Sarah House Board of Directors/Trustees
Join the Sarah House Board of Directors
We are currently seeking individuals to join the Sarah House Board of Directors. If you are interested in becoming a board member or for more information, please click on the attached application form.
John Francis, Chairperson
Retired, Executive Director and CEO of Redwood
John and his wife, Mary Nell, live in northwest Georgia near their three grandchildren. John retired at the end of December 2020 from Redwood in Fort Mitchell, KY, where he was Executive Director and CEO for nearly six years. John’s employment history includes inpatient and outpatient mental health and substance abuse services; children’s residential treatment; foster care; special education; intellectual and developmental disabilities; clinical and administrative roles; and being a COA (Council on Accreditation) reviewer.
John enjoys paddling one of the cedar-strip canoes he has built, hiking, photography, camping, reading, playing banjo, and spending time with his family, especially the grandkids.
Kim Marcum-Mercier, Vice-Chairperson
Founder, Sarah House; RN Home Health Care and StarShine Hospice of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center
Kim Marcum-Mercier is the Founder of Sarah House and Sarah’s Mom. Kim has been a registered nurse for over 25 years. Before that, Kim worked as a medical assistant for 10 years. Kim graduated from The Institute of Medical-Dental Technology in 1985, and later received her Associates and Bachelors of Nursing degrees from Miami University, of Ohio. She is also a certified pediatric nurse. Kim is a current member of Sigma Alpha Pi-The National Society of Leadership and Success. Working in the medical profession has been a life-long calling for Kim and one she considers a privilege and a blessing. Kim has devoted her life’s work to primarily caring for ill children; including medically fragile children in need of private duty nursing and an occasional respite, as well as dying children in Hospice. Kim has worked in pediatrics for the majority of her nursing career at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. She is currently employed full-time as a liaison resource nurse for CCHMC’s home health care agency. In this role, Kim helps to prepare parents and caregivers how to safely care for their child’s health care needs at home. She also coordinates care related to discharge planning from the hospital to home. Kim’s devotion to the mission and vision of Sarah House, coupled with her years of experience in caring for medically fragile children and their families, as well as serving on the board of directors, provides her with great insight into how Sarah House should operate and continues to be an advocate for children and families in need of respite.
Kim is married and lives with her husband Bob in the Colerain Township area. Even though they had the unfortunate loss of Sarah at age 16 to childhood cancer, they have raised 3 other children to adulthood and have 2 adorable grandchildren!
Nancy Stiefvater, Secretary
Retired, Delta Air Lines & Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center
Nancy is a graduate of Thomas More College where she received her B.A. in Spanish. Nancy was a founding member of the Alpha Eta chapter of the Theta Phi Alpha national sorority at Thomas More. Upon graduation, Nancy worked in a variety of roles for approximately 30 years for Delta Air Lines where she had the opportunity to travel extensively around the world. She then worked as an executive assistant/marketing associate for a Cincinnati area law firm for several years. Following that, she worked for eight years as a patient services coordinator and administrative assistant in the Center for Professional Excellence at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital where she supported the hospital’s nursing education department. While employed at Children’s, Nancy was the president of the hospital’s chapter of the International Association of Administrative Professionals, a member of the Veterans Advisory Council, the consumer advocate board member for the Council for Ohio Health Care Advocacy (COHCA), one of ten nominees for Cincinnati Children’s Women of the Year, a nominee for the Cares Spirit Award, and the recipient of the Jefferson Award, founded by Jacqueline Onassis Kennedy in 1972, that honors outstanding Americans for making a difference inspiring others to act.
In her spare time, Nancy is actively engaged in the community as a volunteer. As the chair and co-chair of four “Swing Fore the Cure” golf outings for breast cancer, Nancy raised over $80,000 for St. Elizabeth’s Hospital Women’s Health and Wellness Center and most recently as the co-chair of a fundraiser to support Cincinnati Children’s Division of Integrative Care, over $45,000 was raised. Nancy has been a committee member for special events supporting the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, the University of Southern California Office for Parent Programs, the American Heart Association’s “Go Red for Women” campaign, the Disabled American Veterans, the Over the Rhine Chamber of Commerce, The Ronald McDonald House Charities of Cincinnati’s “Red Tie” Gala, the Welcome House, and Family Promise of Northern Kentucky. In 2019, Nancy was a committee member for the Humanitarian League’s signature fundraiser “Diva Day” which raised over $165,000 for charities helping children and companion animals that are least represented and least funded in the Greater Cincinnati area.
Michelle Locey, CPA, Treasurer
Managing Member, Locey, Mitchell & Associates
Michelle has a Bachelor’s in Accountancy from Wichita State University and over 30 years of public accounting experience, five of those with a Big Four Accounting Firm.
Michelle has dedicated her entire career to public accounting, focusing on the needs of the nonprofit and affordable housing industries. Michelle volunteers actively with Junior Achievement, Little Miami school district, and the Animal Friends Humane Society.
Rhonda Cooper, MSN, RN, NEA-BC
Nursing Faculty, Miami University; Past RN Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and Medical Center and StarShine Hospice & Palliative Care
Rhonda Cooper joined the Sarah House Board in January 2020. Rhonda is a graduate from the University of Cincinnati College of Nursing and has practiced for over three decades at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. Over her career, she has practiced in inpatient, ambulatory, home care, and education leadership positions. While working in StarShine Hospice and Palliative Care, she worked with Kim Marcum-Mercier. It was during this time that Rhonda learned of the lack of pediatric respite and hospice services across the country and specifically here in the Greater Cincinnati Area. During her years in pediatric hospice, she attended the initial meeting of the Initiative for Pediatric Palliative Care and was involved in the Ohio Pediatric Palliative End of Life Network (OPPEN). She retired from Cincinnati Children’s in 2019, accepting a full-time position as nursing faculty at Miami University Department of Nursing. Kim invited Rhonda to apply for the Sarah House Board in late 2019.
Rhonda is married and lives with her husband Fred in Mason, Ohio. They enjoy traveling, especially visiting family members who live out of town/out of state.
Julie Goddard
Process and Systems Integration Consultant, President, Integro Consulting, LLC
Julie is a business process analyst and systems integration project manager. She currently is the principal of Integro Consulting, L.L.C., where she uses a team-based approach to facilitate business improvements with clients. As a program manager at Children’s Hospital, she led change management programs to improve efficiencies, streamline decision-making structures, and reduce duplications. Using her MS- Executive Leadership/Organization Change and diverse industry experience, Julie has been achieving executive outcomes for 25 years.
Julie is equally passionate about her volunteer activities. For more than a decade, she has been a business-to-consumer mediator with the Better Business Bureau and has served as a
Torch Award Judge and a Pursuit of Ethics educator. Supporter of Grant Us Hope Foundation, Walnut Hills Alumni Association, and Clarity. Her blood donations to Hoxworth Blood Center have earned her a four-gallon donor pin!
Judy Groszek, MSN, RN, BMTCN, OCN
Transplant Coordinator, Jewish Hospital
Judy is originally from Chicago but has called Cincinnati home for 30 years. She had the wonderful experience of going to nursing school with Sarah’s mom, Kim. Judy continued her education with a Master’s degree in Nursing from Xavier University and has been a bone marrow transplant coordinator for 14 years at Jewish Hospital. Her relationship with Sarah House spans about the same timeframe. She knew Sarah as a very special young lady and is humbled to be a part of this mission.
Judy lives in West Chester, OH with her husband Ted and has three grown married children and seven grandchildren.
Heather Herr
CEO, S Cubed Real Estate/Team Herr
Heather Herr is the Founder and Team Lead of Team Herr at Coldwell Banker Realty. Heather has over 18 years of experience in real estate, serves over 125 families or more a year. Heather and her team are in the top 1% of agents selling more than $50,000,000 in 2020. Heather was a 4 x All American National Champion athlete at Ohio State University, graduating in Art Education. Her first career was in teaching, before discovering her passion and family’s legacy in real estate. Heather also has an extensive background in software consultation and worked as part of the Siebel Systems global team CRM rollout. Prior to real estate, Heather was an Art Educator at Colerain High School. Heather is the Vice President of North Avondale Neighborhood Association, Secretary of the Cincinnati Woman's Council of Real Estate, and had served on many committees including Hyde Park Country Club, and formally the chair of many events with the American Cancer and Heart Association.
Heather has been married for almost 20 years and enjoys time with her 3 daughters ages 12, 15, and 18. Family and friendship are her passion!
Ariel Schmid
Analyst, VITAS Healthcare
Ariel Schmid is a Cincinnati native, receiving her undergraduate degrees from the University of Cincinnati and graduate degrees from Xavier University. She has healthcare experience ranging from EMT training, direct primary care clinic back office, and an administrative residency at VITAS Healthcare, one of the nation’s leading hospice organizations, where she now works as an analyst in the Innovation & Strategy department, creating tools to ease business processes, train staff on new applications, create business models and payment policy participation plans.
Ariel appreciates the integral yet undereducated end of the healthcare continuum that hospice and palliative care fall into and looks forward to contributing perspectives and ideas backed by experience and passion for patient experience and creating a dignified, peaceful care experience.
Kyle Singerman
Medical Student, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
Kyle is originally from the Cleveland, Ohio area and received his Bachelor of Neuroscience degree from Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Virginia, where he studied neuroscience and ultimately decided to apply to medical school. Kyle now calls Cincinnati home and attends the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine as a third-year medical student. Throughout college and medical school, he has sought out opportunities to serve pediatric hospital patients both at home and internationally. He has always loved this patient population and has been so lucky to have some of his learning take place at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. Kyle looks forward to having the opportunity to serve an organization with as meaningful and powerful a mission as Sarah House.
Sarah House Advisory Board
Rebecca R. Stringer, RN
Hospice Case Manager (27 years), All Caring Hospice
Rachel Thienprayoon, MD, Clinical Liaison
Medical Director of StarShine Hospice, Assistant Professor of Anesthesia, Member of Palliative Care Team, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center
Norbert Weidner, MD, Co-Founder
Past Medical Director of StarShine Hospice, Assistant Professor of Anesthesia, Member of Palliative Care Team, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center