About PSNJ

BOARD OF DIRECTORS - 2007

Pope M. Simmons

Pope M. Simmons is the current Board Chair of the Kristin Brooks Hope Center. For the past 10 years he served as Sr. Vice President for Government Relations at the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare, a trade association that represented over 1100 community mental health centers (CMHCs). Because mental health and addictions treatment services are regulated at the state level, Pope effectively organized the National Council's advocacy to reflect not only the individual centers and their Directors, but that incorporated the advocacy of their Boards (comprised of elected officials, civic and religious leaders), the more than 350,000 professional and administrative staff employed, and the 4.5 million consumers served and their families. Pope co-chaired the Managed Care Working Group for the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities, a national coalition representing over 49 million Americans with disabilities, during proposed Medicaid reform in the 104th Congress as well as during the implementation of the consumer protections and enrollment standards in managed Medicaid pursuant to the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. He is the immediate past elected Chair of the Steering Committee of the Mental Health Liaison Group, a national coalition of organizations and associations with a focus on mental health services and funding. Pope also helped organize and continues to serve on the Board of the healthcare system of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd as well as the Association of Families with Cycle-Cell Disease. Pope Simmons holds a BA in History from the College of Charleston, SC, and an MA in Philosophy from the Vatican.

Pope Simmons
Board of Directors: Chair
1537 15 th St. NW
Washington, D.C. 20005
202-365-5656 Cell
popedc@aol.com

H. Reese Butler, II

Reese has more than 20 years experience both starting successful businesses, including two national newspapers, and with companies that utilize telecommunications and web-based data collection systems. After losing his wife, Kristin Brooks Rossell, to suicide on April 7th 1998, Reese founded the Kristin Brooks Hope Center and the National Hopeline Network 1.800.SUICIDE. In addition to his professional work background, Reese has received training in Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST—Living Works) and Question, Persuade and Refer (QPR). Reese also volunteered as a crisis line worker for a time following the death of his wife.

Since 1998 when Reese turned his focus to the prevention of suicide, he has helped launch several other organizations: the National Council For Suicide Prevention, the California Suicide Prevention Advocacy Network (CASPAN), and the Virginia Suicide Prevention Council. In addition, he currently serves on the President’s Advisory Board of the Post Partum Support International and on the steering committee for the Iris Fund Alliance.

Due to Reese’s vision and the National Hopeline Network’s use of cutting edge telephony technology, the Kristin Brooks Hope Center became a recipient of the prestigious 2002 A Search for New Heroes Award, the Computerworld Honors Program’s Online Archive of information technology innovation.

H. Reese Butler, II
Board of Directors: Director
2628 Cecil Drive
Chester, MD 21619
410-695-4252 Ph
202-669-8500 Cell
202-536-3206 Fax
reese@hopeline.com

Robert R. Pell-Dechame

Robert R. Pell-Dechame
Board of Directors: Director
165 Fort Road
Ticonderoga NY 12883
518-585-2556
Mercure615@aol.com

Ane C. Romero