Milena Lanz

Executive Director

Milena brings over 25 years of experience in leading nonprofit efforts in Greater Philadelphia and has a passion for supporting underserved children and families. Before becoming Executive Director in 2016, she spearheaded a county-wide effort to research best practices and evidence-based strategies in trauma-informed care by the study of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) at Home of the Sparrow, while also serving as Board member for MCHC. Between 2004 and 2012, she managed MCHC’s flagship Healthy Start program and became Senior Director of Healthy Start and Family Benefits. Before joining MCHC, she worked at Congreso in Philadelphia for four years in the Women’s Wellness Division, overseeing the education component of the domestic violence and parental education programs.

Milena earned her Bachelor’s in Business Administration and studied a Master’s in Public Health from West Chester University. Additionally, she is certified as a Mental Health First Aid instructor. She is a member of the Standards for Excellence for Nonprofit Organizations Committee. She serves on the PA Nonprofit Organizations (PANO) Board of Directors as well as on the Coatesville Center for Community Health Center. She has also participated in the Leadership Mainline Program, the Executive Nonprofit Leadership Institute from the Phoenixville Area Community Health Foundation and Arcadia University, and the Nonprofit Executive Leadership Institute (NELI) at Bryn Mawr College.

Cecilia Arce

Director of Program Evaluation

Cecilia brings over 20 years of education, management, and professional development experience to the MCHC team. As Director of Program Evaluation, she oversees data collected into MCHC's case management database and supports reporting efforts. She first began as Healthy Start Program Manager, overseeing staff and home-visiting services. As a former director of a local community center, she worked on curriculum development and data management, managed grants, staff, and internal operations. She has also worked for a consulting firm as a Program Specialist to implement the Head Start Program and oversee grant implementations. Now, Cecilia is back in the non-profit world as MCHC’s Director of Programs and Family Center Director. She has a Bachelor of Arts and Mathematics from Albertus Magnus College, a Master’s in Education, International Teaching, from Framingham University, holds a Medical Interpreter Certificate, from Bridging the Gap Delaware program, and an Ascending Leadership Certificate from Bryn Mawr College.

Natalie Coughlin

Director of Development and Communications

As Director of Development and Communications, Natalie handles individual, foundation, and corporate donor relations, grant writing, budget coordination, and digital marketing. She started working in capacity building services for nonprofit organizations during her final year at West Chester University, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English in 2018. She has a passion for creating change and more equitable communities.

Linette Ortiz

Director of Programs, Family Center, Life Skills, Diversion, & FGDM

Linette brings many years of experience in business administration and case management to her role as Director of Programs for the Family Center, Life Skills, Diversion, and Family Group Decision Making. As a former Family Benefits Specialist, she has experience working with our community by providing public benefits application support to families in Phoenixville, Norristown, and Pottstown areas. She has 13 years of progressive experience in healthcare programs including Medicare and Medicaid in addition to experience working with families from her time as an elementary school volunteer for Great Valley School District. She holds a Bachelor of Arts and Social Sciences degree from the University of Puerto Rico and has postgraduate education in Business Administration majoring in Human Resources.

Alma Vidal

Director of Programs, Healthy Start and Family Benefits

Alma joined MCHC in July 2015 as a Family Health Advocate for the Healthy Start Program and was promoted to Director of Programs for Healthy Start and Family Benefits in 2022.  Alma brings expertise in early childhood education and holds a Medical Interpretation Certificate from Bridging the Gap, a Credential for Strengths-Based Family Worker from Temple University, and participated in the Phoenixville Community Health Foundation’s Executive Leadership Institute.  Alma has a passion for helping others, her dream being that all children and families have access to health care and food stability regardless of their social or immigration status.

Karla Cadilla

Plans of Safe Care Senior Coordinator

Karla joined the MCHC in 2022. In her current role, she ensures that mothers and babies affected by substance use have a support system and resources that help them overcome challenges, build resiliency, and lead healthy lives. Karla has a Master’s Degree in Speech and Language Pathologies and a Graduate Certificate in Developmental Deficiencies, Early Intervention from the University of San Juan in Puerto Rico. She has completed continuing education trainings and certifications in mental health first aid, safety planning for victims of domestic violence, overdose prevention, teaching methods for children with autism, and other areas of child cognitive development. Her professional experience prior to her current role was as an Early Intervention Supervisor at the Children’s Hospital of Guaynabo in Puerto Rico.

Samantha Collins

Manager of the Healthy Start Program

Sam brings a healthcare background working with all populations in eye care. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from West Chester University in 2019. She then completed the Master of Public Health (MPH) program at WCU in 2022. This led her to her passion for infant and maternal health. This passion prompted her to apply for an internship at MCHC where she has been able to see firsthand the impact of social services and support in the community. Her mission is to shed light on our current maternal mortality crisis and to decrease our infant and maternal mortality rates.

Emma Garner

Manager of Outreach and Community Relations

As Manager of Outreach and Community Relations, Emma connects with other community organizations, schools, health networks, and public officials to promote MCHC services and events. She works with the Director of Development and Communications on online outreach, event planning, and fundraising. She graduated from West Chester University with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature in 2019, and in 2021, she received her Master’s in Information and Library Science from Clarion University.

Sarahi Gutierrez

Manager of Business Operations

Sarahi first joined MCHC in 2019 to provide support for the Healthy Start and Family Benefits programs. In her role as Manager of Business Operations Sarahi provides phone support, referral follow ups, and helps walk-in community members in need of health resources. She also supports development efforts by maintaining in-kind donation inventory, coordinating volunteer groups, and other key administrative support. Sarahi brings expertise in the business administration field from Delaware County Community College.

Maria Juarez

Manager of the Family Benefits Program

Maria joined the MCHC team in 2019 as a Family Benefits Specialist, helping families access health insurance, food benefits, and other public benefits programs. Prior to MCHC, she worked in the insurance sales industry and attributes this work to her insight into the professional world and her passion for helping others. Her transition to the nonprofit world has allowed her to help families in her community access important health care resources and build a foundation for good health and success.

Anabel Oceguera

Manager of Family Center Programs

Anabel has been a part of the Family Center team since 2019 and in her role as Manager of Family Center Programs since 2022. She is a graduate of Kennett High School and West Chester University of Pennsylvania, where she received a Bachelor's Degree in Social Work. After graduation in 2013, Anabel pursued her career in social work at MCHC and has been exposed to all of the programs at the agency throughout the years.  Being born in Mexico and migrating to the U.S. at a young age has provided her with life experiences that enable her to better understand the large immigrant community in Chester County and help them overcome barriers to success. She has a true passion for and dedication to advocating for families throughout southern Chester County.

Amanda Vega

Manager of Life Skills, Diversion, and FGDM Programs

As the Manager of the Life Skills, Diversion, and Family Group Decision Making Programs, Amanda oversees the programs team and works with families identified by Chester County Children, Youth and Families to reduce the prevalence of mental health, emotional, and behavioral problems in children and adolescents. Prior to joining the team, she worked as a 911 operator for several years and before that, as a Medical Technician for nearly ten years. She brings a background in health care management and a passion for helping her community.

Thalia Medina

Bilingual Program Coordinator, Healthy Start

Thalia has over 10 years of experience working within her community and seeing families happy is what adds shine to her day. Prior to joining MCHC, she received three awards for her voluntary public services to the community from the Congressional Award Foundation. In her current role at MCHC, she is responsible for overseeing the well-being of families in the Coatesville and Kennett Square areas. Her vision is for each expectant mom to have a healthy pregnancy, healthy life, and healthy family. She is dedicated to helping family members reconnect through Healthy Start activities and provide a foundation for ongoing healthy family engagement.

Sonia Ortiz

Bilingual Program Coordinator - Healthy Start

Always striving to make a difference in her community, Sonia brings the compassion and care shown from her upbringing in Puerto Rico and the U.S. to serving her community in different ways. Before joining MCHC, she completed a Bilingual Clerical Training at West Chester University and worked at a rehabilitation/nursing center for 16 years in addition to raising a family of three as a single mom. She also previously served as both Co-Director of Saint Agnes Spanish Youth Group and a Choir Director. In 2016, she was given the Belinda Harrison Award by the numerous nonprofit organizers of the Chester County Single Mothers' Conference in recognition of her hard work and compassion. She dedicates much of her free time to helping families in her community through health and social service support. Sonia has been a Community Health Worker at MCHC since 2000, fulfilling a critical support role in the lives of countless mothers and children. She lives by the principles and values taught by her grandparents – care for others, be compassionate, and help when you can help.

Rebecca Ramirez

Bilingual Program Coordinator / Community Health Worker

Becky first joined MCHC as an intern in 2021 from West Chester University, where she earned her Bachelor of Science in Public Health. She formerly volunteered for the Head Start Program in Coatesville and for her, this is what sparked her passion for helping families achieve a healthy lifestyle. In her role as a Healthy Start Community Health Worker at MCHC, she serves children and families in the Phoenixville area as well as parts of Montgomery County.

Maria Eugenia Rincones

Bilingual Program Coordinator, Healthy Start

Sofia Soto

Bilingual Program Coordinator/CHW

Sofia first became involved with MCHC as an intern and then joined the Healthy Start team in 2022. She is working towards a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Health from Temple University. In her role, she ensures that families start healthy by working alongside parents to promote child development in the Coatesville area. She is passionate about helping underserved communities through health education, outreach, and connecting families with needed health resources. 

Walesca Ferrer

Bilingual Family Benefits Specialist

Walesca is the Family Benefits Program Coordinator at MCHC’s West Chester Office, serving individuals in West Chester, Phoenixville, Pottstown, and Norristown. In this role, she helps families in need to apply for health insurance, food stamps, cash assistance, and other public benefit programs. Walesca brings many years of experience as a legal assistant for attorneys and financial institutions as well as in human resource functions. Her transition to the nonprofit sector has been a fulfilling one as it allows her to use her knowledge of public service, systems navigation, and her community to help those in need access the support that they need to stay healthy. Walesca holds a Bachelor's Degree in Criminal Justice from the Interamerican University in Puerto Rico.

Fran Lisowski

Data Coordinator, Family Benefits

Fran has over 20 years of experience in administration in addition to being a private business owner. She has been in her role of Program Data Coordinator for the Family Benefits Program since 2012 and for several years prior worked as an administrative assistant at MCHC. In her current role, she records Medical Assistance and CHIP applications, SNAP, and Cash Assistance application data completed by MCHC staff, Medical Assistance and CHIP application data from our Community Partners, and completes monthly reporting requirements. She holds an Associate’s Degree in Accounting.  

Margarita Ortiz Castaneda

Bilingual Program Coordinator, Family Benefits

Margarita is the Family Benefits Program Coordinator that serves primarily the Kennett Square area. She is a graduate of West Chester University of Pennsylvania and has a background in the health field. She enjoys serving her community, promoting health, and working with families to overcome obstacles to healthy living and success.

Itzamara Sanchez

Family Benefits Specialist

Yessica Luna

Bilingual Program Coordinator/Parent Educator

Yessica joined MCHC's Empowering Families Program as a Parent Educator in 2021. In her role, she provides parenting education and resources to caregivers of young children to ensure that they have access to all that they need to be healthy and well. Yessica brings case management experience from the mental health field. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology with a focus on child and family studies from the University of Indiana in Pennsylvania.

Elizabeth Milan

Parent Educator, Family Center Program

Maritza Rivera Cochran

Bilingual Program Coordinator, Family Center

Maritza has been a Parent Educator at the Family Center for over 10 years. In this role, she ensures families are equipped with skills to support their children’s development and academic success. Prior to this role, she was a Family Health Advocate for the Healthy Start Program at MCHC for 5 years, providing pregnant and parenting women and their young children with prenatal education and connections to important community resources. She has an Associate’s Degree in Marketing Management and Business from the Bronx Community College in New York.

Manuel Arevalo

Bilingual Program Coordinator 

Life Skills & Diversion

Manuel joined MCHC in 2019. In his current role, he helps families involved with CYF to build family resiliency and ensure a safe, stable home environment for children. He previously worked at the Institute of Social Welfare and assisted personnel of the Ministry of Education, holding different positions focused on the welfare and social protection of educators in his native country of Venezuela for 29 years. As a tireless human rights defender, since 2017 he has served as Vice President of the Civil Association for the Protection, Training, and Education in Human Rights, a nonprofit organization of which he is also a co-founder. He holds a Law Degree from Central University in Venezuela, where he was born in the city of Caracas.

Ana Maria Chirinos

Bilingual Program Coordinator

Life Skills & Diversion Programs

Ana is originally from Merida, Venezuela. She earned her degree in law from the University of Carabobo in Venezuela in 2002, and specialized in social inclusion and labor law. Motivated by helping others, she joined the MCHC team in 2021 as a Life Skills and Diversion Program Coordinator, where she helps families become more unified and resilient.

Aida Garcia

Manager of Family Group Decision Making

Aida brings over 40 years of experience in working with vulnerable families to her role as Manager of Family Group Decision Making. Despite retiring in 2018 from her positions as a bi-lingual therapist at Chester County Family Service after 18 years and a Family Group Decision Making Coordinator after 24 years, she found a new home at MCHC in 2019. Aida always knew that she wanted to work with children and has dedicated her life to serving the underrepresented. She has an undergraduate degree in Elementary Education/Sociology from Immaculata College and a Master’s in Social Work from Bryn Mawr College. Her passion is working with diverse communities and helping people navigate the most difficult circumstances in their lives.

Leslie Martinez

Life Skills & Diversion Program Assistant

Mayuri Mendoza

Parent Educator, Life Skills & Diversion Programs

Mayuri is passionate about working with families to reduce the prevalence of mental and behavioral problems in children and adolescents. She educates families about healthy lifestyle practices, provides connections to community resources to support self-sufficiency, assists with enrollment in public benefits, and provides emotional support for families. Before MCHC, she worked for over 20 years developing social development, community, and opinion studies for different organizations. She also worked on investigations into violence and crime in her native country, Venezuela. She has a degree in sociology from the Central University of Venezuela and a Master's Degree in Political, Diplomatic, and Integration Sciences from the University of Salerno in Italy.

Gloria Salinas

Bilingual Program Coordinator, Life Skills and Diversion

Gloria graduated from Lincoln University with a Bachelor of Arts in Human Services and Spanish. In her role as a Life Skills Program Coordinator, she works with families with at-risk youth identified by the Department of Children, Youth and Families to build healthy life skills and self-sufficiency. She has a passion for learning, growth, helping others and guiding them towards a better life.

Edmin Torres

Bilingual Program Coordinator, Life Skills and Diversion

Edmin has been a Program Coordinator for the Life Skills and Diversion Programs at MCHC since 2020. She works with families referred by Chester County Children, Youth & Families to reduce the prevalence of mental health, emotional, and behavioral problems in children and adolescents. She provides education on healthy lifestyle skills, connections to community resources to support self-sufficiency, public benefits enrollment assistance as needed, and emotional support for families. She is certified in the evidence-based Positive Parenting Program. She previously worked as creative director at an advertising agency and collaborated with campaigns for non-profit arts organizations. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in General Communications and a Master’s Degree in Graphic Arts.

Melissa Torres

Family Navigator Program Assistant

Melissa has experience in international, governmental and non-profit organizations as project coordinator focused on health promotion with women from different ethnic groups, implementation of productive projects with victims of the armed conflict in Colombia and social and community education with children and youth in vulnerable conditions in her native country, Colombia. She has a great passion for working with the community because she firmly believes that equity is the path to a better life where everyone has the same rights.

She graduated as an environmental engineer at the Central University of Bogotá, Colombia and she is a candidate for a master's degree in Ecological Humanities, Sustainability and Ecosocial Transition at the Polytechnic University of Valencia in Spain.

Debora Carreiro

Language Access Program Coordinator

Debora joined the MCHC team in 2023. In her role, she provides medical interpretation and translation services for Spanish and Portuguese speaking community members. Debora is from Brazil and came to the United States with her family in 2007. In Brazil, she worked in marketing and large event coordination for a mobile carrier. She did not speak English when she arrived in the US, but thanks to support from her community, she learned English as well as Spanish. Since moving here, she has dedicated her skills to helping other Brazilian families with things like school enrollments, doctor's appointments, and more. She joined MCHC with the hope of helping even more people in the same way.

Victor Alos-Rullan, DMD, MPH, MS

Consultant, MCHC's Diabetes and Heart Disease Prevention Program and SPIRIT Program.

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Beth Woosnam, BSA

Financial Manager

Elizabeth (Beth) Woosnam is a skillful Financial Manager at Countryside Consulting, Inc. with a diverse professional background that includes accounting, budgeting, forecasting, human resources, finance management and business ownership. Ms. Woosnam’s entrepreneurial and leadership skills were demonstrated while she owned a number of student training centers in the mid-atlantic region. She is an experienced user of QuickBooks accounting software and Microsoft Office products. Ms. Woosnam received her Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from Villanova University.