Heather is the Wellness & Prevention Manager at Prince William County Community Services. She is a Certified Prevention Specialist and has worked in the field of substance use prevention and mental health promotion for over 24 years. The Wellness & Prevention team focuses on mental health and the prevention of addiction and suicides with data-driven strategies. Heather works diligently in community-building with collaborative partnerships to increase resources and initiatives focused on preventing underage and high-risk drinking, drug use, gambling, tobacco, mental health issues, suicide prevention and family wellness. She is a certified Mental Health First Aid trainer, a Master ACE Interface facilitator, and is a past Co-Chair of the Virginia Prevention Council. She currently serves on the VACSB Public Policy Committee and is appointed to the Governor’s Addiction and Recovery Council. She is also a Board Member and Treasurer of the Community Coalitions of Virginia. Heather truly believes in a holistic approach to mental health focused on the intersection of trauma, behavioral health equity, mental health, and substance use. She emphasizes the importance of knowledge, hope, recovery, and connection in all her work and strives to empower everyone to be that one caring, competent person to make a difference. She earned her undergraduate degree as a first-generation college student from Mary Washington College and her Master of Social Work from Virginia Commonwealth University. In her free time, she loves reading books, listening to music with her husband, and is guardian to her fur-babies Adaline, Jethro, Diane and Ziva.