Melanie Parker, President

 Melanie is a physical therapist that specializes in wheelchair seating and mobility. She has been a physical therapist for over 16 years and worked in a variety of adult and pediatric settings. She launched her own outpatient practice, Confident Living, in October 2019. She is passionate about a client-centered approach that advocates for the needs and goals of her clients. She also is married and has three children, one of whom has special needs. Her struggle to find the right services for her son, along with the daily advocating for her clients, birthed the idea for The Whole Family Foundation.  Her goal is for families to have the resources and education they need to thrive. 

 Jeremy is married to Melanie Parker. He is an information technology specialist at the University of Virginia. Jeremy is passionate about serving in his community and is always eager to lend a helping hand. Jeremy grew up on the mission field with his parents and has served with churches locally and internationally throughout his life. Through those experiences, he has a love for many cultures. As a parent of a child with special needs, his goal for The Whole Family Foundation is to make community resources known in order to enrich the lives of those who need them. 

 Kate Blackwell is a Virginia native having grown up in the Richmond area. She returned home after graduating from the University of South Alabama in 2001 with a degree in Elementary Education. After teaching elementary students both in RVA and in Central America, she felt it was time to leave the profession and focus more on her marriage to Jason. Kate and Jason got married in 2007, and settled in Chesterfield where they live with their 3 girls.  Kate enjoys being a stay at home mom, providing childcare for friends, volunteering at their girls’ school, advocating for children in the foster care system and for those with disabilities. 

Charlie is a Certified Financial Planner ™ with over 20 years of investment and planning experience working with individuals, families, business owners, non-profits, and trusts.

In 2005 he started his own financial advisory firm, AFCG.  The firm provides fee-only, fiduciary investment management and financial planning services to a wide range of clients.

Charlie has been featured online in The Wall Street Journal, as well as other publications,  discussing Austrian School economics, financial planning, and investing. 

He is active in the community, providing pro bono financial planning services to cancer patients and their families through a local non-profit, CancerLINC. Charlie is also a past Finance Chair of CancerLINC, and past-president of the Financial Planning Association of Central Virginia. Currently he serves on the board of the Whole Family Foundation.

Charlie received his B.A. from Hampden-Sydney College in 1992.

He and his family live in Richmond.

 Erika H. Jenkins is a mother of an amazing 7 year old boy named Evan. Evan has a rare genetic disorder and multiple disabilities. Erika graduated with her Bachelors of Science degree from Virginia Tech. She majored in Sociology with a concentration in social inequality, and also has minors in psychology and Africana studies. Erika received advocacy training through the Partners and Policy making program coordinated by the Virginia Board for People with Disabilities. In her free time she advocates for her son and other children by being the Chairperson for their local school district's Special Education Advisory Committee and volunteering with Children's Assistive Technology Services. Erika hopes that her passion and knowledge of advocacy proves to be a great asset for The Whole Family Foundation!  

 Jason Blackwell is the sales manager at Mobility Works and has been in the mobility industry since graduating from the University of Richmond in 2007. He is an avid Spider fan, a devoted husband, and father to 3 girls. In a chair himself since 2002, Jason has spent many years advocating for the rights of people in chairs including working to make the EZPass free for those with loss of upper extremity mobility. In his free time, Jason enjoys spending time with his family, hunting, and watching the Spiders play basketball.  

Lamar Spicely is a member of the Incident Management Unit for the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services (DBHDS). In this position, he assist providers in Virginia with maintaining state compliance and guidance by obtaining data and distributing the information to proper organizations. He has been working in various aspects of mental health services for over 15 years. This has allowed him to be in a position of placing others needs before his own and being a service to others, assisting any way he can. Mr. Spicely also spent 3 years owning his own T-shirt press business until the end of 2019. He has a wife, daughter, and son. His son has a rare genetic disorder called Lesch-Nyhan Syndrome. This condition effects his mobility and allows for uncontrolled muscle spasms as well as self-injurious behaviors.  He lives with a mindset taught growing up in church as youth and that is to “touch somebody’s life as you pass them… you may never pass this way again.”

Kimberly Spicely is a licensed optician and the General Manager of Eyemart Express in Colonial Heights. She has a wonderful husband of 14 years and 2 children. Her daughter, Deja, is 19 and is an aspiring chef. Her son, Lucas, is 12 and loves to play on his iPad.  Kimberly loves outdoor activities such as fishing, camping and working in the yard.  She is also a tuba player with the Petersburg Symphony Orchestra. Kimberly enjoys helping others, whether it be taking care of customers at work, serving at church, or taking care of her family.