UPDATED June 3, 2024

According to the LVRHAB Charter, Governing Board members shall serve no more than three consecutive three-year terms. The Board shall be comprised of a minimum of 11 and a maximum of 15 people, who together represent the key sectors, funders, service providers, and populations of people experiencing homelessness in the Lehigh Valley, as well as public and philanthropic partners.

Current Membership

Alisa Baratta | abaratta@ThirdStreetAlliance.org
Class of 2024 (first term)

Executive Director, Third Street Alliance. Oversees homeless services, early learning programs, finance, fundraising and operations of facility including shelter, classrooms and historically preserved mansions. Member of advocacy and planning committees. Serves as LVRHAB co-chair and Vice President of Eastern PA CoC Board of Directors and chair of CoC’s Governance Committee.

Robyn Barbosa | rbarbosa@northamptoncounty.org
Class of 2025 (second term)

Deputy Director, Northampton County Department of Human Services. Oversees all Human Services Divisions including Information, Referral & Emergency Services, Veterans, Children, Youth & Families, HealthChoices, Drug & Alcohol, Mental Health/Developmental Programs/ Early Intervention and Aging. Served on LVRHAB Steering Committee through 2020.

Erin Connelly | erinco@unitedwayglv.org
Class of 2025 (second term)

Associate Vice President, Impact; United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley. Leading the United Way’s investment process operations for its impact areas and leading programmatic initiatives for Healthy Aging and Community Stability (including homeless services investments). Co-chair of LVRHAB’s advocacy committee.

Deanne Malacsics Best | DMalacsics@lehighchurches.org
Finishing Abigail Goldfarb’s term

Robert T. Rapp Jr. | BRapp@bes-inc.org
Class of 2024 (first term)

Executive Director, Bethlehem Emergency Sheltering Inc. and Pastor for Mission, Christ Church United Church of Christ, Bethlehem, PA. Oversees emergency shelter operations for adult men and women in Bethlehem, street outreach, and Agency HMIS manager. Member of advocacy and housing committees. Serves on Bethlehem Community Advisory Board, including homelessness subcommittee. Multi-year volunteer with and currently co-Chair of Point-in Time Count.

Marc Rittle | jmrittle@newbethanyministries.org
Class of 2025 (second term)

John Marc Rittle (he/him), Executive Director of New Bethany, has over 15 years of non-profit leadership experience. Marc is on a lifelong journey to eradicate poverty in its many forms. His proudest achievement has been serving the Bethlehem and Lehigh Valley community throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. New Bethany Ministries has nearly tripled its capacity to serve during this time. Marc runs and trains for half marathons on the weekends; he and his partner Sarah Andrew love to hike, bike, and attend local festivals. They have two teenagers and reside on the west side of Bethlehem.

Sara Satullo | SSatullo@bethlehem-pa.gov
Class of 2025 (first term)

Sara Satullo is deputy director of community development for the City of Bethlehem, where she oversees the Housing Inspection and Community Development bureaus and the Northside Alive neighborhood revitalization program. She is currently managing Bethlehem’s strategic plan to address homelessness, its comprehensive housing strategy and South Bethlehem community center feasibility study. Prior to joining the city in 2022, Sara spent 16 years with lehighvalleylive.com and The Express-Times covering Bethlehem city government, schools and the surrounding community, where her coverage of the Lehigh Valley won many awards. In 2021, she was a USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism fellow, which allowed her to spend a year studying affordable housing and resulted in the publication of the Edged Out series on lehighvalleylive.com. She specializes in community engagement.

Julie Shoults | jshoults@caclv.org
Class of 2025 (first term)
Julie Shoults is a Planner and Grant Writer for Community Action Lehigh Valley. She works with programs that address homelessness and housing insecurity in the local community, including the Sixth Street Shelter and CALV’s affordable housing initiatives. Her engagement with the LVRHAB informs her work with CALV, which in turn has an impact on the local community through the agency’s programming, in collaboration with other local organizations doing this important work. In her prior academic career, she gained experience serving on committees and governing boards and developed strong research and problem-solving skills.

Scott Williams | swilliams@northpennlegal.org
Finishing Matthew Martin’s term

Courtney Wagaman | cwagaman@valleyyouthhouse.org
Finishing Michelle Albright’s term

Vice President of Independent Living, Permanency and Emergency Services for Valley Youth House. Her work includes oversight of independent living services in the Lehigh Valley and work with the Emergency Shelter, Street Outreach as well as RRH programming for youth and families.