BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Frankie Roberts
Born and raised in Wilmington, NC, Frankie Roberts owned and operated a community-based barbershop for approximately 18 years where he received his informal education in community organizing, job development, relationship building, and individual/family counseling. After losing his brother to incarceration and addiction, Mr. Roberts co-founded LINC Inc., a nonprofit agency that provides shelter and services for men and women returning from prison. LINC's mission is to educate and motivate youth to make positive life choices while empowering men and women returning from incarceration to be productive members of our community. LINC has successfully helped reintegrate over 1200 men and women who have been released from prison since 2002; 92% of which have remained out of prison. In 2006, LINC, Inc. received “Public Organization of the Year (Non-Public Sector)” by the Public Administration Program at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. Mr. Roberts won “Entrepreneur of the Year Award” in 2011. He is the past Chairman of the Department of Social Services’ Board of Directors, member of Criminal Justice Partnership Board, member of Cancer Outreach Board through New Hanover Regional Medical Center, and past member of the Juvenile Crime Commission.
Kenny House, LCAS, CCS
Employed at Coastal Horizons Center since January of 1979, Kenny oversees the Behavioral Health Services - including the Prevention, Outpatient Treatment, and Primary Care Integration programs. Mr. House is a Licensed Clinical Addiction Specialist and Certified Clinical Supervisor with over 30 years of experience in the substance abuse and mental health field. He has been involved in program development that has covered a wide range of services from prevention to outpatient treatment for both adult and adolescent populations. Mr. House is the Vice-President of Clinical Services for Coastal Horizons Center- a local private, nonprofit agency serving residents of New Hanover, Pender, and Brunswick counties – and the Eastern Region of NC via Prevention and HIV/Early Intervention services. He was a co-investigator for a clinical trial utilizing Buprenorphine (Suboxone) and helped to lead a federally funded research project utilizing telemedicine in identifying HIV & Co-Occurring Disorder risk indicators in rural areas.
Imelda Odibo, MD, FACOG
Board certified in both Obstetrics & Gynecology and Maternal Fetal Medicine, Dr. Odibo completed medical school in Nashville, TN at Meharry Medical College followed by a residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Newark. Immediately following, she completed a Maternal Fetal Medicine Fellowship at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock. She works with Atlantic Fetal Medicine - NHRMC Physician Group.
Julia Triggs, MD
As an attending Psychiatrist for Carolinas Physician Network at New Hanover Regional Medical Center, Julia Triggs, MD is responsible for the evaluation and care of inpatients 18 years of age and older with psychiatric and substance use disorders. She was recently awarded the “Community Preceptor of the Year” by the Coastal Family Medicine Residency Program. Dr. Triggs is board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. She completed her post graduate training at the University of Maryland/Sheppard Pratt Psychiatry Residency Program in Baltimore, MD. Prior to that, she attended medical school at the West Virginia University School of Medicine in Morgantown, WV.
C.D. “Hoop” Morgan, III
Mr. Morgan is the Founder/Chairman of The Forté Institute, LLC a global behavioral sciences firm best known for developing and providing innovative people, process, and interpersonal performance improvement solutions. Morgan is the author/developer of the proprietary, computerized Forté Interpersonal Communication Style Profile. He is a graduate of Missouri Southern State University, earning a BSBA, with minors in psychology and journalism. His educational background also includes certificates in Understanding and Solving Complex Business Problems at MIT’s Sloan School of Management, Reinventing Your Business Strategy at Sloan School of Management and the Program on Negotiation for Senior Executives and Dealing with Difficult People in Difficult Situations at the Harvard Law School.
Roxanne Elliott, MS
Roxanne Elliott is the Policy Director for Community Health Services of FirstHealth of
the Carolinas in Pinehurst, NC. Ms. Elliott collaborates with community partners to develop
and implement plans for policy work at the local, state and federal levels in the areas of
access to care, opioid use disorder/substance use disorder, health disparities and chronic
disease prevention. She has oversight responsibility for identifying areas of opportunity
with regards to community health initiatives, implementation of evidence-based
programs, coordination of marketing campaigns and evaluation of programs. She
received her bachelor of science degree from West Virginia University and her Master of
Science degree from The American University.
Amanda Culp-Roche, PhD, APRN, FNP-BC
Dr. Culp-Roche earned her registered nurse diploma from St. Vincent Health Center School of Nursing in 1994. She worked as an RN for several years in a variety of settings including medical-surgical, long-term care, home health, cardiac stepdown and nursing administration. She earned her BSN in 2006 from Clarion University of Pennsylvania before earning her MSN from the University of Kentucky in 2009 with a certification as a family nurse practitioner (FNP). As an FNP, she has worked in a rural health clinic, rheumatology clinic, and addiction treatment center. In 2019, she earned her PhD from the University of Kentucky. Dr. Culp-Roche has taught online for the past four years in an undergraduate program, teaching professional communication, pathophysiology, pharmacology, and leadership. She had taught clinical nursing courses prior to teaching online and has been a preceptor to several FNP students. She has conducted research related to online teaching and learning and rural health disparities.
Michelle Gunn
Ms. Gunn serves as a member of QENO Advisory Council and a member of New Hanover County’s Health and Human Services Board. She is a graduate of the University of North Carolina with a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology, minor in psychology and has extensive experience in the non-profit sector arena. Michelle is a certified trainer of the Community Resiliency Model (CRM). CRM’s goal is to help to create “trauma-informed” and “resiliency-focused” communities that share a common understanding of the impact of trauma and chronic stress on the nervous system and how resiliency can be restored or increased using this skills-based approach. She works with LINC as a Special Projects Coordinator and Coastal Horizons as the Recidivism Reduction Services Program Director.
Krista Purdie
Ms. Purdie is one of the first graduates of the Tides program. She spent over a decade consumed by a heroin addiction which resulted in an extensive criminal history and prison sentences. It cost her everything she held dear as well as physical ailments and multiple hospitals stays. On April 7, 2018, she decided to take her life back and did so with the help and support of Dr. Johnstone and the Tides program. Since graduation, she has continued her path of recovery celebrating over 3 years of sobriety. She is now a wife and mother to her two beautiful and healthy children. She continues to share hope through her journey of recovery and the many possibilities of a life after addiction. She joins our board of directors as an ex officio member.