Marcia Hill, Sales Coordinator

Marcia processes all incoming orders from customers and has worked at The Gray Center for over 5 years.  She is happily married and has 3 beautiful daughters that still keep her very busy (even though they are growing up very quickly on her and her husband!).  She LOVES to stamp and be creative, read, bake, and of course work at The Gray Center!

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Laurel Falvo, Executive Director

Laurel is a Certified Family Life Educator, and Registered Social Service Technician. She is married to Steve Falvo, and is Mom to two teenage boys, an infant son, and one elementary-aged daughter. She loves using her time and abilities to work with parents, teachers, young adults, and children, to get to know them better, and to help them interact more effectively with each other.

As the Executive Director of The Gray Center, Laurel is in charge of overseeing our staffing, publicity, fundraising, and program and project development. She has helped to publish or produce all of our Gray Center publications, and has been instrumental in designing and maintaining our web site. She also enjoys presenting at area conferences or for staff trainings for various schools and other organizations, and provides coaching and consulting services for The Gray Center. She is a co-facilitator of our Growth Group for Teens and Adults. In her spare time, Laurel enjoys sailing and hiking with her family, quiet evenings at home, writing, reading, and staying connected with friends. In addition to her work at The Gray Center, Laurel is also a CASA volunteer (Court Appointed Special Advocate for abused and neglected children).

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Steve Falvo, Resource Coordinator and Facilitator of Growth Groups

Steve is employed part-time with Visual Inspection Services (VIS)  in Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania, doing vibration analysis for steel plants. He also works with his wife, Laurel Falvo, to produce new resources for the Gray Center. He frequently helps ship Gray Center resources to customers around the world, and faciliates the Growth Group for Teens/Adults Grand Rapids meetings and the Writers' Group.

In his spare time, Steve enjoys sailing, mountain biking, playing basketball, telling stories, and writing. He has chronicled some of his sailing experiences in the book, South Manitou Delight.

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Amy Monteith, Office Assistant

Amy is a fabulous young lady who uses her time and abilities to benefit The Gray Center. She answers our phones, greets visitors, helps to assemble DVDs, does research, and helps with other tasks. She also helps to facilitate our Growth Group for Teens/Adults.

Amy enjoys researching ghost stories and  myths!

Rachelle Berggoetz, Volunteer Library Coordinator

Rachelle Berggoetz is a talented professional who manages our library so that people can access this valuable resource.  She works as a mentor for a national medical transcription company.  She has been married for 17 years, and is a mother of two, a teenaged daughter and preteen son.  In her free time, she enjoys needlework of all sorts, writing, word puzzles, and playing games with her family.  Currently, she is in the process of writing a series of children’s books inspired by those in her family on the ASD spectrum.

Nelson Grit, Volunteer and Facilitator of our Growth Group for Parents

Nelson Grit is trained as an educator, with 3 years of experience in the classroom. He has spent most of his career in Social Work. Fourteen years were spent with the Department of Human Services working with low income individuals and families and 7 years in licensing of Adult Foster Care Facilities. For 10 years he created community residential options for persons with disabilities as an employee of Van Buren Community Mental Health. During that time, 47 individuals were brought back to the community from institutions, and 20 were relocated from county operated residential treatment centers and AIS/MR institutional group homes into less restrictive community group homes and apartments.

Nelson has volunteered with the Gray Center for approximately 9 years as a facilitator of the parents of young adults group which meets on the same evening as the Grand Rapids Growth Group for Teens/Adults. It is amazing the large number of people in Michigan and even in west Michigan who can benefit from the services of the Gray Center but have never heard of it. He gladly does his part in spreading the word about this valuable resource.

As long-term facilitator of a network group, he has seen a dramatic change over time from disconnected individuals and families to a true network of young adults and parents. Participating parents and young adults truly now support one another.

Nelson and his wife Betty have three children and 20 grandchildren.