Our Team

Growing up in a small village in Finland, Anita was drawn to nursing and held her first caregiver position at age 17 at the local nursing home in Kurikka. She came to the US a few years later working as a nanny for the Finnish Ambassador at the embassy and at their home in Washington, D.C. Once married and raising four sons, she continued her nursing career by working as a caregiver in Frederick while attending FCC to earn her nursing degree. She started in 2000 as the day-time nurse for HeartFields and was promoted to the Director of Nursing in 2004. Anita was promoted again to her current role as Executive Director of HeartFields in 2008. She has truly enjoyed her 20 years at HeartFields serving the senior community and caring for the residents in her community. Anita and her husband enjoy being caretakers of their historic home in Frederick County and they enjoy having their four sons living close by.

Beth found her passion working with seniors very early working in the dining room of a retirement community while high school. She has worked in many areas of senior living from volunteer coordinator to sales & marketing. Developing a relationship with the resident and their family is her favorite part of her job. Beth lives in Carroll County with her husband and dog, Brooks. She has two kids, a son who is a pharmacist and a daughter in college studying to be a nurse. In her spare time she is watching her beloved Baltimore Orioles!
 

Jo Ann has worked in long-term care, short-term rehab, and assisted living environments for almost 20 years.  In her present role, she is able to utilize her business/accounting skills while combining them with her compassion for the elder population. She attended Linganore High School and Frederick Community College.  Jo Ann enjoys drag racing and thoroughbred horse racing. She resides in Frederick County with her husband, their son, and their Shiloh Shepherd (German Shepherd/Wolf).

Melissa has been with HeartFields for 21 years, she started out as caregiver then trained and was certified as a medicine technician. She also worked in Bridge to Rediscovery as the programmer for 6 years, before moving to assisted living as the Lifestyle360 Program Director. Melissa gets so much fulfilment from the purpose she gives to the resident’s day and life. Melissa married her middle school sweetheart and between the two of them they have a family of seven kids, one granddaughter and another grandchild on the way!  In her spare time she enjoys bowling and spending time with her two dogs, Buster and Shania.

Lori has worked in the dining services industry since 1986. When Lori is not at HeartFields she enjoys traveling and spending time with friends. Her favorite part of her job is nourishing our residents.  Lori’s specialty is savory soups and delicious stews.

Jesse has worked both here at HeartFields and at our sister community Somerford over the past 2 years.  He has 20 years’ experience in roofing, HVAC and plumbing. He also has several years in the banking business. He gets the biggest satisfaction out of the smiles on a residents face for even the smallest of fixes!  Jesse is an outdoorsman – a lover of fishing, camping and hunting. He has been married for 24 years and has two daughters.