Interim Chief Executive Officer (CEO)/Chief Financial and Administrative Officer (CF&AO)

In her leadership role, Christy oversees the agency's mission in conformance with AMHC's philosophy of service, organizational values, strategic vision, and the policies the Board of Directors established. As CF&AO, Christy is responsible for providing leadership for the financial and administrative systems of the organization. Before joining AMHC, she worked in public service in Maine for nearly a decade, holding program-oriented and leadership roles at MCD Public Health, the Maine Center for Economic Policy, and the Aroostook County Action Program. She has served as Board President of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, Maine Affiliate, President of the Aroostook Training and Education Coalition (ATEC), and Board Member of the Maine Children's Alliance. A native of Presque Isle, Christy earned her bachelor's degree from the University of Maine and her master's in public policy and management from the Edmund S. Muskie School of Public Service at the University of Southern Maine. She has testified as an expert on rural public policy issues before the Maine Legislature. Her pieces have been published in many statewide and national forums, including health policy research on Medicaid expansion, healthcare price transparency, cancer screening access for rural Mainers, and the correlation between school-based health clinics and better graduation and attendance outcomes for K-12 students.

Chief Operating Officer

Michelle Ferris, LCSW, is Chief Operating Officer. She oversees AMHC’s day-to-day operations across all services and sites in partnership with the senior leadership team. Michelle joined AMHC in 2006 and assumed increasing roles of responsibility primarily in emergency services. She joined the senior leadership team in 2019 as the Program Director of Emergency Services in Aroostook, Hancock, and Washington counties. Michelle is a graduate of Columbia University School of Social Work in the City of New York. A native of Michigan, she resides in Presque Isle with her family.

Program Director of Behavioral Health & Integration in Aroostook County 

Julia Macek, LCSW is the Program Director of Behavioral Health and Integration in Aroostook County. She oversees a variety of substance use and mental health programs and services for adults, children, and families. In addition, Julia is responsible for leading new program development, enhancement, and implementation; most recently leading the agency’s CCBHC, Certified Community Behavioral Health Center initiatives. She has more than 30 years of behavioral health experience in hospitals, residential treatment, outpatient mental health, and, most recently, in early care and education. She is a certified poverty coach, president of the board for Healthy Maine Families, and Vice Chair for the Maine Association of Infant Mental Health.  Julia received her MSW degree from Washington University in St. Louis and has been an LCSW for 33 years.

Program Director of Community Integration 

Christine Brown is the Program Director of Community Integration services across AMHC’s service area.  She began her career at AMHC in 1999 as the Office Director for Caribou Outpatient Office, where she held that position for 5 years.  When AMHC implemented the High Performance Teamwork model, Christine was one of the first trainers and coaches to work with teams and was very actively involved with trainings and coaching for Aroostook County teams, and then continued coaching for our new AMHC sites in Washington County.  Christine transitioned to the Quality Department in 2006 and then in 2008 was hired as the Program Director for Community Integration, her current position.  Christine moved to Caribou from Boston, MA where she previously worked at Uphams Corner Health Center, located in Dorchester, MA as the Director of Guidance and Counseling Department.  Prior to Boston, Christine lived in Geneva, Switzerland for several years.  She is a graduate of the School of Social Work in Geneva and was employed at a psychiatric clinic there for 7 years.  While working, Christine also completed a 3-year program in international development at Geneva University Institute for Development Studies which led her to eventually move back to the United States. She is also a specialist in hypnotherapy.

Program Director of Behavioral Health & Integration, Hancock & Washington Counties 

Clem Deveau is the Program Director of Behavioral Health and Integration for Hancock and Washington counties. His primary role is the development and implementation of mental health and substance use programs and services in these two counties. Clem began with AMHC in the late 1980s at the Helpline and Skyhaven. He has maintained a long-term commitment to the agency in both undergraduate and postgraduate roles. Clem has been involved in the development and expansion of new substance treatment programs such as Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) and Medicated Assisted Treatment (MAT). Clem has also been highly involved in the redesign of children’s services, particularly in Washington County children’s residential services. Clem enjoys his role in partnering with other organizations and identifying collaborative projects. This has included other behavioral health organizations, primary health as well as prevention. Clem has maintained his career with AMHC except for 10 years while he and his wife Brenda served in Africa as Peace Corps volunteers and for 7 of those years working in technical program development and implementation reducing HIV among high-risk substance using populations. Clem and his wife have enjoyed their return to the US and live in Washington County.

Program Director of Crisis Services 

Sarah Wright, LMSW-CC, MHRT-CSP, is the Program Director of Crisis Services. Her primary role is the oversight of Mobile Crisis Services in Aroostook, Hancock, and Washington Counties as well as Adult and Children’s Crisis Stabilization Units in Aroostook. Sarah has worked in the behavioral health field since graduating from University of Maine at Farmington with a Bachelor of Science in Rehabilitation Services in 2008. She joined AMHC in 2015 as an Emergency Services Specialist and, after a brief hiatus, rejoined the agency in 2019 as the Supervisor for the Mobile Crisis Team for Aroostook County. Sarah earned her Master of Social Work in 2022 from the University of Oklahoma.  In 2020 Sarah received the Mental Health Leadership Award from NAMI Maine for work done for Crisis Intervention Training with Law Enforcement. Sarah lives in Southern Aroostook County where she enjoys being an active member of the Houlton Rotary Club and McGill’s Community Band.

Program Director of Prevention & Sexual Assault Services 

Julia Miller is Program Director of Prevention and Sexual Assault Services with programming in Aroostook, Hancock, and Washington Counties. She oversees youth prevention and leadership initiatives provided by Aroostook Teen Leadership Camp (ATLC) and youth prevention education in school settings. She also oversees Sexual Assault Services along with two Children’s Advocacy Centers. Julia served the Mi’kmaq Nation for 25 years as Tribal Clerk, then as Program Director for Domestic & Sexual Violence, and finally as Tribal Administrator. She is a trained advocate in both domestic and sexual violence. She received her bachelor’s degree in social work from the University of Maine at Presque Isle, graduating cum laude. She is a co-founder of the Wabanaki Women’s Coalition (WWC 2012) and served as a board member since its inception and as chair for many of those years until 2021. In 2014, Julia and other colleagues were honored by the Office of the United States District Attorney of Maine for work in developing WWC and in 2016 by the Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence (MCEDV) for her work in building bridges between programs. Julia is also a fully trained Reiki master that has assisted in grounding her in this work.

Director of Human Resources 

Brittany Ballard is Director of Human Resources. She joined AMHC in 2008 and has been part of the human resources team since 2013. Before that, she worked as an adult crisis counselor at the Adult Crisis Stabilization Unit and as an Emergency Services Specialist for the Emergency Services program.  She graduated from the University of Maine at Presque Isle with a degree in Psychology and from Seacoast Careers School with a license in massage therapy.  Brittany is an active member of the Society of Human Resources Management. She resides in Caribou with her daughter.