MANAGERS

Kat VanHammen is our new Co-Director. Kat was a summer camp counselor (Acorn Unit Head) at Circle Pines in 1986 and returned in February 2006 when she married Tom. In between, she worked in a natural foods store and was a vegetarian cooking instructor and caterer, ran a small shop selling local art and developed herself as an artist. After discovering the healing quality of art she moved to Massachusetts to pursue a master's degree in Expressive Arts Therapy. She received her degree in 1996 and worked for seven years with people with mental illness as well as creating and selling her own art. For the next several years she maintained a private practice and founded Spacious Hearts Healing Arts to promote art-making in community. She is also an avid gardener and taught gardening to children in the Cambridge public schools and was, for many years, a volunteer with the Somerville Community Growing Center. Most recently, Kat lived and worked at Starseed Healing Sanctuary, a retreat center in the Berkshire Mountains of western Mass. Kat is happy to return to Circle Pines Center and is excited to bring her skills to a place that is aligned with her values and interests.

Tom VanHammen is the other Co-Director. Tom oversees the facilities and finances at the center. Tom first came to Circle Pines during the fall of 1985, as a participant in a meeting of the Great Lakes Bioregional Congress. He was back the following spring, interviewing for a job as the Physical Plant Manager. He got the job and lived and worked at Circle Pines for 7 years (1986 to 1993). He was part of a Management Team that ran the center during those years. (He met Kat the first summer he was on staff). He became Summer Camp Co-Director from 1988 to 1992. After leaving CPC, he got elected to the Circle Pines Center Board of Directors, where he served for 11 years, the last three as President. He returned to be on staff in May 2005, as Facilities Manager. Prior to first coming to CPC, Tom worked as a solar heating installer in Lansing, MI (working several years for the Solar & Insulation Co-op, a worker owned business). In between stints at CPC, Tom ran his own residential remodeling business, Abode Building & Remodeling, in Grand Rapids, MI. Tom loves the outdoors, and enjoys gardening, hiking, canoeing, and cross country skiing. He has volunteered at the Grand Rapids Community Media Center, as a DJ (On Air Programmer) on community radio station WYCE. Tom enjoys leading work projects with both children and adults, sharing his knowledge of tools and the construction trade, as well as gardening, orchard tending, maple syrup making, cross country skiing, and his love of the outdoors and cooperation.

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