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Board of Directors
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Nicole Albanese-Bell LMFT, M.Ed.
Founder/Treasurer
Nicole is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in Florida and New Jersey who is one of the founders of The Hope and Healing Foundation and also is the co-owner of Advanced Client Care LLC, an outpatient mental health group and corporate consultant agency. Her mental health agency also conducts contractual work with Managed Care Concepts for their corporate EAP department.
Mrs. Albanese-Bell received a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Florida International University with a double major in Psychology and Women and Gender Studies. Mrs. Albanese-Bell continued her higher education receiving a Master of Family Therapy from Drexel University and a Master of Education from Widener University. Nicole is a “Serial Entrepreneur” and has dedicated her life to increasing positive mental health to all cultures she serves.
Cedric J. Bell MHS
Founder/CEO
Cedric J. Bell the Co-Founder of The Hope and Healing Foundation and the co-owner of Advanced Client Care LLC, an outpatient mental health group and corporate consultant agency. For the past 20+ years, Mr. Bell has been supporting mental health treatment as a Master’s level Mental Health Therapist in a multitude of medical and mental health facilities in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
Cedric received his Master’s degree in Human Services from Lincoln University and has also attended Capella’s Ph.D program during the years of 2002 thru 2006 with a concentration in Counseling and Healthcare Administration. His experience extends to community outpatient facilities, psychiatric hospitals, residential treatment facilities and elementary, middle & high school settings and conducting corporate training in several large and small organizations. These opportunities have contributed to his extensive understanding, belief, and practice associated with psychotherapy and how important Mental Health Awareness is important in todays’ society.
Mr. Bell works from a strength-based perspective, encouraging self-compassion and positive self-regard for his clients. He believes in establishing a positive working relationship with clients in order to create a healthy therapeutic rapport in order to increase a positive treatment outcome. His treatment modalities consist of psychodynamic theory, family systems theory, reality theory and cognitive behavioral therapy.
Mr. Bell prides himself as being a multicultural sensitive therapist who consistently believes that incorporating biblical principles in the Psychotherapeutic process of counseling is paramount. His treatment philosophy for utilizing a more faith based treatment modality coincides with his holistic approach of addressing the mind, body & spirit of his clients.
Mikayla Zafir BA
Executive Board Secretary
Ms. Zafir is presently serving as HHF’s Executive Board Secretary and has been with the foundation since its inception. Mikayla works diligently on a daily basis in making sure that the foundation and board directors are in sequence so that operations are running smoothly. Mikayla is always working hard on various projects and she is one of South Florida’s most enthusiastic realtors who have a love and admiration for the art of real estate. She is originally from Montreal Canada, but spent most of her childhood in sunny South Florida.
Mikayla holds a Bachelor’s degree in Public Health with a minor in Leadership from the University of South Florida and her love of helping people goes past my career as a realtor. Mikayla has been involved and assisted in managing several animal rescue organizations, and now looks forward to serving the community through HHF’s community programs. “I am proud to be a part of the Hope & Healing Foundation because there is a huge need for mental health services for the young & Veterans. I am hoping to break the stigma, in any way I possibly can!”
Renee Crabbe M.Ed
Secondary Educational Liaison
Renee Crabbe has worked in the educational realm for over 25 years and currently serves as an assistant principal in the Maryland school district which currently serves over 1,500 students. Over the years, Renee has worked in several diverse schools where the student population varied as far as race, social-economic status, and culture. Despite these vast differences, her students shared the commonality of wanting to achieve academic success and financial independence. Renee has stated that her students are facing many challenges in their present lives and the various life challenges have prevented them from obtaining their life goals.
Renee and the school district she serves have experienced challenges such as teenage suicide and increased mental health instability within her present school and community. My interest in serving on The Hope & Healing Foundation, Inc. Executive Board is to help eliminate the stigma through K-12 educational supports, suicide awareness, and suicide prevention. It is my pleasure to join forces with The Hope & Healing Foundation, Inc. to support school systems in providing prompt resources for students who suffer from mental health issues by connecting them to therapists and ongoing wrap-around services.
Jc Chiang
Director of College Peer Support Services
Jc Chiang is currently a sophomore at the University of Florida, majoring in nursing with a minor in disabilities, and family youth and community sciences. Jc is presently on track to become a Registered Nurse and has intentions on earning a master’s in nursing so she can pursue becoming a family nurse practitioner. Many members of Jc’s family have experienced different types of disabilities therefore she wants to better educate herself on the effects of these disabilities and what she can do to create more awareness and research.
Since the age of eighteen, Jc has been fascinated by multiculturalism, particularly due to being intertwined socially aware of how the differences in economics and cultures can affect a family’s development. Jc believes that both her present undergrad studies and future graduate education will better help her to understand and connect with people she may encounter in the healthcare field while striving to become a social change agent. Ms. Chiang is now serving as the “Director of College Peer Support Services” at the University of Florida and other affiliate Universities/Colleges.
Jc Chiang Tells Her Story
One of my closest friends has battled with depression from a very young age. There were many times I could tell something was off, but I struggled to find a good way to approach her. She has received therapy and is doing much better, but there are still tough days when she continues to battle with her depression. Although she had counselors as resources in high school and middle school this was never an option she wanted to utilize. I believe this choice was out of intimidation and fear that everyone would find out what she was experiencing and become too involved in her personal life. The Hope and Healing Foundation could serve as an outlet other than school counselors that students could confide and find support through. As a college student I have noticed how fragile mental health can really be. Everyone always tries to educate students about the transition to a university but no one’s experience is exactly the same, and no PowerPoints or lectures can truly prepare students for what they may go through.
When introducing the Hope and Healing Foundation to a college campus such as the University of Florida, I envision an organization that all students are aware of and feel completely comfortable utilizing when they need help. Although UF does offer counseling, I feel as though the connection between faculty and students can be very different than connections between students and other students. When talking to other students people may feel at ease, and more open. Sometimes all people need is someone to talk to, rather than someone to fix their problems. The stigma around counseling is you attend because you need help or need to fix certain issues and once those issues are solved, you are typically done; perhaps the Hope and Healing Foundation can make it clear to students that yes, we do want to help solve your issues, but we also want to maintain our relationships to the point where students feel comfortable consistently coming to us when they are in distress.
I envision the Hope and Healing Foundation as a support system for college students who are experiencing any type of problems that affect their mental health. UF is full of volunteer organizations, sports clubs, and many other extracurricular activities, but this organization is something that I feel UF lacks. I know so many fellow freshmen who would have benefitted from a resource like this, myself included so with that being said, I would love to help get this organization onto our campus.