Meet Our Facilitators
Fran Basso
Program: Prayerful Knitting
Hi, I am Fran Basso. I moved to Vero Beach, FL, more than 20 years ago, amazing how time flies.
The program I facilitate at the Center is called Prayerful Knitting, which got started soon after the Center opened in 2000. We have a group of terrific women with exceptional knitting/crocheting skills. We enjoy an hour and a half on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of every month, doing our preferred needlework, primarily making prayer shawls for loved ones, anyone who is ill, recovering from surgery or illness. We have offered them at times to Hospice House and to Friends After Diagnosis, as needed.
We also take time to pray during our weekly gathering. We pray for our families, people we love and care about, and we are often asked to pray for others. You will see us come with our lists, and during the times when we forget our lists, we know God remembers the persons we carry in our hearts to the group. This group blesses us as we come to knit and pray, and in turn, blesses others.
Susan Johnson
Program: Women’s Wellness Meditation
Originally hailing from S. Wales, Great Britain, I came to this country in 1964 to live in Baltimore, Maryland. After a few months of au pair work, I was fortunate to work in television. My first job was a clerical position, then I went on to a wonderful and creative job as a production assistant, and then an associate producer. We had the first audience participation talk show on the East Coast of the U.S.A. Together with the producer, we provided 5 hours of live programming a week. We shared guests with Phil Donohue, and it was a fun time.
The Wellness Meditation Group is very informal. Many of us have been together for quite some time. We gather each Tuesday morning, during “season”. As most of the participants are snowbirds, our class is from November to May. Before we do a guided meditation, we catch up with each other on the happenings of the past week. Generally, we start after 25 minutes of many animated conversations. The meditation is usually about 20 minutes in length. Afterwards, our members describe their experiences. We thrive on the safety and acceptance of each member.
Paula Hardin
Program: A Course of Love
What is a Course of Love? This Course is an experience. It is about the transformation from fear-based living to the assurance that Love is all there is. Love is a powerful force. Love transforms the mind and heart, unifying them, and taking you to the Truth of who you are.
Central to our time together is the book by Mari Perron, First Receiver: A Course of Love. “Call me God the Father, call me God the Mother, call me Creator or Great Spirit, Yahweh or Allah, but call me yours. For this I am. Call yourself daughter or son, co-creator, or friend. But call yourself mine. For we belong to one another.”
Paula Payne Hardin, EdD, MPS, appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show when her first book: What Are You Doing with the Rest of Your Life? Choices in Midlife was published in 1992. A second edition was released (2018) in audio, digital, and print. Highlights from A Course of Love was published in 2018. Hardin is also the author of Love after Love: Stages of Loving (1996).
Hardin directed Midlife Consulting Services and the David K Hardin Generativity Trust in Chicago. Hardin has trekked around the world from the Himalayas to Botswana. Now an Elder, she enjoys kayaking, cats, writing, and her extended family..
Bob Howlett
Program: Emmaus Retreat for Homeless Men in Recovery
This two-day spiritual gathering is held at Our Lady of Florida Spiritual Center. It is held twice yearly for men in recovery who are residing in temporary housing shelters located both in the Vero Beach area, and in the greater West Palm Beach area, and once yearly at the Pendle Hill Retreat Center for similar residents who are in the greater Philadelphia area. The retreats focus on an ever-deepening relationship with God, the importance of taking care of oneself, and a willingness to serve the greater community.
Certified in pastoral studies as well as spiritual direction, I have been involved in presenting programs, leading retreats for both adults and youth, and giving spiritual direction for almost 30 years. As a former teacher and school administrator, I find organizing, as well as leading these various programs, a meaningful use of my retirement years. Much of each year is spent here in Florida, but I do return to the north for the summer months, where I am involved in facilitating a men's faith sharing gathering, as well as leading the aforementioned retreat.
Vance Doescher
Program: Tuesday Buddhist Meditation
I am a retired U.S. Army LTC. My spiritual journey began in teen years with the reading of “Autobiography of a Yogi”. I transitioned from Christianity to Judaism in the 80’s and to Buddhism in the 2012. Early in 2010, I attended a Buddhist Meditation Group at the Center for Spiritual Care, and I was drawn to the teachers and the group. I found my path at that time. As far as my education goes, I have 3 degrees - A.A., B.S., and M.A.
The Buddhist Meditation group takes place every Tuesday night from 6 to 7 p.m. The hour is spent in guided meditation and dharma talks. We are currently using the book, “Mindfulness”, by Joseph Goldstein as a discussion guide. The talks embrace numerous paths to awakening with a focus on Buddhist teachings. Other paths covered include Taoism, Hinduism, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and Native American Spiritualism. All are welcome as we explore the nature of reality. The only requirement is an open mind.
Michelle Butler
Program: Power of Grief in Healing
Hello, I'm Michelle Butler, Published Author / Speaker / Grief Coach and Artist. I am originally from the Midwest, and I landed in Vero Beach through my healing path. In the wake of unimaginable loss, my path toward healing and helping others navigate grief was born. Five and a half years ago, my world was forever changed when my beloved daughter passed away. In the depths of my own grief journey, I discovered the transformative power of honoring pain, sharing stories, and finding solace in community. Through my personal experience and the insights gained along the way, I found a calling to support others on their own paths of healing. Today, as a coach at The Center for Spiritual Care, I am dedicated to creating a safe and nurturing space where individuals can find comfort, understanding, and hope amidst the challenges of loss. My mission is to walk alongside others as they navigate their grief, offering compassion, guidance, and a beacon of light in the darkness. Together, let us embark on a journey of healing, resilience, and renewed hope.
Melanie Atkins
Death Café, Intuitive Collage and Liaison (for various workshops)
Melanie brings a varied pallet of experience to the Center. She has advanced degrees in Studio Art and has had a career in teaching and unique experience in the Hospitality Industry. For the past 15 years, she has dedicated her attention to recovery programs and personal self-awareness. She believes that building the bonds of community are the salvation for the emotional health of our society; programs that encourage inclusiveness and commonality are the venue.
Tony Barcelona
Intellect Over Emotion AA Group
My name is Tony Barcelona. I am now the facilitator of the Intellect over Emotion meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous at the Center. I have been attending the group since the very beginning, when my close friend, Jim Burkins, founded the meeting in 2012. Jim passed away in December 2018, and I helped Bill James run the meeting from that point. Additionally, I am a certified recovery peer specialist and a certified recovery residence administrator. I am the Recovery Assistance Program Manager providing supportive housing and treatment for men in recovery.
In IOE, we study the principles of Alcoholics Anonymous and the program’s 12 steps for change. Our goal is sharing and passing the message of experience, strength and hope to all attendees in search of a new plan for living and spiritual transformation.
Deb Padnuk
‘Vero BEach KIND’ Campaign, Dinner & Dialogue, Restorative Yoga
Debbie has been teaching yoga & meditation since 1998. She is certified in Integrative Restoration, IYT Yogatherapy & she is a Registered Nurse in the state of Florida. After moving to Vero in 2016, she volunteered with Hope Hospice, Whole Family Health Center, Sunrise Rotary Community Corporation & The Center for Spiritual Care. Debbie is deeply appreciative of the Center’s programs for well-being, community & the arts.
Angie Messner
Death Café & Restorative Yoga
Angie Messner facilitates our Death Café and has taught Restorative Yoga classes at the Center. She has a long career in fitness, wellness, psychology, and spirituality with advanced degrees in these fields. Her emphasis is on integrating personal, professional, spiritual, and physical life.
Angie taught at the college level for twenty years, specializing in developmental psychology, death and dying, ethics, and continuing education. She also spent ten years in Ohio facilitating bereavement groups at Hospice, funeral directors and churches for parents' grief and families of loved ones who died by suicide. After arrival in Vero Beach, Angie began facilitating grief groups for women, whose husbands died, and families of loved ones, who died by suicide, for another ten years.
Angie notices resistance from the culture around suffering, pain, death. She encourages ongoing conversations around these topics so that people can welcome this natural part of the life cycle.
Shotsi Lajoie
Caregivers Support Group & “It’s Never Too Late to Begin Again” Workshops
Charlotte 'Shotsi' Cain Lajoie is the proud mother of three adult sons. She has been a psychological educator and consulting coach, as well as a practicing psychotherapist, since 2005. She was an adjunct professor in business and human services for undergraduate degrees, and in counseling for post-graduate degrees. She currently serves on the Indian River Rowing Club’s Board of Directors as immediate past president. She also served on the Samaritan Center Board and Catholic Charities Advisory Board.
Carol Ludwig
Caregivers Support Group & “It’s Never Too Late to Begin Again” Workshops
Carol Ludwig, spiritual director, supervisor, teacher, and retreat leader, presents widely in the U.S. and overseas. She served on SDI’s Coordinating Council (2001-07) and is a Presence Editorial Review panelist. Carol was formed in the contemplative-evocative style of spiritual direction through the Washington Theological Union, the Shalem Institute and Mercy Center. Carol has served on the faculties of Audire, Loyola (New Orleans) University, Mercy Center, Sacred Heart University, and the Shalem Institute.
Allan Teger
Caregivers Support Group & Introduction to Meditation Workshops
Allan Teger, Ph.D., brings to the Board long experience in academe, administration and management, and the arts. His degrees are from Lafayette, Delaware, and SUNY-Buffalo. He taught psychology at Boston and Princeton Universities and the University of Pennsylvania before becoming Social and Development Psychology Program Director at the National Science Foundation. His book, Too Much Invested to Quit(Pergamon Press) deals with conflict theory. He is the former Chairman of the psychology staff of HELP Inc, the community clinic in Philadelphia. For many years, he has been a full-time artist and has shown his photographs in juried shows and galleries throughout the United States and abroad.