle Alferink, Program Coordinator

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BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Jennifer Meints

Jennifer Meints, President

Jennifer Meints is the board president for The Arc of Lincoln. She works for ACN here in Lincoln and has a huge passion for finding jobs for all abilities in our community. She has three children Emilee(21), Grace(17) and Jack(12), and is married to her high school sweetheart, Eric. Why advocacy is important to Jennifer...Seventeen years ago she was blessed with a beautiful little girl. In the past 17 years, they have learned patience, hope, how to work as a team, compromise and more medical terms and acronyms than one would want to know. Grace loves people, parties, and making people feel special. During their journey they have met some amazing people, found their passion in helping others. When Grace was young they felt very alone and unsure of their daughter's future. Their vow from then on was to do their best to make sure no other parent felt alone.

Alan Carlson

Alan Carlson, Vice President

 

Alan Carlson is a life long Arc member. He joined The Arc of Lincoln Board in January of 2020. He is also a member of the Lincoln Aktion Club and Lincoln People First. Alan enjoys playing cards and doing latch hook rugs in his free time. He also enjoys traveling, and has been to 48 of the 50 states and to 17 different countries. He believes advocacy helps people to speak up and get involved when decisions are being made about their life.

Mary Phillips

Mary Phillips, Secretary

 

Mary is the Director of Student Services at Educational Service Unit #6 in Milford, having a 30+ year career in special education as a teacher, building administrator, district level supervisor and Director. Mary’s passion is to help build advocacy skills with parents, students and adults with disabilities. Besides serving the Board of the Arc of Lincoln, she also is on the board for APPSN, the Governor’s Council of Early Childhood Interagency Coordinating Council and the Executive Board of the Arc of Nebraska as Secretary, and is a parent representative on the Windsong Equine therapy Board. Mary is married with three adult children and five grandchildren. Serving others is a family affair with her spouse, Don, retiring from a 40 year career in the US Army and Homeland Security, their oldest daughter Laura being a speech language pathologist, their son Ty an occupational therapist, and their youngest daughter Erin as a Disability Policy Advocate for People First of Nebraska.

Mary Ells, Treasurer

 

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Deb Safarik

Deb Safarik, Board Member

 

Deb is the president of Down Syndrome Advocates in Action Nebraska (DSAA). Their association works to help parents & individuals with Down syndrome feel better prepared to advocate for their loved ones & themselves. They are proud that they are community partners with the DSAA Kearney & better reach across the state to help families. Deb comes from a nursing background & last worked in-home health care for over 20 years before I retiring. Deb and her husband have 4 kids together. Their 3 daughters are all married with kids &/or fur children of their own. Two daughters live in Lincoln with six of their grandkids & one lives in Omaha. Their son Paul is 27 years old now. When he was born & they found out 6 months later he had Down syndrome for sure, and at that time there was no Down syndrome group for families, so they decided to start one!

Angie Willey

Angie Willey, Board Member

 

Angie Willey has been an Arc of Lincoln board member for over 3 years. She believes that families who have loved ones of differing abilities often share many of the same challenges and The Arc is there to connect, support, and advocate for all families and all ages. Advocacy is important to Angie because she feels families need information, a sense of connection with other families, and up to date information. When her son Ben was born she was a Business Analyst at a local Insurance company. When Ben was 3 it became difficult to manage his therapies and school, so after 15 years, she gave up her career to be a stay at home mom. She started volunteering with different organizations and felt called to help families like hers to get connected and find resources. In addition to serving on The Arc board, Angie is the vice president of Down Syndrome Advocates in Action Nebraska (DSAA). Her other volunteer activities include ONE Coalition, Elmwood Christian Church, Bit’s and Pieces Thrift Store, and taking team and individual photos for the Elmwood-Murdock Booster Club and Baseball/Softball programs. Recently she became a Master IEP Coach to help families navigate the IEP process, and completed the Disability Rights Nebraska Inclusive Lay Advocacy Project. She is an Advanced Signing Time Instructor and enjoys many different crafts including crochet, jewelry design, t-shirt design, and in the fall can often be found doing craft fairs on the weekends. In her free time, Angie enjoys gardening, and working with her family's new dog, Bolt.

Erin Phillips, Board Member

 

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Melissa Reamer, Board Member

 

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Michelle Bowen, Board Member

 

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