Lynda Hutt - Program
Coordinator
Lynda Hutt brings to the YWCA
experience in self-employment training and coaching throughout
Northern Ontario for government organizations, not-for-profit and
private businesses. After moving from rural Alberta to Ontario in
1983, she has worked in small businesses throughout Northern
Ontario, following a trail from Thunder Bay to Manitoulin Island.
Dedicated to assisting rural residents as they create
opportunities in their own communities, Lynda is a lifelong
learner, and continues her studies in business and adult education
through the University of Athabasca.
Since moving to
Muskoka seven years ago, Lynda has been working with individuals
who wish to remain in their own communities, yet seek viable,
meaningful work. A
passion for rural communities and the people who live in them
continues to be an underlying theme to her work.
Cath
Armstrong - Program & Curriculum Development
Cath Armstrong joined the YWCA team in October 2003 on a part-time
basis as a Community Access Program youth worker. That role evolved
into a full time position as the Youth Program Coordinator, taking
the lead in program planning and implementation for all youth
programs offered by the YWCA in Muskoka. Cath returned to the YWCA
in a part-time capacity during May, 2006. Now responsible for
program and curriculum development, Cath is currently editing,
writing and revising lessons plans for all of the YWCA programs, and
formatting them into manuals. Cath is also excited to be returning
to the Girlz Unplugged program for her fifth year as a group
facilitator. She also guest facilitates for the Women in Business
program, leading sessions on learning styles, Excel, and Internet
and computer safety.
With an undergraduate degree from Trent University, and a degree in
education at the junior-intermediate level from Nipissing
University, Cath brings several years of experience working with
children and youth in a variety of venue including childcare
settings, classroom teaching, and outdoor education. She believes
that in order for kids to learn, it needs to be fun, and it needs to
be done in a safe environment where participants can be encouraged
to explore the world around them.
Hannah Lin - Youth Program
Coordinator
Hannah joined the
YWCA in 2005 as a facilitator for the Girlz Unplugged program.
Originally from Ottawa, she has a BA from Trent University
(English/Cultural Studies) and a diploma in Fibre from the Kootenay
School of the Arts. Her career has been varied, working with several
non-profit organizations, heritage museums and arts groups in
British Columbia and Ontario. She has extensive experience in
intercultural and peace education for youth. Hannah also shares her
passion as a textile artist and arts workshop facilitator. Hannah
is inspired to make a difference by the opportunities and challenges faced by young girls.
Kim Irvine Albano -
WIB Program Evening
Facilitator
Kim began her relationship
with the YWCA as a student of the WIB program in 2003 while
building her practice as a psychotherapist and bodyworker, before
joining the YWCA in 2004 as a popular and very creative guest
instructor.
Kim has a B.A. in psychology
from McMaster University, and is also a certified Reflexologist, a
certified Psychodramatic Bodywork® practitioner, and a student at
the Toronto Centre for Psychodrama and Sociometry. In addition,
she has studied Massage, Therapeutic Touch and Quantum Touch. She
is currently completing her Masters in Transpersonal Psychology.
Kim brings to the YWCA 15
years of experience in program instruction and facilitation with
diverse populations, including abused women and children, people
in psychiatric facilities, people with diagnosed mental illnesses,
and oppressed populations Kim spent several months in rural Japan
traveling, learning the culture, and teaching English and then
relocated from the Niagara Region to Central Ontario, and worked
in Women’s Shelters for 10 years prior to opening her own
practice. She enjoys living a gentle homesteading life with her
family, and her chickens, goats and gardens, in South Muskoka.
Lee Ann Waterman -
Executive Assistant
Bio coming soon!
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Marcy Hill:
Marcy Hill
first
came to the YWCA as a participant in the Women in Business
program. A mother of three boys, she provided daycare in her home
for 7 years. In additions to facilitating programs at the YWCA,
Marcia works at the ski hill with children and volunteers her
time organizing community events. Here is what Marcy says about
Girls Unplugged: "The Girlz Unplugged program
gives girls a venue to be together on a level ground
with no need to be anyone but themselves. They learn to be
friends and enjoy each other not for status but for who they are. The
girls learn to value the amazing person that they are inside and take
the focus off trying to make the outside perfect. I really
believe in this program and I am very proud to be on the team."
Terry Callaghan-Henze:
Terry is program facilitator on the Girlz Unplugged team. She is a
mother of two children, residing on the outskirts of Bracebridge
where they enjoy seeing loons, otters, blue herons and many other
wildlife. Terry was a senior buyer for a group of hospitals in
Mississauga for more than 17 years. After tragedy struck the family
and changed the path they were travelling, Terry went back to school
attending Georgian College to become an Early Childhood Educator.
Terry graduated with honours and is currently working within
Trillium Lakeland's School Board as an Educational Assistant. Terry
also works part-time for Muskoka Limberettes where she works with Jr
and Sr Kindergarten children. Terry believes that for the most part,
life is what you make of it so dream big, worry small and always
carry a big smile!!!!!
Marlene Buwalda-Liao:
Marlene Buwalda-Liao grew up in
Muskoka and attended school in Bracebridge, going to Monck Public
School, and BMLSS. After attending Trent University, Marlene began
her 15 year career in finance. She changed her career path, as a
Portfolio Manager, after meeting and building relationships with
young people at an ‘Out of the Cold’ program in Toronto. Since then
she has worked as a Missionary in Taiwan and a youth worker at Yonge
Street Mission. Marlene recently obtained her Masters of Divinity
Degree from Knox College at the University of Toronto. Marlene is
one of the organizers of ‘Bracebridge Out of the Cold’ which holds
community dinners here in Bracebridge. She recently married and has
a beautiful step-son. Marlene is very passionate about working in
her community, and meeting all the interesting people within it.
Tasha Kupi:
Tasha Kupi is a first year
facilitator for YWCA Muskoka, leading the Girlz Unplugged program in
several elementary schools in Huntsville. Tasha is a Child and Youth
Counsellor originally from Hamilton, ON. She relocated to
Huntsville, to work and live in the place she so fondly remembers
while spending summers cottaging in Muskoka and working at Camp
Wheeler, The 26th Boy Scouts Facility near Dorset. Tasha
also works full time at Community Living Huntsville, providing
support to individuals and their families with developmental
disabilities and autism. She is working to obtain her B.A. in Child
and Youth Counseling from Ryerson University and hopes to obtain her
degree in Education at Nipissing University in the Fall of 2008. In
her spare time, Tasha enjoys horticulture, spending time canoeing
and hiking and being creative.
Elise Muller:
Elise Muller joined the Girlz
Unplugged team in 2006. Elise has experience conducting stone carving
workshops with children and adults through a variety of settings
including the Kaleidoscope Children’s Festival and the Bala Guild of
Arts and Crafts. Elise’s formal art training took place at Ballyfermot
S.C. in Dublin, McMaster University, and Haliburton School of Fine
Arts. Elise will also receive her B.A. in Culture and the Arts from
Nipissing’s Muskoka campus this spring and go on to Teacher’s College
to teach Art and Creative Writing at the high school level. In 2003,
Elise took the Muskoka Futures Youth Entrepreneurship Program which
taught her the skills required to open Stone Tree Studio where her
stone sculptures and Cirvan Hamilton’s wooden furniture are created
and showcased in the summer. They have two daughters and live near
Dorset.
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