Board of Directors

Executive Committee

Bylinda Brown, President

Bylinda Brown has served as the President of PMHCA for two years and is pleased with the opportunity to serve on the Board of Directors, including participation on two Board committees. She acknowledges the importance of PMHCA as an advocacy organization, particularly in this time of funding cuts and uncertainty about state policy. In addition to her service to the PMHCA Board of Directors as President, Bylinda also participates on the Personnel, Rules and Nominating Committee as well as the Finance Committee.

Bylinda is Executive Director of Mental Health America of Armstrong County and co-chair of the local Community Support Program. She has also used her skills in business, public relations and with computers, as former director of a drop-in center and a member of the Board of Directors of Laurel Legal Services. She is active with the Homeless Outreach Program of Armstrong/Indiana Counties, the Coalition for Recovery, and local drop-in centers for consumers of mental health services.

Advocacy activities engaged in over the past 15 years have demonstrated to Bylinda that stigma is a primary issue for people with mental health needs because stigma encompasses all aspects of our lives. She became a Certified Peer Specialist in September 2008, attended Forensic Peer Support training in April 2011 and became a trainer for the Forensic Peer Support training in May 2011.

Bylinda knows that activities outside of work and volunteer activities are important to mental health. She is an artist who paints, draws and sculpts. She also enjoys reading and the many activities of rural living, including gardening, raising animals, walking and camping.

Mark Fisher, First Vice President

Mark Fisher lives in Snyder County with his wife, where they raised their two daughters. He has been on the road of recovery since his diagnosis of mental health needs in 1983. His journey has led him to the major accomplishment of working in the mental health field for ten years.

Mark is employed by Community Services Group (CSG) as a Psychiatric Rehabilitation Specialist and a Peer Support Specialist. He is proud that he was the first consumer on the CSG Board of Directors, where he shares consumers' experiences with the organization, plus learns about this large provider organization and its many services and supports. He is on CSG's Recovery, Resilience, and Oversight Committee which reviews company publications to assure a recovery orientation. Mark is also active in the Northumberland County Community Support Program.

Mark completed Certified Peer Support Specialist training in 2006 and finds his relationships with peers to be one of his most rewarding career experiences. When Mark gives and reaches out to peers, it is a purpose in life and a reward because it gives so much to him.

In addition to his service to the PMHCA Board of Directors as First Vice President, Mark also participates on the Finance and Conference Committees.

Outside of work, Mark is a church deacon, assists with the church youth group and volunteers at a Christian summer camp for children. Mark has shared his personal recovery story in the community, at youth rallies and at places where peers go in the community.

Joseph Alex Martin, Second Vice President

Joseph Alex Martin is chair of the Cumberland/Perry Counties Community Support Program, and a Certified Peer Support Specialist. Joseph began his career as a Certified Peer Support Specialist at Paxton Ministries, where he worked for a year before beginning at The Dauphin Clubhouse in January, 2010.

Joseph is a survivor of multiple traumas, and has over the past few years presented on peer support, recovery and the Community Support Program for the National Association of Peer Specialists, Pennsylvania Peer Support Coalition, Dauphin and Cumberland/Perry County Community Support Programs, the Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, and others.

In addition to his service to the PMHCA Board of Directors as Second Vice President, Joseph also participates on the Public Policy, Personnel, Rules and Nominations, Finance, and Conference committees.

Tracy Carney, Treasurer

As the director of Recovery Central Clubhouse in Bloomsburg, PA, Tracy Carney journeys with peers along the road to mental health recovery. Tracy has been employed with Columbia, Montour, Snyder, and Union Counties (CMSU) Behavioral Health Services for six years, has an Associate in Applied Science Human Services degree and is a Certified Peer Specialist.

In addition to her employment, Tracy serves as a board member and Treasurer of the Pennsylvania Mental Health Consumers' Association, is Chairperson of the Pennsylvania Peer Support Coalition Steering Committee and serves on the Certified Peer Specialist and the Personal Medicine Recovery Learning Collaborative with Behavioral Health Association of Rural Pennsylvania. Tracy has been married to her best friend Tom for 32 years; they have co-founded JourneyMate Ministries. They have four children, two son-in-laws and three grandchildren.

In addition to her service to the PMHCA Board of Directors as Treasurer, Tracy also serves as a member of the Finance Committee.

Tracy's hobbies include spending time with her grandchildren, hiking, backpacking, drama club and reading. She started a PMHCA educational fund through her Hike for Mental Health on the Appalachian Trail.

Bette Peoples, Secretary

Bette is the Executive Director and a founder of the Grapevine Center, Inc., where she began her involvement in 1991. She became one of the center's first paid employees in 1995. Since 2008 when Bette became Director, the organization has obtained a contract with Butler County Mental Health, was granted non-profit status and has expanded services to include Consumer Family Satisfaction Team, IM4Q (consumer surveys for the Intellectual Disabilities service system), and a Drop in Center with a Warm Line. Additionally, they are proud to be one of two agencies in that county providing Certified Peer Specialist supports. She frequently provides technical assistance to other consumer run organizations and includes grant writing in her responsibilities.

In addition to her service to the PMHCA Board of Directors as Secretary, Bette also serves as a member of the Personnel, Rules and Nominating Committee.

Bette credits her wellness to peers and other supporters. Outside of work, she enjoys her five birds - one cockatiel, three Nanday Conures and one Blue-fronted Amazon. She became the proud grandmother of a little girl born in Pittsburgh in 2011, while in that city for the annual PMHCA conference.

Board Members

Mark A. Davis, Founding President
Ronald Cole
Mary Fala
Shirley Ruth French
Deborah Marshall
Deb Milheim
Tom Newman
Linda Parker
Jeffrey Proof
Charlene Saner
Margaret Thatcher
Cindy Wishard
David Wooledge
Cindy Work