Meet Our Contract Trainers
Marcus
“Mr. Well-Being”
Wilson-Stevenson
ALF, CPSS, GCDF
Holy City Well Being Training Director
Mental Health & Wellness, Vision Board, Job Readiness Trainer
When Marcus Stevenson speaks, you can hear and feel his passion. He is most passionate about helping people become the very best version of themselves. Stevenson accomplishes this by utilizing his extensive training and certifications in Mental Health WellBeing and self care. Marcus is a former North Carolina Mental Health Block Grant committee member, a certified Job Readiness Career Development Trainer along with a National Advanced Level (3) WRAP (Wellness Recovery Action Plan) Facilitator trained by AHP - Advocates For Human Potential and Copeland Center for Wellness and Recovery, a certified NC & SC Peer Support Specialist, hold a Certification in The Science of Well-Being from Yale University and trained motivational speaker. Stevenson’s life has been dedicated to outreach programs. He spent a few years in Atlanta, GA where he volunteered with several programs, such as The Hosea Williams Feed the Homeless Project.
In 1998, he returned home to NC and started volunteering at the Forsyth County Jail as a life skills instructor. Working within the system, Stevenson realized that he wanted to mentor young adults to prevent them from experiencing life behind prison walls. To connect with young people, he began working as a middle school assistant Exceptional Children teacher in the Winston Salem/Forsyth County school system. A seemingly easy assignment that required students to write down their goals, led to a disturbing discovery. He discovered that many of the middle schoolers could not write down a single goal. The few students that did write goals were mainly focused on athletics and the accompanying huge paychecks. Most students did not have a plan to help them reach their academic, spiritual or physical goals. This sobering discovery led Stevenson to found The Boyz R Back, a nonprofit that sponsored sports clinics led by professional athletes. He used sports as the bait, but the real focus was on improving life skills, drug awareness, gang prevention and healthy living. Stevenson recently relocated to Charleston, SC and co-founded Holy City Well Being, a nonprofit organization designed to bring wellness, self care and trauma awareness to families, schools, faith based communities and the workplace. Stevenson is passionate about reaching people from all walks of life. He has extensive training and certifications in career development, vision board education and Adverse Childhood Experiences.
Stevenson received the Maya Angelou Wake Forest University Community Impact Champion Award as well as many other awards related to his devotion to healthy living and mental health wellbeing as featured in the February 2022 edition of HELPFUL LIVING Magazine. He has served as a Master Mentor, Life Coach, former Training Director for SC Share, Regional Program Leader for Nami “Ending the Silence”, Grant Program Director and currently host his own radio show “Your Wealth in Youth Wellness” on 963 ohm radio Charleston SC where he goes by Mr. Well-Being.
"You can't lead the people if you don't love the people. You can't save the people if you don't serve the people." — Cornel West
Farrah Hoffmire
Physical Health & Wellness
Farrah started HEART while volunteering teaching yoga to a group of adults with special needs and learning more about the struggles they and their families face after they graduate from high school. Farrah wanted to use her time and skills to help with this problem and started HEART to fill the void in creative, stimulating, and community engaged services for adults with special needs. Farrah’s vision with HEART is building strong community support for adults with special needs who want to develop and identify as artists, building a strong team of HEART mentors, a financially sustainable infrastructure, and producing high quality and inclusive community art events. The longterm vision is to be a community that Charleston residents and visitors want to visit, volunteer, collaborate, and contribute to.
Karen I Parson
Our newest WRAP Co-Facilitator. Karen is a business owner in downtown Charleston SC and CFO. University of North Carolina @ Greensboro graduate . Karen is a licensed Residential Builder. She’s that loves reaching back to her community. She recently received a Proclamation from the Mayor of Jonesville North Carolina for her outstanding community work. Top 5 smartest & funniest person in the world who loves outreach.
Currently the Community and Volunteer engagement coordinator with Star Gospel Mission Charleston S.C. . Trained in fentanyl and opioid prevention and overdose.
Youth Mental Health First Aid Facilitator . South Carolina justice navigator. Certified WRAP Co-Facilitator. Also one of the coolest person in the World
Mental Health & Wellness Trainer
Board Member Dr. David L. Mount
Photograph of Dr. Mount
President & CEO
Dr. David L. Mount is a treasured social justice advocate, lecturer, writer, community organizer, team-builder, professional speaker, and clinical psychologist with specialties in primary care psychology, medical neuropsychology, and medical rehabilitation psychology. Dr. Mount is a sought-after speaker for national meetings and is a winner of mentoring, teaching, and service awards in the states of Alabama, Georgia, Missouri, and North Carolina. He is well regarded for his work on integrating mind-body mental health and framing health disparities as a human rights campaign. He was an undergraduate student at Alabama State University where he received his B.S. in Psychology and Minor in Sociology in 1994. From there he continued his education at Argosy University where he received his M.A. in clinical Psychology and later accomplished his PsyD in Clinical Psychology in 2001.
Yolanda Swilley
Mental Health & Wellness, Life Coach, Job Readiness Trainer:
Yolanda Swilley, also known as the Tranquil Living Guru, is a Life Coach and Author of a self-help motivation guided titled “30 Days to De-Stress”.
She has assisted both professional and personal clients over the past 5 years with developing a guide and plan of action to Renew, Refocus and Re-energize their lives, which is her mantra.
In addition to her professional life as a Life Coach Yolanda is also the mother of 3, grandmother of 11 and great-grandmother of 3. She lives ½ the year on Isla Colon, Bocas del Toro, Panama in Central America and ½ the year in Florida.
Yolanda has received her diploma in Life Coaching from the School of Natural Health and Sciences, an International College of Holistic Medicine located in London, England. She also currently enrolled in the University of Phoenix Psychology program with an anticipated completion date of Feb 2022 in the field of Applied Psychology.
Her one desire is to stay on the patch that God has placed her on to help guide those who are ready to a more tranquil, less stressful life, whether personal or professional.
Mr. Murray Miller
Job Readiness/Financial Literacy Trainer
Board Member Murray Miller is a native of Winston-Salem and is married to Terri, his wife for more than twenty years. He and his wife both enjoy traveling, going to the movies, and collecting music. He is an avid deep sea fisherman. He earned a Bachelor’s of Science Degree from High Point University and a Master of Business Administration Degree from Strayer University. Murray is also a veteran of the Army National Guard having served for eight years. As a young man, Murray became aware of the many ills and unique challenges that a vast number of citizens in Winston-Salem were confronted with. Like most community volunteers and organizers, he began to serve mankind within the walls of a local church. From there, he began to broaden his scope and teach where many of the spiritually and morally wounded were located – the local jail.
Community and Professional Service:
For approximately 20 years, Murray volunteered as a Life Skills and Bible Instructor with the Forsyth County Law Enforcement Detention Center. While serving in this capacity, he was privileged to assist with the rehabilitation process of local inmates by strategically fusing essential skills for everyday living along with Biblical principles to help each inmate achieve the goal of becoming a productive citizen in society.
To enhance the effectiveness of his service to the community, after departing from a career in public education, he embarked upon a career in the financial arena with the Winston-Salem Federal Credit Union, where he served as Branch Manager in his final role, with more than 14 years of service. Murray is currently an Operations Manager for NCWorks in Guilford County. In addition, he is also a BSP Math Instructor with Forsyth Technical Community College. As a BSP Instructor, he helped start the evening GED class at the Forsyth County Law Enforcement Detention Center that focused on educating adults and high school students who are incarcerated. While focusing a great deal of his attention on the incarcerated population, Murray quickly noticed a pattern of behaviors or lifestyles which mirrored the national level of approximately 80% of committed crimes that were drug offenses – the involvement with the illegal drug arena. Inspired by the Lord, he began teaching the subject of “drug addiction” from a Biblical perspective which eventually would lead to the publishing of his first book – “Drug Addiction: Is There Any Hope? A Biblical Perspective.” He has continued teaching the subject while bringing attention to the unique correlation of information, knowledge, and confidence. His desire is that all students will leave with the understanding that – the more information we have, the more knowledge we gain and the more confident we become in life.
2018 National Big Brother of the Year for Big Brothers/Big Sisters of America.
Murray is also a proud member of the Psi Phi Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc! With the fraternity, he serves an officer in the area of finance. In addition, he also serves on the mentoring team where they go into an elementary school and mentor the male students throughout the school year.
Vicki
Physical Health & Wellness Trainer
Vicki is certified with advanced trainings in pilates, Lagree Fitness, and TRX.
She is a lifetime athlete who has channeled her passion for fitness into helping others become strong and healthy
She lives by the phrase “Do something everyday for yourself, the rest of the day goes to the world.”
Her proudest achievements include running 10 half marathons, being married for 23 years with three beautiful kids, and never losing a friendship.
She pushes her clients beyond their comfort zone to create a strong healthy body that craves fitness.
Be prepared for challenging-but-doable, full-body, balanced workout!
Lloyd Hale
Mental Health Trainer
Founder of Open 80-Lloyd has been a certified peer support specialist since 2004. From 2004-2008 he worked for the SC Department of Mental Health (SCDMH) as a CPSS at the Charleston Mental Health facility. While employed with SCDMH, Hale functioned as CPSS, Patient Affairs Coordinator, Peer Support team supervisor and lastly SCDMH agency Patient Affairs Coordinator.
During this 14.5 year stretch of his career, Hale partnered with mental health advocacy agencies such as SC SHARE to train CPSS for the state of SC, The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) as an In Our Own Voice, Ending the Silence Presenter, and Board of Directors Member for the state of SC. Hale partnered with Mental Health America to support anti-stigma and mental health education campaigns.
In 2014 Hale founded RIDE4SPMI, an annual bicycle ride to raise awareness about the prevalence of mental illness. In 2016 Hale shared his recovery story on the big screen on executive provider and song writer Demi Lovato’s documentary Beyond Silence.
In 2018 Hale authored his first book titled OPENEIGHTY a took for other living in recovery from mental illness and other stressors of life.
As a father, husband and entrepreneur Mr. Hale has led the way in SC by example that recovery is possible.
Brenda Cooper
Meet our newest contact trainer, Ms. Brenda Cooper
A dedicated Certified Peer Support Specialist that has a heart for recovery. Brenda has worked for Prevent Child Abuse Pee Dee under Pee Dee Coalition for Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault. Their she worked in the Effingham jail instructing classes for women. She also facilitated classes in Parenting and Parent`s Anonymous to families in the Hartsville and Florence area. Brenda has a National Certification in Parenting from Nurturing Parenting and Triple P. Brenda has been trained in Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, Harassment, Stepping Stones to Recovery Advanced Motivational Interviewing, Communication at Work that Promotes Growth and Wellness and Whole Health Employment Support Training. Brenda is a trained certified Recovery for Life II facilitator along with The Copeland Center for Wellness & Recovery WRAP facilitator. Brenda studied Culinary Arts from Newbury College in Brookline, MA and studied Social Work and Criminologyat Coker College, now Coker University in Hartsville, South Carolina . Ms. Cooper is the mother of 9 and grandmother of 11.She desires to see people at their best, inspite of their background and pass experiences. She believes in a holistic approach to wellness. She's been employed with the Department of Mental Health of South Carolina since 2012 as a Certified Peer Support Specialist and started a Parenting Program for her Peers. She has facilitated numerous training sessions with SC SHARE and has worked on several projects, STAR MENTOR, Peer Navigator in the Pee Dee Region. She has traveled to Nebraska and California to represent SCSHARE at the Alternatives Conference to advocate for Peer Support. She is currently working on her National Certification for Peer Support with MHA.Brenda believes in recovery, this is why Holy City Well Being believes in Brenda Cooper. it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
“Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.”