Speakers
Buffy Peters
Director
Hamilton’s Academy of Grief & Loss
Buffy Peters is the Director of Hamilton’s Academy of Grief & Loss, a division of Hamilton’s Funeral Home in Des Moines, Iowa. The Academy provides grief-related information, education, resources and support to the community.
Buffy began supporting children and families who are grieving in 2011. She began as a volunteer for a local bereavement camp, working with elementary aged children, while she was attending Iowa State University pursuing her Bachelor’s Degree in Human Development and Family Studies. In August of 2014, she was thrilled to join the Hamilton’s family working in their Academy of Grief & Loss.
In her work with the Academy, Buffy provides support to children, teens and adults. Some of this work includes: keeping an up-to-date detailed listing of grief support information for the state of Iowa as well as online options; supporting area schools through grief education, facilitation of grief support groups, as well as assisting with grief responses after a death; and oversees Hamilton’s two children’s grief programs serving children ages 4 to 12. She isn’t typically alone in these endeavors. She is the very proud handler of Family Support Dog and certified Therapy Dog, Bear who assists in providing comfort to those he interacts with.
Buffy is active providing presentations, both locally and nationally, and is particularly passionate about educating on grief after a stigmatized death; such as suicide, homicide and substance—related deaths. She is a proud co-founder of the Hamilton’s Pet Loss Support Group, and facilitates monthly Death Café’s and virtual grief support groups with HealGrief. She is one of the co-chairs for the Polk County Suicide Prevention Coalition, and is a member of the following organizations; the Association for Death Education and Counseling, the Coalition to Support Grieving Students, and a very active member of the National Alliance for Children’s Grief (NACG). Buffy has contributed to many grief resources, including the NACG’s GriefTalk toolkits and “Creating Children Friendly Spaces in Funeral Homes”.
Thomas C. Eachus, LISW
Executive Director
Black Hawk-Grundy Mental Health Center, Inc.
Tom Eachus, Executive Director of the Behavioral Health Service Line for the Waterloo Region of UnityPoint Health and Black Hawk Grundy Mental Health Center, Inc. is a Licensed Independent Social Worker in the State of Iowa. He graduated from the University of Northern Iowa in 1980 with his Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work and worked at the Bremwood Lutheran Children’s Home before joining the staff at the State Mental Health Institute in Independence, working on the Cromwell Children’s Unit. He was employed with the State of Iowa from 1980 to 1983 at which time he attended graduate school at the University of Iowa in Social Work. He graduated in 1985 with his Master’s Degree in Social Work and returned to work at the Children’s Unit at MHI where he remained until 1988. In August 1988, he began working at the Black Hawk Grundy Mental Health Center coordinating their Community Support Program while providing outpatient clinical services. In 1993, he was appointed Executive Director. In January 2015, he became an employee of Allen Health Systems, UnityPoint Health when the Mental Health Center became an affiliate of Allen Health Systems. In 2019, he became the Executive Director of the Behavioral Health Service line for the Waterloo Region of UnityPoint Health. In this position, he oversees the Mental Health Center, the inpatient Mental Health Unit and the Allen Employee Assistance Program. He continues to provide a variety of clinical services to patients of the Center as well as serving on a number of local advisory boards and committees.
Amanda Schara, LMHC, CADC
Regional Director – Behavioral Health Services
UnityPoint Health – Allen Hospital
Amanda Schara received her bachelor’s degree at Coe College and completed her training at University of Northern Iowa, where she received her Master’s of Science in Mental Health Counseling. As a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and a Certified Drug and Alcohol counselor, Amanda has counseled a variety of diverse clients over the last 20 years. Amanda has been a therapist in inpatient and outpatient settings, worked in private practice, lead teams in a substance abuse/mental health setting, and is currently the Regional Director of Behavioral Health Services at UnityPoint Health-Allen Hospital. Amanda also is an adjunct instructor at University of Northern Iowa where she gets continue her passion to grow future therapists. Amanda sees her role as helping individuals be their best selves and loves that she has a career that allows her to do so. Amanda really enjoys the part of her role when she supervises and coaches other mental health professionals, leaders, and supports companies on their journey to create a positive and healthy culture for their teams.
Nick Rosauer, LISW
Regional Manager – Behavioral Health Services
UnityPoint Health
Nick Rosauer received his bachelor’s degree at University of Northern Iowa in Social Work. He then completed his Master’s of Social Work at University of Northern Iowa. As a Licensed Independent Social Worker, Nick has counseled individual and groups over the last 7 years. Nick is the Manager of Behavioral Health Services at UnityPoint Health-Allen Hospital. Nick has been a therapist in inpatient and outpatient settings, currently leads teams within the Emergency Room, Intensive Outpatient Group Counseling, and Walk In Clinic settings. Nick has been involved in workgroups centered workplace violence, de-escalation, and strategizing the use of tele health services to improve access to mental health care. Nick often supervises practicum and intern students as they begin their journey into the profession of mental health. Nick has a passion for community outreach, education, and connecting with community partners to increase collaboration to best serve the patients within the community.
Lori Reynolds, LISW
Suicide Prevention Community Engagement and Partnership Coordinator
VA-CIHCS
Lori Reynolds, LISW has been a provider for Mental Health services since graduating with an MSW from the University of Iowa in 1993. She was independently licensed in 1995. For the first 14 years of her career she worked in Community Mental Health as a psychotherapist, first with children and adolescents before changing to strictly adult care in 2003. Lori has been employed by VA-Central Iowa Health Care System since August of 2007. She originally provided social work services in an acute inpatient psychiatric setting. She moved to providing outpatient psychotherapy in 2013. Currently she holds to position of Community Engagement and Partnership Coordinator. This position was created because every day we lose 20 Veterans and Service Members to suicide. Of the 20 only 6 are involved in VA care. The VA is taking a public health approach to suicide prevention in an effort to reduce not only suicide in Veterans but non veterans as well. As Education is an important part of her mission she is a trainer for VA SAVE,CALM, Adult Mental Health First Aid , Veterans in Crisis: Mental Health and Suicide Prevention.
Facilitators
David N. Brown, Ph.D., LMFT, CFLE
Iowa State University Extension and Outreach
Behavioral Health State Specialist
Dr. David Brown currently serves as the Behavioral Health State Specialist for Iowa State University Extension and Outreach (ISUEO). His key program and grant emphases are farm stress assistance, relationship education, co-parenting, workplace resilience, mental health literacy, and suicide prevention.
Dr. Brown has been licensed as a Marital and Family Therapist in the State of Iowa for over 31 years and is a Clinical Fellow of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. He is also a Certified Family Life Educator (CFLE) with the National Council on Family Relations.
Deb Moeller LCSW, LMSW
Community Engagement and Partnerships Coordinator
Iowa City VA Suicide Prevention Team/Davenport CRRC
Deb Moeller, MSW, LCSW, LMSW is a Community Engagement and Partnerships Coordinator (CEPC) with the Suicide Prevention Team at the Iowa City VA Health Care System. She has worked as a community-based, medical social worker for more than thirty (30) years, having earned her Bachelors Degree in Social Work in 1990 from the University of Northern Iowa and her Masters of Social Work Degree from the University of Iowa in 2007.
Deb spent the first portion of her career with a large home care and hospice agency, where she coordinated care and services to assist patients remain in their homes. A key component of this work was building relationships with a vast array of community partners to connect individuals with the assistance they needed. Her motto has always been one of personal empowerment and a belief that people house within themselves the ability to solve their own problems – often, they just need someone to listen and advocate for them.
Since 2013, Deb has worked for the Iowa City VA Health Care System, serving in several roles. The foundation of her current work as a CEPC is a comprehensive, public health approach to suicide prevention, pulling together her years of knowledge, skills, and experience of connecting community partners, stakeholders, and individual citizens. She is honored to work with our Nation’s Service Members, Veterans, and their Families as we work to identify those at risk for suicide and foster community creativity to support prevention efforts.
Deb was born, raised, and resides in the Quad Cities/Scott County, Iowa area. She a proud mother of two daughters and enjoys spending time with family and friends, outdoor adventures, and traveling to fun places.