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Angels Biographies

Meichelle Arntz, BSN RNC ACCE
Angels President

I live and own a business in Santa Barbara. I became familiar with child welfare services and the courts through my work as a volunteer in the Court Appointed Special Advocates Program. I was shocked to find that Santa Barbara County has nearly 600 children in foster care, and an extensive need for foster homes. I have seen first hand the frequent change of placement of our community foster children, overextended foster families, and small children in shelter care rather than with parents in homes.

I wanted to help and began my research. That is when I found Angels Foster Family Network in San Diego and became acquainted with Cathy Richman. Cathy has put in tremendous effort and support to help us get going in Santa Barbara. Thanks to her and her amazing program. The Angels program in Santa Barbara changes the lives of our littlest foster kids by offering stable, loving, safe homes as long as needed with no placement changes while in the foster system.

Jennifer Mills, LCSW
Angels Foster Care Clinical Director, North Santa Barbara County Social Worker

A transplant from the East Coast, I moved to Santa Barbara in 1989 to attend UCSB and have since never once thought of leaving. With undergraduate degrees from UCSB and a Master's in Social Work from UCLA, I have worked with several non-profit and government agencies in a variety of roles over the past 15 years. As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, my practice has focused on early childhood mental health intervention, with an emphasis on supporting children and families who have experienced trauma and/or loss. For the past nine years, I have also worked within the Juvenile Court and Dependency system in different capacities, first with Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) and since 2008 with Angels Foster Care of Santa Barbara. Both of these experiences have shown me how one person or one family can make a significant, positive and enduring impact on the direction of a child's life. I feel fortunate to work each day with remarkable families in our community who have opened their homes and hearts to children in need.

Stacy Peterson, MSW
South Santa Barbara County Social Worker

In 2009, I relocated to Santa Barbara from Chicago, Illinois. My educational background includes Master’s degree in Social Work from Loyola University, with a clinical focus on child and family services. For my undergraduate education, I attended North Park University in Chicago, Illinois, where I obtained my bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a minor in art. Throughout my education I have completed research and studies on topics such as child development, abuse and neglect, family systems, attachment, identity development, as well as race, culture, and ethnicity. Prior to moving to Santa Barbara, I was employed as an Adoption Social Worker. Through my experience at various private agencies, I have had the opportunity to work in the fields of domestic, private, and International adoption in addition to foster care. Other professional experience includes special education, administrative services, fitness, and childcare. Volunteering at orphanages and community centers in countries such as Ethiopia and Romania, has also been an extremely formative aspect of my background. It is truly an honor to be a member of the Angel’s team. Witnessing the positive transformation of children and families is an incredibly rewarding job that I feel lucky to be a part of!

Ellen Dameron
Foster Family Recruiter/Outreach Coordinator

As a former Angels foster parent, I found the experience so rewarding that I wanted to continue working with the organization and supporting young children in foster care. I am a native Santa Barbaran and obtained my bachelor’s degree in Psychology with an emphasis in Communication Studies from UCLA. My background is in media and marketing, and I worked as a newspaper marketing executive and editor at the Santa Barbara News-Press for 15 years. I work part-time as Angels’ grant-writer, newsletter editor, foster family recruiter and administrator, and often you will see me at community events and activities representing the organization. I always look forward to meeting prospective foster parents and urge you to contact me if you have any questions about the Angels program.

Frankie Martinez
Volunteer Coordinator/Visit Supervisor

I received a bachelor’s degree from UCDavis in Food Science and worked in the food industry until we started a family. I was a busy stay-at-home mother of four kids. After living for 13 years in the Boston area, we relocated to Santa Barbara 5 years ago. I learned of Angels Foster Care through a friend and, having been through a recent family tragedy, wanted to focus my energies in a positive direction. I have been involved with Angels as a respite foster care provider, a volunteer coordinator for events and fundraisers, and a biological parent visit supervisor. In each capacity, I have appreciated the positive impact that Angels is having in our community and being involved has been personally therapeutic and rewarding. I am honored to be part of the team!

MaryAnne Contreras
Visit Supervisor

I have been involved with Angels Foster Care for just over three years. After seeing a friend with a newborn baby, and finding out about Angels, I immediately became interested in the program. I am currently working as a supervisor for visitations between biological parents and foster parents. Previously, I have provided respite and shelter for nearly a dozen Angel babies. My two daughters, Sullivan and McCailey, have been a tremendous help and support with all of our Angel babies. They are actively involved and we all feel that Angels has been a gift to our family.

Cathy P. Richman
Founder of original Angels Foster Family Network

Cathy Richman has donated her time as CEO and member of the Board of Directors since she founded Angels Foster Family Network in 1998. Cathy is involved in every aspect of the Angels program, from fundraising and administration, to training and child placements.

A mother of three and former foster parent, Cathy spent 5 years as a volunteer Court-Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) in San Diego County Juvenile Courts. During that time she witnessed firsthand the problems and challenges of traditional foster care.

Drawing on her experiences as a child advocate and her research in child development, Cathy developed her own vision for foster care. She envisioned a select corps of foster parents whose motives for fostering arose out of love for children, and who would commit to nurturing foster babies for long periods of time. She dreamed of a day when all foster babies would be properly nurtured and given all the necessary tools to grow up to be healthy, productive members of society.

In 2001 Cathy was awarded the Channel 10 Leadership Award for being the founder of this unique agency.

In September, 2005 she was selected by Congressman Darrell Issa to be one of 180 Congressional Angels in Adoption for the year. Cathy was honored at a national ceremony in Washington, D.C. hosted by the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI).

In December, 2005, San Diego Metropolitan Magazine named Cathy as one of 26 "Metro Movers To Watch in 2006."

In 2006, Richman was nominated, and was a finalist, for the Minerva Awards. The Minerva Award is given at the Governor and First Lady’s Conference by Maria Shriver.

1n 2007, Cathy Richman was a recipient of the San Diego Business Journal’s “Women Who Mean Business” award.

See our Board of Directors and Staff pages for more about Angels participants and personnel.

Call Now to Change a Child's Life
Call 805-884-0012 (effective 9/1/10) or contact us on-line to learn how you can make a donation or become a foster parent.