MEET OUR TEAM
Bob Lybarger
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Bob is a humble and driven leader. Bob has served on non-profit boards for decades and loves to bring ideas to life that benefit kids throughout the Miami Valley. Bob also has a part of his heart in Nicaragua. He brings long-term relational care and transformation to that community over the 10 years and 30+ trips under his belt. Professionally, he brings a wealth of organizational wisdom and experience, creating and selling 2 businesses in his career.
Elisha Hicks
Director of Training &
Education
Elisha has an MA in Education from Walden University. She has been a teacher, administrator, and trainer specializing in early childhood and child development for more than 25 years. Today, she administers our ever-excelling education program. She has a true passion for encouraging our parents to “be the therapy” by providing unconditional love and nurture, structure and connection for the children who join them from hard places. Elisha and her amazing husband, Shawn, have been married 28 years and have experienced parenting adventures first-hand with their 9 children, 6 through adoption. She is thoroughly enjoying her latest role of grandparent to their 2 grandsons. Some of her heroes you’ll hear her talk about include Dr. Bruce Perry, Dr. Karyn Purvis, Dr. Dan Seigel and Robyn Gobbel.
Jennifer Knisley
MSW, LISW
Program Director,
Child Advocacy Center
Robby Lybarger
Director of Operations
Jennifer has been a social worker since 2004 and has worked primarily in the field of child maltreatment. She worked previously for Isaiah’s Place as a caseworker and again for several years doing licensing, recruitment and investigations. She lives locally with her husband who is a firefighter, 2 boys, chocolate lab and barn cat. She loves all things baking, dark chocolate and puzzles.
Robby is local to Troy, Ohio, and has a background in teaching and working with youth. Robby oversees day-to-day operations at Isaiah's Place and sees it as his personal mission to make Isaiah's Place a great place to work and ensure client and family satisfaction. Robby and his lovely wife, Ketley, live in Troy with their son.
Sherri Abbott, LSW
Adoption Licensing Coordinator
Sherri is blessed to have 5 beautiful children that call her momma. She has navigated 2 adoption journeys of her own and helped over 100 families to adopt children throughout her 18-year career as a Certified Adoption Assessor. Her passion for helping others has allowed her to learn through her work experiences. Highlights include- teaching parenting classes to parents recovering from addictions, helping women that are incarcerated to make adoption plans, crisis work in multiple settings, and providing individual counseling services to children with parents that have severe mental illness and addictions. She has been a home educator for 20 years and a LSW for 29 years.. Sherri loves to travel, enjoys cooking, running and swimming. She has a 1-year-old house bunny named Marley.
Macie Hicks
Case Specialist
Macie is a local from Piqua, OH. She graduated from Wilmington College in Middle Childhood Education. From babysitting to teaching, she continues to explore new paths in the world of children's services. She plans to teach middle school math, and also work her way up here at Isaiah’s Place!
Kim Eller
Director of Family Support
Becoming a foster parent in 1992, Kim has had countless children come through her doors while adopting 4 of her 6. Fostering in 3 states with private and public agencies, working at the county level in Ohio’s first treatment foster care program, a children’s home and group home, Kim serves as our Director of Family Support where she oversees our placement department and case management staff. Kim has a strong desire to see the next generation of foster and adoptive parents be encouraged and equipped to do the hard heart work of caring for children that have experienced trauma. Kim describes herself as a jazz lover, coffee and sushi connoisseur, OSU Fan, and Jesus Girl.
Shelley Stoltz
Office Manager
Shelley is our versatile office manager all-star. Shelley comes from a rich history of efficiently creating systems that benefit everyone in the organization from the top-down. Shelley enjoys spending time with her family, learning new things, and making everything in the office as efficient and as effective as possible.
Nathaniel Roof
Senior Case Manager
Nathaniel served in the United States Army for eight years and did one tour to Afghanistan in 2011. His primary background was in the restaurant business. Nathaniel is married to his high school sweetheart and has two adopted children, and four dogs. Nathaniel is currently enrolled at Liberty University in which he is studying psychology. Nathaniel has a passion for youth ministry and helps lead his church’s youth group and teaches Sunday school. Nathaniel came to Isaiah’s Place from Miami County CPS in which his primary role was working with kids that were going through the adoption process.
Stacey Scott
Case Specialist
Stacey served in the United States Air Force. She later began a career in long-term care. Stacey and her husband, John, launched a ministry in Piqua Ohio in 2008. Stacey went on to serve on the Board of Piqua Compassion Network, a local non-profit that provides basic needs assistance for community members. She has been there for almost 13 years and volunteers at the organization by Care Guiding. Stacey has a strong background in case management, connecting community members with resources, and providing spiritual counsel to those in need. John and Stacey have been married for 30 years, have 4 children and 3 grandsons. Stacey enjoys spending time with family and friends, coffee, and going to the movies. She has a cat, Marley, and a turtle, Donatello. Stacey’s desire is to support the families and children at Isaiah’s Place by providing compassion, encouragement, necessary referral sources, and guidance.
Becky Whitten
Family Recruitment Specialist
Becky is a local from Clark county. She has a large family that includes her amazing husband Brad of 16 years. Together, they have 3 biological children and 3 adopted children out of foster care. All 6 children are between the ages of 15 and 5. She enjoys sharing her journey navigation the waters of foster care and adoption in an effort to spread awareness. Becky is very active at her church and serves on the worship team. She has a history in teaching preschool and graduated with a degree in managing Cosmetology. Becky enjoys the farm life with numerous chickens and her well-loved 3 big dogs
Kayla Haver, MS, LPCC, LICDC
Child Therapist
Kayla is a local from Piqua and excited to serve her community while working at the Child Advocacy Center. She is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor and a Licensed Independent Chemical Dependency Counselor, and Kayla has served in the counseling field for 4 plus years, previously serving youth and families in early childhood settings. Kayla enjoys meeting families where they are at in their lives and assisting them in navigating barriers to successful achievement of their goals. She enjoys watching families have their “aha” moments and is servant-hearted and dedicated to assisting in making a positive impact on client’s lives. Kayla is blessed to have a 14 (almost 15) year old daughter. Kayla enjoys spending time with her daughter, being a marching band mom, reading, watching movies, and watching sports.
Mary Riffell
Church Ministry Coordinator
Mary grew up in a Christian home and has always felt passionate about orphan and foster care. She left home at 19 to be a missionary at an orphanage in Tijuana, Mexico. Mary spent 10 years there as a house mom, caring for close to 100 boys during that time, and she adopted her two eldest sons from the orphanage. After moving to Ohio in 2007, Mary and her husband became foster parents and adopted 6 children out of the system. All together, Mary and her husband have 11 children, 9 boys and 2 girls. They live on a farm in Greenville with 4 horses, and Mary's current hobbies are cleaning, cooking, and lots of laundry.
Jenny Lanese, LSW
Licensing Specialist
Jenny has been in social work since 2005. Upon graduating from Cedarville, she worked as a caseworker for Montgomery County Children Services and then with a private foster care agency for twelve years where she enjoyed being a recruiter and licensing specialist and then a home assessor. Jenny and her husband, Matt, have been foster parents for four years and have four biological sons whom they homeschool.
Angela Kirby
Case Specialist
Angela is a local that lives in Troy. She and her husband have been married for almost 16 years and have a blended family of 5, 4 boys and one girl ranging from 19-29 years old. We have 3 dogs. Angela is currently pursuing her master's degree in Mental Health and counseling at Liberty University. Angela has a heart for serving and working with non-profits. She loves to hike, be out in nature and vacations by the water, time with family and all things coffee.
Ashley Jenkins, MSW, LSW
Licensing Specialist; CAC Social Worker
Ashley is a proud military spouse of 14 years. She is a Licensed Social worker and has been working in the field for 8 years. Upon graduating from University of Hawaii with a Bachelor of Social Work degree, she worked for Miami County Children’s Services as a caseworker with the Intake and Investigations Unit. Upon graduating from The Ohio State University with a Master of Social Work degree, she transitioned to the clinical mental health field and worked as a behavioral health therapist and crisis assessment specialist at Dayton Children’s Hospital. Ashley and her husband have been foster parents for 3 years and have two biological children. Ashley enjoys spending time with her family, exploring the world, learning new things, and loving her two doodle-dogs. Ashley is excited to help guide children and families through the foster care licensing process and beyond at Isaiah’s Place!
Caitlin Cox
Licensing Administrative Specialist
Caitlin grew up in Miami County and currently resides in Troy with her two children and many pets! She serves with multiple youth groups at her church and is committed to providing support to children of all ages whether at church or in the community. Caitlin has a love for all living creatures and enjoys hiking and everything outdoors.
Brandi Hamilton
Licensing Specialist
Brandi grew up in Champaign County and resides outside of Urbana with her husband of 26 years. She has two adult daughters, a son-in law and a 14-year-old dog, named Sophie. Brandi has worked for Council On Rural Services (Head Start), Miami County Children Services and Champaign County DJFS. Brandi enjoys working with family and children. She is passionate about foster care and adoption. Brandi enjoys spending time with her family, traveling and camping.
Sammie Roberts
Licensing Specialist
Sammie graduated with her bachelor's in social work from Indiana Wesleyan University. She was born and raised in a Christian home. Her life has always revolved around ministry as her parents were in pastoral leadership. She now serves alongside her husband, Connor, as the worship leaders at her local church. She also works in their youth and kids ministries. Since her teenage years, Sammie has felt a strong pull toward foster care and adoption, influenced by her close connection with a licensed family. In her free time, Sammie loves spending time with her family and close friends, shopping, baking/cooking, or binge-watching a good show on Netflix. She is excited to license foster and adoptive families with Isaiah's Place and make a meaningful impact in the lives of children and families.
Board of Directors
Mike Cargill
PRESIDENT
Kay Kaebnick
VICE PRESIDENT
Darla York
SECRETARY
Kristy Holm
BOARD MEMBER
John Jung
BOARD MEMBER
Steve Ackley
BOARD MEMBER
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Derek Koester
BOARD MEMBER
Bob Lybarger
BOARD MEMBER