Our Team

Recovery Movement

All of us have been part of the recovery movement for over 150 years combined.

AWF confronts barriers to recovery by providing free access to all vulnerable individuals for solutions to improve physical and mental health, and support and educate all people seeking recovery from substance and mild to moderate mental health disorders.

Claudia Archuleta – Board of Directors, Chairman

Claudia A. Archuleta is a Colorado native and has lived in the Northern Colorado for over 40 years. She is an active licensed Realtor since 1998 and is currently with Fathom Realty LLC. She has two adult children. Her daughter lives in Austin Texas and her son lives in Colorado. She also has two cats Brother and Gracie. She has served on various committees through the years including board of directors for Longmont Association of Realtors. She was nominated Realtor of the year and in 2010 Times Call “Friendliest Realtor”. She loves to volunteer and has helped at the Our Center, Winter Shelters for the Homeless and most recently the Boulder County Community Food Share. Claudia says” with all the hardships brought on with COVID it is so nice to be the smiling face and helping hand others need.”

Rhonda Dick, MA, CNE – Board of Directors, Secretary

Rhonda was born and raised in the Denver-metro area. She moved to Longmont in 2019 after falling in love with the community while visiting a friend. Rhonda is a Research Director for the Centers for American Indian and Alaska Native Health at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. Her experience at CU spans public health practice and research.  She is grateful to have had the opportunity to work with Indigenous communities for more than 30 years.  Rhonda has a BA in psychology and computer science from the University of Colorado, Boulder and an MA in Educational Technology Leadership from George Washington University, DC.  She has served on several boards including the Intermountain Humane Society and the Hover Ridge HOA. She has decades of experience volunteering for non-profits. In her free time, Rhonda enjoys knitting, gardening, cooking and long walks with her dog, Anastasia.

Kim Jandro – Board of Directors, Treasurer, CCAR Trained Recovery Coach

Kim served 6 years on the Board of Directors at The Family Recovery Center, another nonprofit, as secretary and treasurer. There she along with the Executive Director, Kathleen Cundall, proved themselves to be powerful voices in the Longmont recovery community.  In 2011, Kim lost her oldest son to addiction.  He was 32.  Having experienced the destruction of alcohol and substance abuse in her family, Kim entered recovery in 2004 and has been involved in recovery 12 step programs the past 19 years.  Kim has the lived experience to understand that addiction is a family disease.  She is passionate about recovery in our community and will be involved at A Way Forward in group facilitation and individual support in addition to her board duties. She has lived in Longmont since 1995, raising 3 children here. Kim is a passionate quilter and teaches her skills to others along with selling her services and creations.

Kristina Schostak – Board of Directors, Member at Large

Kristina Hernández Schostak is the Director of Business Development and Public Information Officer at Mental Health Partners, the community mental health center of Boulder and Broomfield counties. Schostak holds a Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies from the University of Victoria Wellington, New Zealand. Born and raised in Orange County, California, Schostak has studied in three different countries in efforts to build cultural competency and expand the ways she views and appreciates our shared human experience. In over a decade of marketing and communications work, including social media, advertising, website creation and management, copywriting, customer relations, and digital communications strategies, she has worked with both non-profit and for-profit legacy brands to cultivate, freshen, and invigorate brand identity, awareness, and engagement. Schostak loves to explore business development opportunities that maximize resources while diversifying revenue streams and building upon client loyalty. Her personal wellness journey and challenges with depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation, have deeply impacted her professional life and her lived experience fuels her passion for mission-driven and community-focused work, specifically in the space of mental health and recovery. She currently resides in Longmont, Colorado with her husband, daughter, and loveable Bernese mix, Guinness.

Edward “Sonny” Smith – Board of Directors, Diversity Officer

As an African-American, Sonny brings his unique perspective as having grown up during the Civil Rights Era. Sonny was born in Philadelphia and grew up in Japan, North Carolina, Colorado, and New York. Sonny is a Vietnam era Air Force veteran.  He left the Air Force 1973 and became one of the very first stewards for United Airlines.  In 1980, he moved to Boulder to study at the University of Colorado.  Sonny then worked until 1987 managing a hedge fund.  In 1989, he moved to Australia where he worked for the Commonwealth Bank.  During this time, Sonny decided to pursue his passion in Art and Art history. While working at the Bank, he enrolled at the University of New South Whales to study painting and art history.  In 1993, he returned to Boulder and in 1995, Sonny opened an art studio in Boulder, while lecturing and teaching studio painting at CU.  In 2010 he moved to Lyons where he facilitates a children’s art program, as well as other programs.  Since 2015, he has served on the Board of the Lyons Arts and Humanities Commission.

John Gifford – Board of Directors

John grew up in the Baltimore, Maryland area, and first moved to Colorado in 1998. John worked for 17 years as an attorney with both the Maryland and Colorado public defender systems. Through this work, John has intimately seen the unimaginable harms caused by substance abuse, mental health conditions, and lack of stable housing. John has tirelessly fought for justice for thousands of poor and disadvantaged people in Boulder County. Currently, he continues to represent those charged with crimes in Colorado with his own firm, The Law Office of John Gifford LLC. John previously served as a member of the board of directors for Veterans Helping Veterans NOW. John is a graduate of West Virginia University and the University of Baltimore School of Law. He lives in Boulder.

Larry Rand – Board Liaison, CCAR Trained Recovery Coach, Veterans Outreach Specialist

Larry has been involved on the board level with four different nonprofits in Longmont, three of which specifically addressed addiction and alcoholism, including The Addiction Treatment Center.  He is also the parent of a child with this affliction.  Larry had been in active in ongoing recovery from alcohol and drug addiction for 15 years when his 17-year-old son, Levi, was killed in a single car accident on the Longmont-Boulder Diagonal in 2004.  The accident was related to alcohol and drug use and abuse.  It was only in the aftermath of this tragic event, that Larry realized that those of us closest to the problem are hopelessly ineffective at finding solutions for the family on their own. Since the accident, Larry has been intent on creating a memorial to his son’s memory by helping others find recovery.  He brings these experiences and knowledge to ‘A Way Forward’.  Finally, Larry is a combat veteran of the Vietnam War. Larry has been involved in the recovery movement and veterans’ outreach for the past 32 years.  He was a founding member of Veterans Helping Veterans NOW.

Debbie Platts, MBA – Executive Director, CCAR Trained Recovery Coach

Debbie was born and raised in Boulder. Most of her career was in Banking and Financial Consulting. She speaks fluent German and Russian. She worked for the Deutsche Bank in Chemnitz Germany, shortly after the reunification of East and West Germany, as a credit analyst and later managed the credit department of a subsidiary of the Deutsche Bank in Warsaw, Poland. She worked on two different USAID projects; one in Ukraine and one in Kazakhstan advising the governments of those countries on privatization methods of large enterprises and establishing financial markets. In Moscow, she worked for the World Bank managing a $94M line of credit to the Russian Federation.  Eventually, she moved back to Colorado to be near her family and care for her elderly parents. Most recently, she worked for the SVVSD School District at a Longmont middle school as a paraeducator. Here, she was able to witness firsthand many families who suffered the impact of substance use disorders in their own families or close circle of friends. This experience helped fuel her passion to give back to our community and be of service. Debbie is a single mother of a teenage son. She has been active with her son’s Boy Scout troop, holding various leadership positions throughout his journey which began when he was 6 years old. She is also a breast cancer survivor.

Erin Lee-Halfen – Office Manager, CCAR Certified Recovery Coach

Erin comes to A Way Forward with a wide array of professional experience, having worked across many different fields of industry. She attributes her ability to connect honestly and openly with just about anyone to her career focus on customer service: building honest rapport with clients and colleagues, alike. Erin brings administrative, leadership, and problem-solving expertise to the team at AWF. She is most excited to contribute by collaborating with the team and adding to the loving culture that holds up The Yellow House!

Erin moved to Longmont in January, 2024, from Southern California, where she had cultivated her own robust community of recovery fellows and renewed her spiritual practice of prayer, meditation, and mindfulness. In her 13 years of sobriety, Erin has overcome difficult life circumstances like depression, anxiety, personal trauma, and mental health diagnoses with a sustained sense of well-being. Today, Erin’s sense of duty and purpose is to utilize her own experience to empower all others to establish their own well-being practices to meet and walk-through all of life’s events, head-on and sober. As an avid gardener, Erin affectionately calls this, “living life in full bloom.”🌷🌼🌸

Justin Simmons – Certified Recovery Coach

Justin Simmons is a Native Coloradan, being born and raised in Denver, CO. He has worked in many industries, primarily in real estate and mortgage, but addiction brought him to the point of living on the streets in Denver. After many attempts at Recovery in various rehabilitation centers across the US, Justin moved to Longmont in 2022 where he suffered his last relapse. In a moment of synchronicity, he found his home at A Way Forward and hasn’t found it necessary to take a drink since October 25, 2022. He was inspired to obtain his Recovery Coach Certification and leave the medical manufacturing field and to work with other addicts as a profession in 2024. He is active in AA and is close to completing his Certified Addiction Technician certification.

 

Andrea Foro – Nutrition Peer Support / Donor Relations

Andrea Foro, a passionate chef and holistic nutrition advocate, traces her culinary journey back to her childhood in snowy Duluth, Minnesota, where she developed a knack for creating quick and nutritious meals to complement her active outdoor lifestyle. This early experience ignited her passion for holistic nutrition, leading her to study at the Bauman College of Holistic Nutrition.

Over the past decade (plus), Andrea has served as a personal chef for individuals and families with diverse dietary needs, culminating in the creation of Mod Nosh, a venture aimed at providing rotating menus featuring nourishing soups, comforting casseroles, and indulgent desserts for plant-based and low-carb eating styles Andrea Foro’s dedication to holistic nutrition, ingredient-conscious cooking, and her commitment to serving individuals recovering from addiction and mental illness truly exemplify her as a passionate and talented chef.

Aletta Martinez – Bilingual Specialist

Aletta Martinez grew up in Longmont in a traditional Hispanic household.  Having grown up on “the other side of the tracks.”  Aletta experienced much racism in her early days.  Aletta is the mother of 3 children, one of whom has struggled with substance use.  Aletta has the lived experience of a mother trying to help her son get healthy.  She has also experienced homelessness.  Most recently, Aletta worked for the St. Vrain Valley School District and for the City of Longmont.  Prior to that, she worked for 19 years as a Court Clerk for the 20th Judicial District.

Lourdes Vargas – Bilingual Outreach and Veterans’ Support Specialist

Lourdes was born in Mexico. At the age of 13, she migrated to Denver with her family where challenges quickly developed due to language barriers, culture shock and her beloved older brother falling into drug addiction. When the consequences of her brother’s addiction took over her home, Lourdes says she “was able to escape” and joined the U.S. Army. Lourdes formed part of the 82nd Airborne Division, served for 10 years and is a Veteran of 9/11. After her military career, she worked as a medical administrator and translator. Through her lived experience, Lourdes understands addiction is a disease that affects the whole family, and this is the reason she has joined the team at AWF. Lourdes lost her brother to addiction in 2011. Now she wants to honor his memory by being able to dismantle the barriers of language, culture and stigma that holds Hispanic families down from seeking help. Lourdes will also be the voice of female Veterans. She wants to bring Veterans together to heal and remind them, they are not forgotten.

Lacey Jarvis – Certified Recovery Coach

Call

(303) 630-1400

Location

600 Terry Street
Longmont, CO 80501

Email

info@awflongmont.org

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