Meet The Team
Mark Unger
Regional Branch Director - Lancaster
Mark has over 20 years of experience working in Child Welfare. He has been a Branch Director Bethany since January of 2009. Mark has a Master’s Degree in Ministry Leadership; a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work; and an Associate’s Degree in Chemical Dependency Counseling. Prior to coming to Bethany, Mark served in various positions relating to Foster Care over a 10-year period including roles in recruitment; writing Family Profiles for Foster Families and providing Case Management for children in Foster Care. More recently, Mark has also served for nine years on the Board of Directors for the Pennsylvania Council for Children Youth and Family Services (PCCYFS); Other board and organizational leadership committees include Ambassadors for Hope and The Grape Leaf Empowerment Center. Mark’s guiding verse is Matthew 6:33. Seek first His Kingdom . . .
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Jamie Minick, MA, LPC
Assistant Branch Director, MA, LPC - Lancaster
Jamie Minick serves as the Assistant Branch Director for Central Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Jamie holds degrees in Psychology and Counseling and is a licensed professional counselor. She has been serving in child welfare for over 20 years. Jamie also cares for clients in Bethany’s Counseling Services Program. She values Bethany’s ability to bring faith into the services being provided and ensuring that all those she encounters recognize their value.
Elaine Shenk
Satellite Office Director - Harrisburg
As the director of Bethany Christian Services’ Harrisburg office, Elaine oversees all the programs and staff. She and her husband are adoptive parents of four children and have served seven years of their married life working in missions in East Africa. She is passionate about strengthening relationships and building community – in an international school setting, in adoptive families, in church ministries, and even staff meetings.
Angel Elicker
Permanency Specialist - Harrisburg
Angel joined Bethany Christian Services in 2012, bringing with her 15 years of experience in child welfare. As a permanency specialist in the SWAN program, Angel helps children work through the difficulties that can often become barriers for them in finding a permanent home. She also has the privilege of providing support to foster children and their resource families in finalizing adoptions. Angel believes that “there are no unwanted children, just unfound families.”
August Ney
Post-Permanency Supervisor - Harrisburg
August has over 15 years of experience working with children and families. She has experience working in after-school programming, mental health, and adoption/foster care. She has a passion for serving families after permanency. August is also Trust-Based Relational Intervention® (TBRI) Practitioner.
Chanell A. Harris
Office Coordinator - Harrisburg
Chanell Harris joined Bethany Christian Services July 2019. She received her college education from West Chester University. She serves as the Office Coordinator for the Harrisburg Branch. Chanell also provides administrative support for the Safe Families for Children Ministry. Chanell’s passionate heart for serving people is one of the many gifts that God blessed her with. Her home church is Victory Outreach Fellowship where she serves in the Children’s Ministry as a pre-school teacher. Chanell lives by verse Matthew 19:26, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Deanna Figueroa
Therapist & Post-Permanency Case Manager MSW/MA - Harrisburg
Deanna currently serves as Harrisburg’s Therapist and one of their Post-Permanency Case Managers. She has earned her Master’s Degree in Social Work from the University of Denver and has her License in Social Work as well. Deanna has felt a calling to serve broken families in foster care and adoption, and help clients find healing from trauma. She is passionate about helping to produce change through building strong, nurturing attachments between parents and children. Deanna also serves as a Mentor Coach and is on the Board of Directors at the Cracked Pot Coffee Shop nonprofit, helping youth pursue their goals and find a strong support system as they age out of the foster care system. She is honored to be working at such a God-honoring agency like Bethany since May of 2018.
Kathryn Kirkpatrick
Training and Recruitment Specialist BSW - Harrisburg
With a spiritual calling to advocate for children and their need for safe and loving families, Kate has dedicated more than 20 years to foster care, adoption, and post-adoption services, including national and international work on behalf of children. Kate states about her work, “My motivation is from the Lord; my reward is in knowing that children are being protected, guided, and loved in His name.
Nicole D. Jackson
Resource Family Development Specialist BS - Harrisburg
Nicole serves as the Harrisburg Family Worker in July 2019. Nicole believes that God created families and designed them to be permanent. When families are separated by necessity, children need families to make sure they are safe and loved. As a Family Worker, Nicole is dedicated to meet with potential resource parents on an ongoing basis to approve, guide, and train them as temporary or permanent resource parents. She comes with an abundance of experience in Child Welfare since 2011, a Bachelor's degree in Human Development & Family Science at Messiah College, and an Associates in Early Education at HACC. Nicole is passionate and honored to work along with families to bring her holistic experience and compassion for children and families within the foster care system and providing guidance and support to our Bethany families.
Nikki Condon
Outreach Coordinator - Harrisburg
As a Safe Families for Children Outreach Coordinator, Nikki supports a national movement of compassion that gives hope to families in need of temporary care for their children, as they work through critical life circumstances. As a former teacher to at-risk youth, Nikki is familiar with the struggles many of the children in our communities are being faced with. She feels honored to work for an innovative program that protects and enhances the lives of vulnerable children and families, while bringing honor and glory to God.
Margaret R. Phelps
Post-Permanency Specialist BSW - Harrisburg
Meg joined Bethany Christian Services in fall of 2019. Previously she worked as the Post Adoption Service Coordinator for GuideSpring, a counseling agency in Milton, PA for 2 years. Before that she worked for a county children and youth agency for more than 10 years, first as a foster care caseworker and then as the foster family coordinator where she approved, trained, and supported the agencies foster families. Meg has a degree in social work from Bloomsburg University and is a Trust Based Relational Intervention® (TBRI®) Practitioner. As an adoptive parent herself, Meg understands the ups and downs of the adoption journey and the need for a support along the way. Meg and her husband live in Mifflinburg, PA. When not working Meg enjoys spending time with her husband, children and grandchildren and their three collies.
