Our People

Staff Leadership

Nancy Bestor

Interim Executive Director

Regena Jones

Director of Admissions

Melissa Busch

Health Services Director

Susan Prior

Director of Development

Emma Avalos Arguedas

Manager of Education and Programs

Laura Steffen

Manager of Volunteer Operations

Board of directors

Sarah Newhall

Board President

Former CEO of Pact, Inc., nonprofit leader, former neighborhood associations director, and organizational consultant.

John Larkin

Vice President

Former 30-year global finance executive at Kimberly-Clark, CPA, Tuck MBA, and longtime Hopewell House volunteer.

Tom Heckler

Board Treasurer

Healthcare executive with a career in management, including 23 years in physician practice leadership at OHSU.

Eric Walsh, MD

Board Secretary

Former Housecall Providers Hospice Director, Bronx Hospice VNSNY Medical Director, and OHSU oncology professor.

Beth Cavenaugh, RN

Hospice nurse since 1996, author, and end-of-life educator.

Stefan Clayton

Artist, consultant, business owner, and Neuro-Linguistic Master Practitioner, Stefan lost his wife Julie at Hopewell House in 2019.

Barbara Coombs Lee , PA, FNP, JD

President emerita and senior advisor at Compassion & Choices, advancing care and choice at life’s end.

Todd DeNeffe

Commercial real estate broker and nonprofit leader involved with Transition Projects, CASA, and regional community initiatives.

Sheryl Greiner

Sheryl, retired teacher and longtime Hopewell House advocate, lost her daughter Stephanie there in 2019.

Jackie King

Oncology and hospice nurse, longtime Hopewell House caregiver, and board member at Sacred Flight.

Connie Larkin

Longtime Hopewell House volunteer and global women’s health advocate.

Jasmine Love

Educational leader and consultant in organizational wellness and cultural humility.

Scott MacEachern

Hospice chaplain, former executive director and care volunteer at Hopewell House, and former Nike–Livestrong brand executive.

Eriko Onishi, MD, MCR

Family physician and hospice and palliative care doctor, and assistant professor of family medicine at Oregon Health & Science University.

Bruce Plato

34-year educator and former principal in Portland Public Schools and Lake Oswego School District, and longtime Hopewell House volunteer since 2013.

Sarah Quist, CFP

30 years in wealth management and investment experience, and longtime community volunteer with various nonprofits.

Honorary Council

Heidi Berkman

Priscilla Bernard Wieden

Rev. Alcena Boozer

Dale Borglum

Ira Byock, MD

Susan Hearn

Michael Henningsen, Jr.

Marvin Kaiser, Ph.D.

Margaret Beth Neal, Ph.D.

Rev. Dr. Rodney Page

Sandra Page

Marcia H. Randall

Barbara Kendall Rice

Governor Barbara Roberts

Doug Stamm

Carla Starrett-Bigg

Keren Brown Wilson, Ph.D.

Volunteer Teams

“Our experience with Hopewell House was phenomenal. The staff and the volunteers were all angels. We were treated with love, respect and dignity. It is a privilege to have had all of you with our Mom for this phase of her journey.”

– Jeff

“It was at Hopewell House where we learned that endings are a gift. Yes, it’s filled with sadness but being a part of everything opened the door to the wholeness of his dying — a love-filled refuge wherein we shared small miracles, celebrated with stories and laughter and found peace.”

– Jane

“The kindness, the respect, the humanity, the gentle grace and tenderness you invest in each and every life that passes through your doors at Hopewell House is inspiring and life-altering in the ways that matter most.”

– Stacie