Deborah Betts
Co-founder and Director
Deborah has been passionately driven by her dream to create a healing farm community for individuals who need support and encouragement to grow beyond their mental and emotional life challenges. She is committed to a healthy and wholesome lifestyle and believes that balance is discovered and sustained for longevity when there is a direct connection to the earth, animals, expressive art and a nurturing environment that promotes a feeling of home. She embraced this concept while raising her two children, Mariah and Evan, on an organic homestead in Northern Vermont.
Deborah’s enriched 32 years of professional work experience have been primarily in the field of Human Services with a strong focus on Early Education, Family Advocacy and Developmental Disabilities. However, for the past thirteen years, she has had the privilege of working in the mental health field; committed to helping others learn life skills that will enhance their independence. It is by Deborah’s design that Hundred Acre Homestead remains small in size, so that she can be personally involved in its Family Embracement ~ Healing Steps Recovery Program.
She had the good fortune of studying privately with Wesleyan Professor of Art, May Griswald, in West Hartford, Connecticut. A designer of silver and gold jewelry, Deborah entered the craft market in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom and later, for private sale, in Camden, Maine. Art still remains an instrumental healing tool at The Homestead because Deborah believes that within the safe place of artistic self expression, the outer world melts away and honest healing work from within can evolve.
Hundred Acre Homestead has grown from the union between one family’s need for quality care for their loved one and Deborah’s deep desire to share her life’s work with extraordinary and gifted people.
Meghan Smith
Admissions Manager
Meghan works closely with applicants and their families as she handles program inquiries and provides encouraging, friendly support. Her goal is to assist individuals in finding the most appropriate community where true healing and recovery can take place. Her upbeat manner and determination to help are sure to make your conversation about Hundred Acre Homestead a wonderful step in finding a Therapeutic Community Residence.
Prior to joining The Homestead family Meghan worked as a Wilderness Therapy Guide and Environmental Conservationist. She holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Outdoor Education from Johnson State College. It was at this small Vermont school where Meghan began to appreciate the importance of a tight-knit community and the significance of a healthy, balanced life-style.
Meghan has been a competitor in adventure races, half marathons, mountain and road bike competitions. Partnering her outdoor lifestyle with a desire to help others, Meghan brings a positive outlook and an enthusiastic energy to The Homestead. Her strength as an athlete has transferred into a determination to help others succeed with their own personal challenges.
Meghan is delighted to speak about The Family Embracement ~ Healing Step’s Recovery Program offered only at Hundred Acre Homestead and it’s potential to help you or a loved one find balance. Please let Meghan guide you and your family in this journey to wellness.
Cynthia Day Hanson, MA
Clinical Program Team Leader
Cynthia believes strongly that individuals with Mental Health issues can transform their lives given the right setting and the right tools, and she finds The Homestead the perfect place to apply her therapeutic training.
With a Masters in Counseling and a Masters in Transformative Art, she brings both clinical and creativity-oriented experience in addressing issues on both conscious and unconscious levels to help individuals gain the insight needed to create positive change. “It’s not about fixing people,” Cynthia says. “It’s about holding a space and providing support for people to do their own work. That’s the foundation for growth and change that The Homestead offers.”
Cynthia aligns with Deborah’s philosophy of walking beside someone on a journey to wellness and meeting them wherever they are. “At the Homestead, we are there to address whatever arises in the moment for the individual and process it immediately with them.” This “in-the-moment” therapeutic intervention combined with other supports—formal counseling, art therapy and other creative activities, exercise, nutrition, life skills, psychiatric support and medication management—make The Homestead a great place for people to do the work they need to do.
Cynthia also enjoys working as a member of a dynamic and caring team where individual strengths and skills all come together to support this shared vision of service to others.
Danielle Huston
Activities Program Team Leader
Danielle attended Wheaton College and received a BA in Studio Art and Sociology. She has also pursued graduate work at Goddard College, focusing on using art as a therapeutic tool in the classroom.
Danielle brings a diverse work background to The Homestead, including work as a Community Outreach Coordinator at an afterschool and summer Arts program; she also taught Art for two years at an alternative school for students with various mental health issues. Danielle believes in treating every resident at The Homestead as an individual, doing individual work, within the shared community of healing that all residents experience.
Along with group Art Therapy, she also tailors individual Art Therapy sessions to support each resident’s personal growth. Danielle is responsible for overseeing and leading program activities, and excels at helping residents push through their challenges on every level—from the mundane tasks of daily living to social engagement and participation in community events, to helping implement and maintain strategies for symptom management.
Kristin Marriott
Chef
Kristin trained at the New England Culinary Institute in Vermont and did her internship at Canyon Ranch- a resort in Tucson, Arizona- specializing in Spa Cuisine. Back home she honed her skills for four years working in some of Stowe, Vermont’s finer restaurants. She credits her interest in cooking to her Grandmother, who inspired her while growing up in Jeffersonville, Vermont on the other side of Mt. Mansfield from Stowe.
Kristin’s desire to integrate her love of a nutrition-centered lifestyle with food preparation led her to become part of the Hundred Acre Homestead team, which she considers “the best job ever!” Kristin excels at offering healthy, organic meals that nurture and satisfy on every level. She is especially talented at creating unique and flavorful seasonings which make every bite a complex and many-layered experience.
Kristin easily caters to each resident’s food preferences and sensitivities, serving a variety of tasteful options at every meal. She also bakes wonderful bread and cookies, and makes fabulous desserts for special celebrations, like birthdays and holidays.