Board of Directors

Melissa Peele, MSW
Founder & Executive Director

Melissa has a Master’s Degree in Social Work from Norfolk State University and a Bachelor’s of Human Services Counseling from Old Dominion University. She serves as Deaconess in her local church. She is an online Adjunct Professor at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU).

Melissa worked with pregnant teen mothers for almost seven years as After Care Social Worker and Assistant to Program Manager. She also has provided intensive in -home services to children and their families for ten years. She was a Regional Independent Living Consultant for almost five years as she helped youth prepare to transition out of foster care.

As she served in these roles she saw the need for transitional housing as pregnant teens, youth aging out of foster care and the families she worked with struggled to make ends meet, had experienced homelessness, lived in poverty or were in crisis. Her passion for serving single mothers was ignited almost thirty years ago as she supported her own sisters as single parents. She is a resident of Portsmouth, VA and has resided in Hampton Roads since 1991 after serving in the United States Air Force. She believes this her life work and desires to see generations changed by rebuilding the lives of single mothers. .

Deborah Williams, MBM
Treasurer

Deborah is a native of North Carolina. She resided in Virginia for over thirty years. She has a Master’s in Business Management from Regent University, Virginia Beach, Virginia and a Bachelor’s in Business Administration from Shaw University, Raleigh, North Carolina. She and her husband currently own and operation Williams Transportation LLC and D&G Property Rentals. She has over 24 years experience in higher education. At Norfolk State University she held the following positions: Housing Assistant, Secretary in the School of Business, Special Assistant to the Vic President of Enrollment Management; Project Coordinator and Assistant Director of Teacher Prep Program. She also served as the Account Payable Technician and Controller in a community college in North Carolina for four years before leaving higher education. She married and relocated to North Carolina in June 2015 to Own and Operate D&G Grill alongside her husband for one and a half year. Her hobbies are family time, attending auctions, estate sales, thrift shopping and taking care of her yard.

Charles L. Owens
Board Member

Charles retired from the US Navy after a successful 23-year career, of which, 17 were spent as a Public Affairs Officer where he was primary media spokesman for high-profile events such as the 2003 Gulf War, the attack on the USS COLE (DDG 67), and the USS GREENVILLE’s (SSN 772) collision with the Ehime Maru.

Upon retiring from the Navy, Mr. Owens assumed responsibility for a Media and Marketing Services contract in Afghanistan, where he led the efforts of senior-level strategic communication planners, social scientists, and media analysts with applied planning, opinion research, analysis, and marketing campaign strategy experience. He successfully established and led strategic communication contracts in Stuttgart, Germany, Northern Africa, Bogotá, Colombia, and Miami, Florida. Mr. Owens’ articles on strategic communication have been published in Proceedings Magazine.

Currently, Mr. Owens is working with leadership in the US submarine force analyzing, at the strategic and tactical levels, force requirements through 2030 and beyond. Analysis includes active engagements with NATO partners and assessing practical applications for machine learning, artificial intelligence, crewed/un-crewed systems and other new technologies.

Mr. Owens serves the City of Suffolk as its Soil and Water Conservation Director and his community as a Deacon in his local church.

Rev. Gillian Weighton
Board Member

Pastor Gillian is Head of Staff and Pastor at St Andrew Presbyterian Church in Suffolk, VA. Gillian was born and raised in Scotland. She served two churches in Scotland for 22 years before coming to the USA where she has served churches in Wisconsin and Virginia. While in the Church of Scotland, Gillian trained as a conflict mediator for the Church of Scotland, and through “A Place for Hope” she worked for the Scottish government in their fight against sectarianism.

Pastor Gillian has also served as a University and Hospital Chaplain, she sat on General Assembly Committees and served as spiritual adviser and chaplain at conferences for newly ordained pastors.

She currently serves the Presbytery of Eastern Virginia as a member of the Commission on Ministry, the Congregational Vitality Team and the Peace and Justice Team. Pastor Gillian graduated from St Andrew’s University with a Bachelor of Divinity and the University of Glasgow with a Certificate in Ministry. She graduated from Union Theological Seminary in New York City with a Masters in Sacred Theology and most recently she graduated as a Doctor of Ministry from Austin Theological Seminary. When asked to describe the ministry setting to which she believes God is calling her, Gillian replied, “My sense of call is toward a ministry setting where I can serve a church that understands itself as a family of faith. A place where all are welcome, where community is important, and where everyone is included and involved.”