Mary Jean C. Green
As the director of the Southeast Regional Center, Mary Jean brings 25-plus years of experience in the non-profit sector including program development and grant management skills, with the last 18 years focused on children with special health care needs. She has a BA in Communications and a certificate in non-profit management from Marquette University.

Prior to her position with the Southeast Regional Center, Mary Jean was the director of the Healthy Transitions Project and from 1992 through 1994, the coordinator of a statewide needs assessment for children with special needs.

Mary Jean also brings personal experience to her position. She was the guardian for her adult brother with developmental delays and who lived in a community group home near her home.

Mary Jean and her husband have two children - Erin a bilingual speech and language pathologist working in the Chicago Public Schools and Bryan who recently graduated from UW - Eau Claire and is currently working in the computer science field in Eau Claire.

Brad Holman

As the Service Coordination Specialist of the Southeast Regional Center, Brad brings 23 years of experience working with special populations. His experiences have included teaching, case management, service development and grant management, with the past 10 years focused on children with special health care needs. His Bachelor of Science is in Education/Special Education with a Minor in Coaching and Athlete Administration. Brad has a certificate in non-profit management from UW-Madison.

Prior to his position with the Center, Brad was the coordinator of the Children with Special Health Care Needs Project for Rock, Jefferson and Green counties from 1996 through 2000 and a parent representative during the statewide need assessment for children with special needs during the early 1990's. Brad also brings 10-plus years of teaching and advocacy in the area of special education and services to special needs children.

Brad is also a parent of children with special needs. Travis and Amber were born perfectly normal children, but were afflicted with a neurological degenerative disease called Batten disease at the age of 4 years old. This affected all aspects of their body and life and left them bedridden and very medically fragile. Travis passed away in 1993 and Amber in 1996. Brad has always said "they were and are my greatest teachers".

Brad enjoys spending time with his wife, watching and participating in many different sports and caring for his dog, two cats, three birds and tank full of fish. He also enjoys the time he spends running a non-profit organization called  "Our Guardian Angels" that he and his wife started to assist families of children with life-limiting diseases and chronic disorders.

Most important. Brad enjoys life!

Julie Turkoske

Julie Turkoske is a certified Information and Referral Specialist at the Southeast Regional Center. She enjoys helping families and providers find answers to their questions and the library materials they're interested in. While she may not always have the answer right away, Julie finds "searching" very rewarding. Even more rewarding is working with and learning from other families who have children with special needs.

Julie has an adult son and a teenaged daughter who attends Fairview South, a secondary school for children with special needs.  As the parent of a child with a chromosomal abnormality, Julie has personal experience with many specialty areas, including deaf blindness, sensory integration, gtube feedings, communication, medical equipment (wheelchairs, standers, etc), and transition and advocacy issues.

She has her Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education and has over 15 years experience working with children and families of children with special needs who range from infant to high school-aged youth.  In addition to working at the Southeast Regional Center, Julie is on the board of directors for Team Up! With Families and volunteers at Katy's Kloset Equipment Library, which accepts donations of used equipment for children with special needs and loans them out to families who need them. She is also active in the local advocacy group, People Can’t Wait.   
 
Please give Julie a call with any questions or information you have to share!

Anne Juhlmann
Anne is the Family Program Coordinator for the Southeast Regional Center. Anne enjoys her job because she believes strongly that families are the best resource that the health care system has when it comes to the child with special health care needs. Through her role at the Southeast Regional Center, Anne is able to emphasize this belief by facilitating parents/caregivers involvement in the delivery of health care. For example, Anne coordinates a program for 3rd year pediatric residents using parents and caregivers as teachers in order to increase the resident's understanding of the realities for a family with a child with special health care needs. Anne is also involved in finding ways to involve family members on various hospital committees as well as identifying family to family support services in southeastern Wisconsin.

Mother to four children, Anne finds motherhood to be her most fulfilling role. Two of the four children have a complex metabolic disease and are considered medically fragile, though Anne will tell you that there is nothing fragile about their spirit and their love of life. According to Anne, all four of her children are responsible for teaching her the greatest lessons she has learned in life.

Anne holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing and previously worked as a pediatric staff nurse until her oldest son was identified during infancy to have special health care needs. These days, Anne enjoys being able to combine the perspective of her nursing education with her life experiences as a mother in order to empower families and improve outcomes for others.

In addition to working at the Center, Anne volunteers for the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation. If she has free time, she spends time playing the piano, reading, doing art projects (easy ones) with her youngest children, shopping with her oldest daughter, spending time at the beach, running and taking walks.

Meg Steimle
As one of the Outreach Specialist’s with the Southeast Regional Center, Meg brings 11 years of experience to the job. She is the parent of a child with special needs. Adam has Opitz Trigonocephaly Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that affects all aspects of his development. With all of those challenges Adam brings great joy to her life and gives her a great sense of connection with other families. 

Meg holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Cardinal Stritch University and is also a Wisconsin certified massage therapist with nine years experience. Most recently she was a service coordinator with a local Birth to 3 provider. This provided the opportunity to share knowledge and experience with families just beginning the journey of parenting a child with a special need. 

Meg has facilitated several support groups over the years and finds her greatest satisfaction in supporting and empowering families. 

Meg enjoys time spent with her family and friends, good food and good music. She likes to cook and especially bake. She is proud to be a part of the Southeast Regional Center and appreciates the team she works with daily.

Vanessa Llanas

As an Outreach Specialist, Vanessa Llanas brings over 13 years of experience in the non-profit sector to the Southeast Regional Center.  

Vanessa was raised in a small town in Ohio and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Child and Family Community Services. While in college she began working with Head Start and later Migrant Head Start to provide quality child development programming for pre-school children and had the opportunity to work with children with special needs.  She also has close family members with special needs such as Down syndrome, Attention Deficit Disorder and severe Asthma. 

After graduating from college Vanessa spent four years working in Chicago, Illinois. In 2003 she relocated to Milwaukee, married her fiancé and began her work in Milwaukee as an AmeriCorps member with Public Allies. She has worked with families on a variety of issues including domestic violence, child abuse prevention, financial education, housing counseling, and immigration.  

She believes strongly in civic service and is currently participating in the Wisconsin Rural Leadership Program which is a statewide program of UW Extension dedicated to preparing leaders as catalysts. She is also a member of Hispanic Professionals of Greater Milwaukee, Young Nonprofit Professionals Network-Milwaukee and is on the steering committee of Latinas En Acción. 

Vanessa enjoys working with individuals from diverse cultures, socio-economic backgrounds and life experiences. 

Pat Carriveau
Pat Carriveau is the Administrative Assistant for the Southeast Regional Center. Pat is responsible for data entry, mailings, ordering supplies, and various other tasks to keep the Southeast Regional Center running smoothly. In addition, Pat answers information and referral calls, assists with the library, and helps families create CaringBridge web pages for their children.

Pat and Warren are the parents of 8 children, including a daughter and son who were adopted internationally. In 1985, twins Abby and Amanda were born 3 months prematurely, and subsequently, Abby was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. From the time the girls were small, Pat has enjoyed learning about resources and sharing that information with other parents. Now that the three youngest are away at college, the house seems much too quiet. Thankfully the grandchildren visit often and liven things up.

Pat has also cared for a number of foster children with serious medical needs, including heart defects, visual impairments, cleft lip and palate and behavioral disorders.

Pat worked with families of children with special needs as a parent consultant to the Waukesha County Children With Special Health Care Needs Program from 1992-1995. She worked in the office of New Berlin Therapies doing transcription and prior authorizations before coming to work at the Southeast Regional Center.

Over the years Pat has been involved in forming support groups for adoptive families and a Waukesha County MUMS support group. Since 1995 Pat has also been involved in planning fun events for children with special needs and their families through "Team Up! With Families". As a volunteer with Katy's Kloset equipment lending library, Pat enjoys helping families get the adaptive equipment they need to make caring for their child a little easier.

Karen Schaefer
Karen is an administrative assistant for the Southeast Regional Center. She has designed and maintains databases for our support groups, coordinates Center volunteer activities and assists with library responsibilities. Karen co-chairs the Families As Partners program at the hospital. She also assists families and staff in the Daniel M Soref Family Resource Center.

For over 25 years Karen has been involved with Special Olympics as a volunteer. Karen also works as a casual employee in Educational Services as the Patient Education Project coordinator. Karen and her husband Kurt have 3 children and 1 grandchild.

Jackie Knippel
Jackie has been a volunteer for Children's Hospital of Wisconsin since October of 2000. Working with everyone in the Southeast Regional Center is very rewarding and lots of fun for Jackie. Everyone is very nice according to Jackie and she loves her work there.

In her free time, Jackie enjoys movies, music, spending time with her family and her greyhound. She especially likes spending time with her boyfriend.