Twila Lee
Executive Director
twila@themercyhouse.org
Twila received a Bachelor of Science degree with a Reading Specialist Certification from Virginia Commonwealth University and a Masters of Arts degree from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute. She taught for 18 years and worked with programs for migrant workers’ children, Chapter I pull-out, remedial reading at Blue Ridge Community College and alternative education.
Twila left the classroom for the Welfare-to-Work program where she taught skills for job readiness and retention and classes for GED preparation in welfare recipients’ homes. Many of the Welfare-to-Work participants lived at Mercy House and Twila fell in love with the facility as she became familiar with the staff, programs and mission of Mercy House. She has been the Executive Director since 2002.
Jayne Kinkead
SAFE-at-Home Coordinator
Jayne graduated in 2003 from Eastern Mennonite University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Work. Jayne currently manages the SAFE-at-Home Program at Mercy House. She assists families as they prepare to leave the shelter and begin living in fair market housing. She conducts home visits, office visits and helps families connect to needed services.
Seli Perry
Adult Services Coordinator
Seli received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Work from Eastern Mennonite University in 2001. She began working at Mercy House in 2006 as the Hispanic Service and SAFE-at-Home Coordinators. She is now the Adult Services Coordinator, but continues to take care of all Hispanic needs. Seli is Puerto Rican, speaks fluent Spanish and studied Spanish literature, grammar and vocabulary in high school and college. At Mercy House, she has translated most documents into Spanish to assist clients in understanding programs.
Kate Fowlkes
HIP Coordinator
Adult Services Coordinator
Kim Pistell
Child Services Coordinator
Laura Capps
Business Assistant
Laura moved to the Shenandoah Valley in 1987. She attended Blue Ridge Community College, studying web-design and graphic arts. She is the resident IT staff (by default), and performs the HMIS database entry and designs publications and reports. She is also the web designer for Mercy House. Her duties also include the daily business office functions.

