About Us

Lynn Templeton became Executive Director of The Center for Volunteer Caregiving in 2005.  Lynn brings a strong interest and background in the non-profit community and in particular those non-profits that serve older adults and adults with disabilities.  She has a BA degree from UNC –Chapel Hill and a MA degree from the University of Virginia, both in Special Education.  In 2008 she completed the Management Development Program at the University Of Virginia Darden School Of Business.  She is a former teacher, worked for The United Way of the Greater Triangle for five years and was Assistant Executive Director for the Council for Senior Citizens in Durham.

Alisa Thorne has been Administrative Coordinator for The Center for Volunteer Caregiving since 2006.  She is responsible for financial and business coordination of the agency and provides computer support and education to staff and website administration.  Her previous experience includes working for Glaxo Smith Kline as Operations Research Analyst and as Management Engineer for Pitt County Memorial Hospital in Greenville.  Alisa has a degree in Industrial Engineering from NC State University.

Susan Meador has been the Program Manager of The Center for Volunteer Caregiving since 2007, joining the staff in 2006.  Working with The Center, she has trained and coordinated the service of volunteers, and helped develop and implement volunteer training and evaluation materials.  Susan has a BA in Psychology from Wake Forest University and a Master of Divinity degree from Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond, Virginia.

Suzanne Blankfard joined The Center for Volunteer Caregiving staff in 2011as the Services Coordinator, working with the In-Home Connections Program. Prior to this,she worked as a Human Resources Manager for many years in several academic institutions most recently at the School of Engineering, Duke University.  Suzanne’s own volunteer work includes media representation and coordinating efforts for a variety of causes.  Suzanne is from Belfast Northern Ireland, holds a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Dundee in Scotland and has been in the United States since 1996, first living in Atlanta and then moving to Hillsborough, NC.  

Lou Paules has been Caregiver Support Coordinator for The Center for Volunteer Caregiving since 2001.  Lou received her Master of Social Work degree from UNC-CH.  She has worked in a variety of health related settings including Duke Cancer Center, Chapel Hill Home Health and WakeMed Rehab.  Currently Lou trains and matches volunteers to provide respite care and leads quarterly educational workshops on dementia.

Julie Keely joined The Center for Volunteer Caregiving in 2010 as Transportation Coordinator.  Julie’s belief that Transportation Volunteers are love in motion is founded on shared experiences with hundreds of volunteers while caring for those in crisis, assisting local organizations with communications and public relations or supporting the performing arts.  Highlights of Julie’s career include building a Customer Service Department for Health America that served 60,000 HMO members and fundraising for The United Way of the Greater Triangle. She is a graduate of UNC Chapel Hill.