Owner / Director
Jyoti Sharp, MA, has been a professional in the fields of elder care and mental health for two decades. After a successful career in finance and human resources in the private sector, a significant loss in 1991 changed the course of her life work. She learned to meditate at a Benedictine monastery in Oklahoma and moved to Boulder, CO in 1997 to attend graduate school at Naropa University. While completing a Master’s degree in Contemplative Psychotherapy she concurrently held the position of Assistant Controller. Jyoti had a strong desire to develop right livelihood and envisioned working with ordinary life transitions such as aging and dying within a contemplative framework of presence and mindfulness. She manifested this aspiration in 2000 when she founded Windhorse Elder Care, a conscious home care agency in Boulder, CO. She continues to dedicate her life to working with elders and families around aging and end-of-life issues by creating circles of mindful care.
Director of Operations and Home Care Administrator
Stephanie Kindberg , has 25 years of experience working in various clinical settings; inpatient psychiatric, physical rehabilitation, skilled nursing facilities and home care agencies. Currently, at Windhorse Elder Care she is the Director of Operations and the Home Care Administrator. Her clinical work consists of being a Lead Basic Attender, Team Leader and Team Supervisor. She has been employed at WEC since 2015 prior to that she worked at our sister companies Windhorse Community Services and Mindful Works, Boulder.
From 2007-2012 she attended a special educational program in India and received a degree in Buddhist Studies and Tibetan Translation. She loves her job and the wonderful Windhorse community that she works with. She also enjoys meditating, hiking, camping, being in nature, laughing and spending time with her friends and family.
Director of Admissions & Education
Natalie Davidson, MS, has been working with Windhorse Elder Care since 2018. Her work with WEC consists of being a Basic Attender, Team Leader, Team Supervisor and member of the Admissions Team. She holds a BS in Developmental Psychology from Georgia College & State University, and a MS in Holistic Nutrition from American College of Healthcare Sciences. She received her End-of-Life Doula certification through the Conscious Dying Institute, here in Boulder, CO. While Natalie is passionate about helping others, she feels her dharma is serving those during end-of-life transitions and providing support to their family.
In addition, Natalie has been teaching yoga for over ten years and offers domestic and international yoga retreats. She is a plant-based foodie, lover of nature, hiking and camping, avid traveler, steward of the environment and feline enthusiast.
Clinical Supervisors
Kathy Emery, MA, LPC , Team Supervisor. Kathy is a graduate of the Naropa University’s East/West Psychology program in 1980 and has been actively working with the Windhorse approach to treatment and care of individuals since its inception in 1981 as Maitri Psychological Services. She currently is employed with Windhorse Elder Care and Windhorse Community Services as a Team Supervisor and Psychotherapist for both organizations. At Windhorse Elder Care, she co-facilitates the Caregiver’s Support Group and Team Leader’s Supervision Group with Lou Stenger. She also is a Senior Teacher of the approach and feels a lifelong commitment to bringing the Contemplative view and practice of care and therapy into her work with individuals and groups as well as through her teaching and writing.
Emily (Williams) Trevillian, MA, Team Supervisor, Team Leader and Basic Attender. Emily has worked and volunteered in the mental health and elder care fields since 2006. She holds BA degrees in Sociology and Photography from Purdue University, and her MA in Transpersonal Counseling Psychology from Naropa University. Emily has been with Windhorse Elder Care since 2011, in the roles of Basic Attender, Team Leader and Supervisor. She cares most about supporting elders and their families through the changes that arise with traumatic brain injury and strokes, with Alzheimer’s and other dementias, and end-of-life transitions.
Lou Stenger, MA, Team Supervisor, Team Leader and Basic Attender. Lou has worked with elders for several years and currently co-facilitates the Caregiver Support Group and the Team Leader Supervision Group with Kathy Emery. She is a graduate of Naropa University’s Masters of Contemplative Psychotherapy & Buddhist Psychology and also holds Master’s degrees in Marriage & Family Therapy and Human Resource Development.
In addition, Lou has studied Astrology for several years and has a private Astrology Consultation Practice here in Colorado and beyond! She lives in Louisville, Colorado with her little dog, Chichi.
Patti Chenis, MA, LPC, WEC Team Supervisor. Patti is a student of the founder of Naropa University and has studied and practiced the Buddhist and Shambhala teachings for over 40 years. She lived at Karme Choling Meditation Center in Vermont and spent a year on retreat at Gampo Abbey in Nova Scotia as part of the three year retreat.
She teaches compassion practices for the Transpersonal Psychology Graduate students at Naropa University and has been a meditation instructor for the Contemplative Psychotherapy Graduate students Maitri Retreats.
Amy Leetz, Team Supervisor, Team Leader and Basic Attender. Amy comes to Windhorse Elder Care after a career in education where she holds two graduate degrees. She has been close to the Windhorse Community for over 10 years and is now working at WEC as a Basic Attender, Team Leader and Supervisor. Amy is currently in the process of receiving her End-of-Life Doula certification. After a number of years navigating serious illness within her family, Amy realized how impactful these delicate thresholds can be. She is a mother of two and enjoys all things relational and contemplative oriented.
Lindsay Heppner, MA, Team Supervisor, Team Leader and Basic Attender. Lindsay has been working at Windhorse Elder Care since July 2021. She feels at home and natural with the elders she cares for and loves this work. As an artist, she finds ways to incorporate creativity with Windhorse clients.
Lindsay has her masters in Art Therapy from Naropa University and enjoys painting, book binding and fiber arts. She lives in Lyons Colorado where she and her husband have raised their boys. She loves daily dips in the St Vrain River, traveling, hiking, camping and gardening. Lindsay is a student of the buddha dharma and spends much of her time volunteering and practicing in community.
Sharon Keegan, Team Supervisor, Team Leader, Basic Attender.
The seeds of being at Windhorse Elder Care now, were planted many years ago, when I was 24.
My mother died six weeks after receiving a lung cancer diagnosis. I was with her alone during her final breaths, while my father was asleep. It felt like a transmission of sorts… the vast space after the final breath of someone you love. Just prior, I had formally entered upon the Buddhist path and promptly went into a month long group meditation retreat, to allow the truth of impermanence to deeply penetrate. Four years later, my father died, after experiencing an unexpectedly longer dying process of two years, with leukemia and Alzheimer’s. I served as his sole caregiver during that time and was with him when his final breaths took place. As a result of these two very personal deaths early on, joined with meditation and study, I realized a natural ease with the sacred transitions of dying, death, letting go and the potent raw “grace and grit”. Read more about Sharon Keegan here >>
Annie Seidman, B.A./Certified End of Life Doula, Team Supervisor, Team Leader and Basic Attender. Annie has been with Windhorse Elder Care since January, 2018. Annie earned her B.A. degree in both Anthropology and Humanities from the University of Colorado, Boulder. She was certified as an End of Life Doula through the Conscious Dying Institute. As a Windhorse Team Leader and Basic Attender, Annie is passionate about offering comfort through a caring human connection. She is honored to serve her clients and hear their stories. Annie not only enjoys offering companion care, she is also deeply committed to helping clients and their families navigate the dying process. Those who have worked with Annie remark on her calm manner and empathetic spirit. Annie lives with her family in Boulder and enjoys hiking, camping and simply being in nature.
Ken Schmeelk, Team Supervisor, Team Leader and Basic Attender.
Since completing the Masters in Contemplative Psychotherapy from Naropa Institute in ’88, Ken has worked in several different Human Service Agencies in the Boulder area. Working with Windhorse has been an ideal experience because of its practice of putting the relationship between the care provider and the client at the heart of care. Additionally, the importance of communication and mindfulness is consistent with the people served and within the agency itself. The opportunity to be of service to Elders is perhaps especially poignant for Ken as he has begun his own journey into Elderhood and finds there is much to learn from those with whom he works.Ken has lived in Boulder with his remarkable wife, Lissa, for many years, sharing the beauty of the surrounding mountainous terrain and trails. He enjoys working with visual imagery and has long been a student of contemplative traditions.
Molly Myers, Team Supervisor, Team Leader and Basic Attender. Molly Myers has been working with Windhorse Elder Care since 2019 as Basic Attender and Team Leader. She attended CU Boulder in the ’80s before becoming a full-time mom to four children. This work and growing up with a mom with MS fueled her desire to serve elders and those at their end of life and led her to work with Windhorse Elder Care. Molly grew up in Nevada. Her family loved hiking in the desert and exploring ghost towns and Native American history. She loves nature and fiber arts.
Pamela Lippe, Team Supervisor, Team Leader and Basic Attender. Pamela arrived seven years ago to the Windhorse Elder Care team of fabulous people who know what Emotional intelligence is all about especially with our aging community that often struggles with serious long term Illness. I am grateful for all the valuable learning that the elders have and continue to teach me! I arrived knowing this is my “Place of Belonging”, especially with The Windhorse Model of Care that aligns to some of my highest values of compassion and presence. For over 25 years I was a Massage Therapist, taught Haha Yoga for almost the same amount of time and completed 3 years study and certification with The Conscious Dying Institute here in Boulder. My work with WEC consists of various roles as Basic Attending, Team Leadership, and Team Supervisor.
Team Leaders
Kristina Benson, Team Leader and Basic Attender.
Kristina first began working with Windhorse Elder Care in November of 2020 after moving to Colorado in June of 2020. She currently serves as a Team Leader and Basic Attender.
Kristina is a graduate student in Naropa University’s Transpersonal Wilderness Therapy program. Previously, Kristina spent 2 years in a rural Nepali community working on food security initiatives, collaborating on maternal and child health projects, and learning the unique rhythms of Nepali agriculture alongside her neighbors. Kristina’s passion lies in connecting with people and natural environments through creativity and presence. Kristina enjoys the mindfulness-based approach to caregiving and finds deep meaning through cultivating relationships with her delightful clients, families, supervisors, and team members. She is consistently learning from her clients and feels honored to spend time with elders in this way. In her spare time, Kristina can be found hiking, meditating, brewing kombucha, rollerblading, and tending to her garden.
Bla
ke Stone, Team Leader and Basic Attender.
Blake J. Stone (she/they) has been with Windhorse Elder Care since February of 2021. They have been working in eldercare and healthcare for the better part of a decade and living in Boulder for almost two decades. Blake has B.A. in Philosophy from CU Boulder, and is currently writing their thesis for the Masters of Divinity degree at Naropa University.
In addition to working for WEC, Blake is also part of the Spiritual Care Department of Boulder Community Hospital as a chaplain. She is a sometimes yoga & meditation teacher, and has EMT training.
Blake enjoys most things art, music, yoga, nature, and literature related. She is well traveled and frequently hermits in the mountains. They are published author of fiction and poetry, and an avid reader. She has two cats named Mobius and Torus and too many houseplants.
Callie Maron (she/her), MA, LPCC, Team Leader and Basic Attender.
I am passionate about helping clients discover their own inherent wisdom, creativity, and resilience, and find a sense of belonging and clarity in themselves, their communities, and the Earth. My years of experience working with nature, sitting with elders and their loved ones through the end-of-life process, and the sometimes challenging time leading up to this transition, have humbled me into a groundedness in the human experience that I believe we can all return to. As we journey together in a safe and compassionate therapeutic space, we can explore, understand, and send love to your vulnerabilities, fears, sources of shame, and the shadowy corners that benefit from a grounded companion to tread through. In sessions, whether in the client’s home, the office, a natural setting, or online, I offer practical skills and knowledge informed by neuroscience interwoven with evidence-based therapeutic approaches rooted in Internal Family Systems, attachment theory, and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy while maintaining a collaborative and mindful presence, and connection with our somatic experiences in the present moment. At our core, each of us possess the wisdom and deep knowing of the ancient mountains, and the resilience of the alpine forests–we just need an invitation to let these parts of us lead.
Rachel Kelley, Team Leader
Rachel Kelley is happy to be with Windhorse Elder Care as a Team Leader and Basic Attender! She has a B.A. in Art Therapy from Naropa University, and is a Graduate student of Contemplative Buddhist Psychology.
She is a single mom of 13 year old twins, and enjoys the challenge of achieving a balanced life of business and pleasure.
Administrative Team
Gretchen Waldenberg, Payroll and Billing Specialist
Gretchen started working with Windhorse as a Basic Attender in 2016. In 2017, she started in her current role of Payroll and Billing Specialist (aka bean counter and spreadsheet master). She has “dabbled” in child and elder care throughout her life, but bookkeeping has been her main bread-and-butter for over 20 years. Thanks to serendipity, she landed a supportive role in the beautiful and heart-filled work of Windhorse Elder Care. In her mid-forties, she had the good fortune to realize her childhood dream of having horses in her life. She says the horses have been guiding her back to her heart. In early 2020, Gretchen and her husband, Michael moved to Washington State to live closer to her family. Now they and their pony, Penny, are heartily living in beautiful Port Townsend, Washington!
Kelly Bennett, Office Manager
After years of working as office/operations manager in the broadcast media world, I shifted my focus to finding a way to be of service and work in a field that is meaningful to me. Working with the elderly speaks to my heart, and I am grateful to have found this community at Windhorse Elder Care. I am a lover of animals, yoga, hiking, music, art, food, family, and enjoy spending time volunteering in the area.
Client Testimonial
“My wife had dementia and needed to be placed in a memory care community in Louisville.
The Windhorse Care partners cared for my wife with compassion, patience and understanding. I felt Christine was safe and engaged and the team brought a person centered approach and contemplative practice. They were a special group.
The team meetings were always about how best to provide for Christine. WEC worked closely with the care community staff to compliment the care from both groups.
I think the most surprising part of this experience was how engaged WEC was from intake, supervision, team leadership, companions to the caregiver support group.” – Harry Lindmark