Shandi Hill is the WestCare Tennessee, Inc. (WCTN) Regional Administrator. WCTN is a subsidiary of WestCare Foundation. Ms. Hill and her team provide services that include addiction treatment, homelessness services, prevention, and veterans and mental health programs. Ms. Hill works in communities by connecting individuals who may be considered difficult to treat and/or involved with the criminal justice system. WCTN’s growth has resulted from partnering with like-minded, community-oriented treatment programs that focus on providing the highest quality services. Ms. Hill is from a small, rural town in Tennessee. She is an advocate for change and loves strengthening partners while identifying challenges and barriers and making a difference.
Dan Williams is a program coordinator with a rehabilitation program in the local jail, where he works to get men out of jail through education, experience, and hard work. He partners with many local churches and businesses to support this program. Mr. Williams is also an ordained chaplain and uses that experience in working with inmates and addicts.
Laurie Meschke is a professor of public health at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. She has conducted research and prevention in the area of adolescent health and substance use prevention over the past three decades. She currently serves as the project director for two Health Resources and Services Administration Rural Communities Opioid Response Program awards. Ms. Meschke’s most recent opioid use disorder (OUD) prevention efforts include the examination of reproductive health for women enrolled in medications for OUD programs, weaning protocols for infants with neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome, and adolescent OUD prevention in rural East Tennessee.
Josh Hartsell is the Chief of Corrections for the Cocke County, Tennessee, Sheriff’s Office. In this role, he has worked with multiple nonprofits for evidence-based programming (EBP) for the jail. He has recently been awarded a $1 million grant from the state of Tennessee for EBP over the next 3 years and is currently working on more grants for EBP and substance misuse projects. He is active in his local community, helping to fight the war on substance misuse.
Keith Haas is a public defender and has been in his position for 20 years. His duties include serving on his local drug recovery court and on the board of directors for his nonprofit organization. He has been active in helping those in recovery for more than 11 years and has participated in several state conventions and two national conventions. Mr. Haas graduated from Indiana University in 1989 with a bachelor of arts degree in math and completed law school at Memphis State University (now the University of Memphis) in 1992.