Our Employees

Our dedicated full- and part-time staff intervenes, educates, and empowers families while informing our community of our work and seeking the support of generous contributors.

Our client staff, with educational backgrounds in social work, guides our clients throughout their stay at the house, assists them with their transition, and continues to offer support for one year following their departure.

A nutritionist provides the necessary guidance and education for women and their children to maintain a healthy lifestyle while they are in residence. Our maintenance and overnight staff keeps a clean and safe environment for the families during their stay.

Part-time staff work together soliciting donations, coordinating volunteers, planning fundraisers, writing grants and publicizing our success.

OUR STAFF

Trish Mertz, MSW
Client Advocate

Trish was raised in Albany with 7 sisters and 1 brother.  She returned to school as a nontraditional student and attended the Junior College of Albany where she received an associates degree in Chemical Dependency Studies.  Trish transferred to SUNY Albany – Rockefeller School of Social Welfare and completed her undergraduate as well as her graduate studies both in Social Welfare.  Her most rewarding interests have been with the populations experiencing dual-disorders (addiction and mental health diagnosis).  She has also worked in a domestic violence setting which was equally rewarding.

Trish has many years of horticultural and landscaping experience after having grown up in that family business on her father’s side.  Outside of day at work,  she exercises (walking 2.5 + miles per day), engages in activities to improve her mental health; gardening/landscaping her own property, feeding the birds that gather in her yard to include blue jays, cardinals, yellow finches, and woodpeckers.  She also has 2 chipmunks that have taken up residence there in the warmer weather. (Larry and Moe.)

Sarah Feeney
Transitional Client Advocate
Sarah works with the women after they leave the shelter and helps them maintain stable housing. She loves her job at St. Paul’s because she is able to be out in the community and develop trusting relationships with the women she serves. Sarah originally went to Fredonia for Music Education and plays the clarinet, violin and ukulele. She didn’t like the competitive nature of music school, and decided that Human Services was a better fit. She transferred and graduated from Oswego with a degree in Psychology. Sarah is an avid hiker, and has hiked many of the high peaks in the Adirondacks. She volunteers with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s hike team and has hiked the Grand Canyon. Sarah also loves cooking and baking and has completed two half marathons (that’s 13.1 miles!).

Maureen Bradford
Administrative Assistant
Maureen hails proudly from South Jersey, not NEW Jersey, SOUTH Jersey just outside of Philly…making the clear distinction!  With a Bachelor of Arts degree in English, her studies have helped her to become a published author. St. Paul’s Center is her first experience with the Homeless, continuing to be an eye opening experience for her. A proud mother of three children (two daughters live in Florida, one has given her 3 grandchildren, and 1 son who lives in Albany who is responsible for enticing her to move to the region. As for interests and hobbies, other than her “advancing old age” as she puts it, her latest hobby is roller skating and joining her other on bicycling outings.

Jon Premo
Coordinator of Volunteers and Donations
Jon resides in Troy, NY but originally hails from Rome, NY.  He received an honorable discharged from the US Navy;  is a past NY state employee; and, recently retired from a career as worker advocate, contract negotiator and mediator for the Civil Service Employee’s Association, Inc.  Jon obtained his Associate’s Degree in Human Services at the Mohawk Valley Community College.  Jon served on the Executive Committee of the Capital District Labor-Religion Coalition in the capacity of Member at the Large.  In the past Jon served on the Board of Directors of the United Way in the  City of Rome for a number of years.  His hobbies include Christian art, guitar and singing.  Jon’s wife’s name is Elizabeth and the two have family in various corners of the United States.  He and his wife attend Grace Fellowship Church in Watervliet, NY.

Mike Williams
Resource Development Coordinator
Mike was born and raised in Syracuse, NY. Mike came to Albany to finish out his bachelors degree at the University at Albany. Two weeks after graduation Mike was hired as a case manager for a local drug and alcohol rehabilitation center. After spending a year doing case management Mike decided to return to school for a degree in Computer Science, specifically studying web development. With Mike’s psychology background and recent studies in computer science he is a perfect fit for the Resource Development Coordinator position.

Molly Van Cott
Nutritionist
Molly has come across New York State to us from Oneida, NY.  In addition to the menu planning and nutrition education she provides for our residents, she is also the full-time Food Service Manager at St. Catherine’s Center for Children in Albany.  She has two fantastic college-aged children and a rescue dog named Chili.  A self-proclaimed foodie and recipe taster, her cuisine interests carry along into her personal life as a contributing writer for Edible Green Mountains Magazine.