Meet The Board

Alyce Knaflich

Alyce Knaflich served in the US Army for 19.5 years. Five years after her military discharge she lost her job and was diagnosed with PTSD. At age 41 the VA Medical Center declared her unfit to work. Without income Alyce became destitute and remained homeless for nearly 10 years while struggling with her health concerns. Alyce finally saw light at the end of the tunnel when she reached 100% service connected disability and received alternative health care. Today Alyce volunteers with numerous Veteran related organizations and advocates for Veterans at Charles George VAMC. She received two National awards for her work with Veterans, NAC VAVS Female Volunteer of the Year 2014 and AMVETS Volunteer of the Year 2015.  Alyce’s passion for the past nine years is assisting homeless Women Veterans and founded Aura Home Women Vets a shelter under renovations in Hendersonville, North Carolina.  Read More in "Our Story".

Wanda Schwerer

Wanda,a native of Houston, Texas, served in the US Air Force (1971-1975), then earned a business degree from University of Nebraska Omaha. She worked for Arthur Andersen for 19 years, first as an information systems consultant, then as the Manager of the Office Systems department in the Chicago Headquarters. She and her husband, Ron, moved to Florida in 1998, where Wanda worked in a couple of internet start-ups, retiring in 2011 after working for 10 years for Sykes Enterprises, as a Business Systems Analyst.

Following retirement, Wanda volunteered at the Bay Pines VA Health Care Systems Medical Center in Seminole, Fl, for 10 years. She currently is a member of the Blue Ridge Chapter of the Quilts of Valor. Her interest in Veterans drew her to the Aura Home Women Vets, to continue serving fellow veterans."

Alec Burkle

Alec Burkle grew up as a Navy dependent up and down the east coast providing him exposure to the service and sacrifice of our military members and their families.   Alec is a registered Professional Engineer in North Carolina and employed as an engineering manager at Eaton Corporation.  After volunteering at a few events sponsored by Aura Homes, he was driven to become more involved with the team after seeing the passion and commitment of its members.

Lisa Clark, MSN, RN
Veteran USAF Captain

Lisa has practiced as a staff nurse and a nurse educator for 35 years in a variety of settings and specialties. She got a BSN degree at Ball State University in Indiana and an MSN at UT Health Science Center in TX.  Lisa was awarded a U.S. Air Force Commendation medal for serving between 1990-1995, supporting the 59^th Medical Wing’s Wilford Hall Hospital in San Antonio, Texas during Desert Storm. Lisa and her husband (Jim) moved to Asheville in 2005. Lisa retired from nursing in 2023 and has been actively supporting homeless initiatives including making sleeping bags for the homeless. Her interest in Veterans and the plight of those homeless led her to Aura Home Women Vets.

Debora Meitz, M.D.

Debora D Meitz MD, has been on the board of directors at Aura Home for over 2 years.  Previously she practiced Women’s health and alternative medicine as a Family Physician. She has also studied meditation, spirituality, sacred sexuality and tantra for many years with teachers from around the world.

Debora earned her medical degree at the University of Miami School of Medicine. After practicing medicine in Key West for many years, she relocated to the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains and currently lives in Asheville, 

Fran Pittaway

Retired U.S. Navy Chief. There’s a desperate need to help stop homeless  female veterans.  One is too many.  Frustrated that not enough is being done and Aura Home is the perfect place to volunteer and to help my sister veterans succeed in life after the military.

Judi Moolten

Starting at the age of 12, Judi began volunteering. By the age of 30, she was running behavioral health programs, and in her 40s, she created an Advanced Somatic Psychology Program used around the world. Judi understands the importance of community and resources, so she sits on the board of Homes For Youth, Aura Home For Women Vets, Hendersonville Art League,  Hendersonville Welcome Club, and more.   Judi participates in Mountain Song, a joyful community chorus based in Saluda, NC, and is a former Grief Coach for the Blue Ridge Humane Society. Judi is also the host of the Grateful Mindset radio show that airs Saturday mornings at 9:00 AM, 107.7 FM on WHKP (Where the Heavens Kiss the Peaks) The radio show brings local guests, local news, and local culture. It features human interest, art, science, and a bit of real estate. Because of Judi's knowledge of running her own mental health training company, she brings the skills of working with people, research, education, and transformation to the Real Estate industry.

Diana Glover

Susa (Kim) Nelson

Ellen Gayle Sovinee

Ellen Gayle grew up with several family members serving in the military but it wasn’t until 2005 when she and a team of holistic health practitioners volunteered to offer their services to returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans that inspired her to create something after her move to Asheville in 2006. In 2007 Ellen Gayle helped co-create a business which offered a number of services to our veterans and in 2009, Ellen Gayle spent the year turning the business into a 501(c)3 nonprofit which is still active to this day. Currently Ellen Gayle is serving as an Advisory Board member for Aura Home.

Paula Easton

Owner and Designer of PJ Easton & Associates.  Website and Graphic Designs.  Paula moved to Asheville, NC in 2010 from CA.  Paula’s philosophy is that a customer’s first impression of a company is critical. In many cases the web site is the customer’s initial introduction to the company; therefore, it is important to her to get to know the company, their philosophy and their customer base in order to design a web site that captures the imagination and passion of each company.  Her customer MUST be happy and not settle, this is extremely important. Paula holds a degree in Computer Science. She also has considerable training in graphic arts. Paula’s background is 25 years experience at an aerospace company and worked as a Software Engineer as well as a member of the corporate Web Team.