Alyssa Adreani, Walpole, MA
Alyssa is a native of the Boston area and lives in Walpole with her husband and
young son. After several years in Development with the Pan-Massachusetts Challenge, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, Alyssa returned to graduate school at Boston College School of Theology and Ministry to pursue her calling to hospital chaplaincy. Board certified by the Association of Professional Chaplains, she currently serves as an Interfaith Chaplain and Manager of the Department of Spiritual Care at Newton-Wellesley Hospital.
Alyssa's ongoing spiritual formation has been influenced by the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, a longtime meditation practice, and several years of working with inmates in the MA Department of Corrections.
Alyssa and her family attend St. Ignatius Church in Chestnut Hill and the United Church in Walpole.
Stephen A. Heitz, Louisville, KY
Stephen is a cradle Catholic born and raised in Cincinnati, OH. He is the 7th of 8 siblings and attended Roger Bacon High School, a ministry of the Franciscan Friars.
Stephen moved to Louisville and attended Bellarmine University, receiving a BA in Economics with minors in Math and Business. One little known fact about Stephen is that he took several theology courses which cracked the door open to a mature and compassionate faith experience consistent with Franciscan values.
Stephen is married to his wife Stephanie, an educator in the Catholic High School system. Together, they have three children, one of whom is a foster child they intend to adopt. Professionally, Stephen is a partner in an investment consulting firm.
There are many literary bits that drive Stephen’s interest in serving Fortunate Families. The most telling comes from an excerpt of a piece of prose by Thomas Merton in his book Raids on the Unspeakable. The piece “The Time of the end is the time of No Room.” Merton interprets Luke’s nativity narrative as Christ’s solidarity with those others who do not belong.
“… into this world, this demented inn, in which there is absolutely no room for him at all, Christ has come uninvited. But because he cannot be at home in it – because he is out of place in it, and yet must be in it – his place is with those others who do not belong, who are rejected because they are regarded as weak; and with those who are discredited, who are denied the status of persons, and are tortured, exterminated. With those for whom there is no room, Christ is present in this world. He is mysteriously present in those for whom there seems to be nothing but the world at its worst. For them, there is no escape even in imagination…”
Christ was born out of this world; you and I and Fortunate Families serve, in my imagination, as that “nativity for those whom the world has no room.”
David Moore, Lexington, KY
David, a lifelong resident of central Kentucky, holds a BS degree in Accounting from the University of Kentucky. He retired in December 2017 from Central Bank & Trust Co., after working there for just over 43 years. Throughout his career, David served on several volunteer boards, including as Chair of the Woodford County (KY) Board of Education and as treasurer of the Headley-Whitney Museum. He and his wife have been married since 1975, and they have two sons, two grandsons, and two dogs. David can most often be found on his road bike, pedaling around the countryside, or in his kayak, flatwater paddling any number of creeks, rivers, or lakes.
Leslee Moore, Lexington, KY
Leslee is a native of upstate New York who has resided in central Kentucky for most of her life. Although now retired, she has had a variety of work experiences, including serving as the executive assistant to the president and CEO of the United States Equestrian Federation and as office manager for a sport horse training facility in Virginia and Florida. She and her husband have been married since 1975, and they have two sons, two grandsons, and two dogs. A longtime activist for social justice, Leslee enjoys making hats, scarves, and sandwiches for the guests at Lexington’s Catholic Action Center and is active in several ministries at Holy Spirit Parish/Newman Center, in the Diocese of Lexington, and within the Loretto Community.