Staff

Kinship House has six clinicians, an Executive Director, an Office Manager, a Nurse Practitioner, a Medical Director and a Quality Assurance and Utilization Management team. The staff of Kinship House intimately knows the problems foster and adoptive children face and are skilled at helping children effectively address their troubles in order to achieve permanent placement.

Melissa Smith-Hohnstein, MSW, LCSW

CLINICIAN & CLINICAL COORDINATOR (Founding Board & Staff Member: 1995 to Present)
Melissa received her bachelor's degree in Psychology and a master's degree in Social Work from Portland State University in 1989 and has been a licensed clinical social worker since 1992. From 1985 to 1988, she worked in a residential treatment program for adolescent girls and boys. Upon completing the master's program at PSU, she was employed at a community mental health clinic providing crisis emergency services and brief therapy to adults and children. In 1992, she transferred to a team that provided therapy to children and families in a variety of home settings. Some children resided with their birth families and others lived in foster and adoptive homes. In 1995, she became a founding board member and later a clinician for Kinship House. Her current clinical specialties include providing adoption transitions, sibling assessments and treating the prenatally exposed child. Melissa herself was adopted as a young child and is an adoptive parent.

Alison Strickland, MSW, LCSW

CLINICIAN (Founding Staff Member: 1997 to Present)
Alison has worked with children in community mental health, day treatment and school settings since 1991, specializing in play therapy with young children. She has worked in Oregon, Nevada and Georgia providing mental health services to children. Alison enjoys working with younger children and specializes in the treatment of early childhood trauma. She also enjoys doing assessments of siblings and parent-child interactions.

Karen Rose Alexander, MSW

CLINICIAN
Karen joins us this year from the regional Christie Care residential treatment program where she provided comprehensive assessments and a full range of intensive therapeutic services for children in treatment and family members. Previously, Karen was a child and family therapist at the New York Foundling, while completing her masters degree at New York University. She is an outdoor enthusiast and was for a brief period a wilderness field guide with National Outdoor Leadership School in Utah.

Chrysia Watson, MSW, LCSW

CLINICIAN
Chrysia joined the Kinship House clinical team in 2009 after serving on the clinical team at the Portland Children’s Relief Nursery for several years. Chrysia has worked with children and families touched by foster care and adoption since 2002 in New York, California, and Oregon. Chrysia particularly enjoys working with young children and their caregivers together to strengthen attachment.

Beth Erickson, MSW

CLINICIAN AND INTAKE COORDINATOR (February 2007 to Present)
Beth started as an intern during her quest for her Master's degree in Social Work. She graduated in 2006 and currently is working towards licensure. Beth has worked with children in a variety of capacities. She has taught in a special education classroom, volunteered as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA), worked for the Department of Human Services, and coached lacrosse, basketball, baseball and soccer. Beth enjoys helping children transition successfully into permanent homes and advocating for their emotional, physiological and psychological needs.

Sarai Englel, MSW

CLINICIAN (February 2010 to Present)
Sarai Englel began working at Kinship House in 2010. Sari has worked with children, teens, and families since 2000. She has worked in mental health agencies, residential treatment centers, and a variety of educational settings, including private, public, and therapeutic schools. Sarai especially enjoys utilizing creative therapies to help children and adolescents express their feelings and emotions.

Program Support Staff

Ann G. Witsil, MBA

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (July 2005 to Present)
Ann brings over 20 years of experience leading for-profits, non-profits and government agencies in providing focused, profitable, and learning operations. Ann has been an executive in Fortune 500 corporations, including US Bancorp, where she served as Vice President of Strategic Planning and Market Research, and later at Nike, Inc., where she was Interim Director of Strategic Planning for Nike, Equipment. Ann has an MBA in Finance and Marketing from the Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University and a BA in Government from Smith College, Massachusetts. In 1990, Ann founded Catalyst Strategies, a management consulting firm providing organizational development, team leadership and strategic facilitation services to organizations throughout the Northwest. Ann has served as Interim Executive Director for several regional non-profits, as a member of the Executive Transitions Services team of Technical Assistance for Community Services.

Rene Wehrheim

OFFICE MANAGER/BILLING COORDINATOR
Our Office Manager and Billing Coordinator may be the first to greet you on the phone or at the door. Rene is a top-notch office organizer, account billings manager, providing supportive client services for the clinical team, and the Executive Director. Rene brings energy, competence, diligence and a warm smile! Welcome, Rene!

Tia Shows

DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANT
Tia works part-time with Kinship House helping to heighten visibility for the organization. After graduating from Lewis & Clark College in 2006, Tia worked in the non-profit sector managing campaign offices for environmental groups. After becoming a mother, Tia shifted her focus to helping children.

Medical Staff

Charlene Sabin, MD

MEDICAL DIRECTOR (1999 to Present)
Dr. Sabin is a Behavioral Pediatrician specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of alcohol related brain damage and Tourette's Syndrome. A native Oregonian, she completed her medical degree and residency at the University of Oregon Medical School, now Oregon Health Sciences University. Dr. Sabin is an excellent resource for assessments, medication and consultation on the interplay between physical and mental health. Dr. Sabin has a private practice next door to Kinship House and collaborates with us as our medical director.