Our Team

Emily grew up in Lynchburg, Virginia with her older brother and parents.  She went to Virginia Tech and majored in Exercise Science and received her first Master’s degree before moving to Richmond, Virginia in 2008.  Emily began her senior living career in an independent living community before accepting a position at VCU Medical Center in 2009.  At VCU Medical Center she worked as an Exercise Physiologist performing exercise testing on heart failure patients as a part of their heart transplant work up.  While working at VCU, she obtained her Master’s in Business Administration at Virginia Tech.  Once receiving her MBA, she moved into the Department of Performance Improvement and obtained her Six Sigma Green Belt in Process Improvement Methodologies.  She worked on hospital wide projects to implement systematic changes to improve patient safety.  In 2014, Emily received the opportunity to join an Administrator in Training program and completed her training in Roanoke, Virginia.  Emily then became an Administrator at a skilled nursing and long term care facility in Richmond  before joining the Morningside of Bellgrade family in 2020.  Emily enjoys traveling with her husband, especially to Madrid, Spain where her husband is originally from.  They also enjoy different culinary experiences and wine pairings, as well as spending time with their one year old son.

Dreama was born in Hanover, Virginia where she resides today. Many years prior to her entry into the world of Alzheimer’s & Dementia Care, Dreama often recalls the moment a seed was planted and the start of her career and passion for this field began. Her great grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s when Dreama was just eleven years old.   During a family visit and dinner with her “Old Nanny” she found her grandmother confused with how to properly eat her dinner. She was spooning mashed potatoes onto a napkin instead of her dinner roll as she normally would do.  Dreama’s family members were unsure of what to do and were concerned and confused.  Dreama, almost instinctively, was able to jump in and help her “Old Nanny” have a nice dinner with family and with a few laughs of realization and some helpful ques, they got through the meal without another mishap.  From then on her love for working with this population only grew. Today she is proud to be the Bridge to Rediscovery Director here at Morningside of Bellgrade. When not working or keeping up with her twin boys, Dreama enjoys art in its many forms, music, and reading.

Kasey Matthews joined the team at Morningside of Bellgrade in October of 2017 after spending a year as the Sales Counselor at Morningside of Charlottesville, also a Five Star Senior Living Community.  Kasey is originally from Long Island, New York but spent most of her life in Boca Raton, Florida.  Kasey attended Purdue University and graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications.  Kasey has always had a passion for helping people.  The majority of her career has been spent in sales and marketing positions that have allowed her to make a positive difference in the lives of others.   Kasey thoroughly enjoys working with the families that she meets and considers it an honor to be a part of each families and residents journey of life when they move into Morningside of Bellgrade.   In her spare time, Kasey enjoys spending time with her family, friends and playing golf.

Katy was born and raised in Chesterfield, Virginia, Katy joined the team at Morningside of Bellgrade in June of 2018. Katy is a Certified Dementia Practitioner and has several years of senior living management experience. Growing up Katy spent most of her winter and summer months with her beloved grandmother. In August 2000, her grandmother passed away from Alzheimer’s.  From that moment, Katy realized that her passion was to work with the elderly.  In March 2017, Katy began a campaign to implement a revenue sharing license plate through the Department of Motor Vehicles to benefit the Alzheimer’s Association.  After successfully collecting 450 pre-orders and presenting her bill “SB-701” to the Transportation Committee the bill was passed by the House and Senate.  The bill was signed into law by Governor Northam on July 1st, 2018 and on March 7th, 2019 the Department of Motor Vehicles officially released the VAENDALZ license plate to the public for sale.  Katy is very proud of this accomplishment and feels it is an example of the dedication and commitment she has to helping the senior population.  In her spare time, Katy enjoys traveling, dining and spending time with her family.

Hugh is a 6th generation native from Colorado Springs, Colorado.   He has lived all over the country in pursuit of culinary excellence.  Hugh has had stops in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Sea Isle City, New Jersey, Denver, Colorado and Albuquerque, New Mexico.  Hugh finally landed in Richmond in 2017.  He graduated from the culinary program at Northampton Community College in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. During his studies he won a student competition to become part of a culinary team that cooked for the James Beard Society in New York City.  Hugh has cooked for universities, business leaders, congressmen, Nobel Prize winners and professional athletes. But he enjoys cooking for his friends the most!  He will tell you that the heart of every home is in the kitchen.  Hugh joined the team at Morningside of Bellgrade in 2020 and he is putting that philosophy into action at Morningside of Bellgrade.  The kitchen is the heart of your home!  When not in the kitchen, Hugh is an avid reader, enjoys live music, especially jazz. Hugh and his wife enjoy visiting the many historic sites and National Parks of Virginia and throughout the country.