Our Staff

Ariel graduated from the University of Utah with a BS in Psychology and a minor in Art History. She also obtained a Human Factors certificate and volunteered in the Applied Basic Cognition lab. She has extensive experience volunteering for various nonprofits such as the Rape Recovery Center, NAMI, Circles, and more. Ariel became interested in the social work field shortly before graduating from college. Since then, she has been either working or volunteering in the field. In recent years, Ariel has become more interested in the science of addiction.
A native Utahan, Ariel has lived in Salt Lake City most of her life. She enjoys hiking, snowboarding, reading, cross stitching, and gardening. She enjoys working with the women at House of Hope and hopes that she can encourage a positive change in their lives no matter how small it may be.

Heather received her undergraduate degree from California State University Long Beach and her graduate degree from Utah State University. She spent over 10 years teaching topics including parenting, relationships, communication, and finances before bringing that expertise to House of Hope. Teaching at ‘Adult Parole and Probation’ and ‘The Other Side Academy’ Heather discovered that she loved working with the recovery community because they were so dedicated to personal growth. “I have never taught a group of people who were so willing to learn new skills and change behaviors.” Heather specializes in ‘Parenting the Love and Logic Way’ and is trained in Gottman level 1 and 2 counseling, Couples and Addiction Recovery, and “Bringing Baby Home.”

“I love working at House of Hope because I see women find their inner strength and become people they never thought possible. Both clients and staff grow so much while at House of Hope, and it so rewarding to be a part of that.”

Heather spends most of her time being a “sandwich generation” caregiver. When she can get away, she grounds herself in the quite solitude of nature. Or driving with the windows down and the music up. Maybe singing at the top of her lungs on the mountain top. “It is all about balance.”

Kelly believes House of Hope is an amazing program and provides support for women in our community while providing a better understanding of basic life skills and living with sobriety. Kelly worked for a large healthcare organization for 27 years and made the decision to leave just prior to full retirement and give back. Personally, Kelly has been surrounded by addiction and knows that the effects are far reaching. Losing her son at age 26 in 2014 and his father in 2004, both to an overdose, changed her life forever. Kelly’s daughter has 15 years of sobriety and continues to attend meetings, sponsor peers and has obtained her Master’s Degree. She has family members still in active addiction and many in recovery. Kelly believes addiction is a family disease and believes this program is not easy. She knows the women work hard through a structured program with rules and expectations and that to many of our women this is new. She feels her role at House of Hope has been one of the hardest yet most rewarding of her life. She sees everyone here at House of Hope put their heart and soul into what they do every day. She has learned and continue to learn and is grateful to be here.  Something that gives Kelly hope, one day at a time, is the Serenity Prayer – God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.  

Erica graduated from California State University East Bay with a Bachelor’s in Health Science and a minor in Sociology. After completing her bachelor’s degree, she went on to get her Master’s in Social Work. After graduating, Erica held a case management position at the Regional Center in California, working with the disabled population throughout the state. Erica gained case management skills in this position and learned how to help advocate for people’s needs.
Erica has always had a passion for helping people, specifically women. Erica mentored high school girls for over 12 years and was able to meet with them and help guide them in their lives. In 2012, Erica started a girls’ conference that went on to be continued over the next 5 years, before she moved here to Utah. That girls conference helped middle school and high school girls learn more about themselves and how to love themselves and be confident in who they are. In 2016, Erica moved to Utah where she started working as a case manager at House of Hope. In 2017, she got her CSW and began working as a therapist in the residential portion of our program. After a few months in that position, she transitioned over to being an Outpatient therapist. Erica is now the Director of Outpatient and has gained more trainings in M.I. (motivational interviewing) therapy and EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing) trauma-based therapy.
Erica loves movies and spending time getting to know people. Through her job, she seeks to understand the root cause of something and work from there. Erica desires to understand her clients and help advocate for them. She is grateful for her time here and her time getting to help impact women’s lives.

Nicole has been interested in the brain and human behavior since childhood and pursued this interest as she completed her education. She graduated from the University of Utah in the Spring of 2019 with a master’s degree in Social Work. The emphasis of her studies were substance use disorders, and she is especially intrigued by how the brain changes through addiction and recovery. Prior to this, she graduated from Utah Valley University with a bachelor’s degree in Social Work, emphasizing work with the LGBTQ+ community. Over her short career, she has spent time as a residential substance use therapist and an assessment therapist.

Nicole’s passion lies in stories and the human experience. She continues to marvel at the demonstrations of resilience and determination within the recovery community. She believes that each continued effort towards recovery is an act of self-love.

Nicole loves the privilege of hearing each person’s story and hopes to continue to help clients get into treatment and find support in their recovery. One of her favorite quotes to live by is, “I’m the only one who can get in my own way, and I stopped doing that yesterday.”

Margaret graduated from the University of Utah with a Bachelor’s in Mass Communications – Public Relations, minor in English. Since 1998, she has worked in the non-profit sector for wonderful organizations along the Wasatch Front. She is going on ten years for House of Hope. She loves the opportunity to support amazing causes through her writing. She has enjoyed serving for grant review boards, being a member of the fundraising community and empowering women and children in need so far throughout her career.
She has a passion for bringing the topic of mental health respectfully to the table and eradicate the stigma that unpleasantly accompanies it. She is inspired and motivated by the courage and determination displayed on the daily at House of Hope and is honored to be a small part of bigger change for the greater good. “I hope I come to work each day prepared, motivated and determined to voice the mission of House of Hope forward so anyone who needs treatment may have/receive treatment. Addiction does not discriminate, and treatment should not either”.
Lover of animals, nature, hiking, cooking/baking, reading and most importantly family and friends. She is a published writer and currently working on her next writing project. She is constantly striving for balance in all things. Margaret is a certified Reiki Master and Intuitive Coach. She loves to laugh and to have the blessing of laughter everyday thanks to her two comedians that we call children. “I value compassion. Compassion for everything outside of myself and compassion for everything that makes me…. well, ME

Ally has first hand experience of the damage addiction can do to families and the power it can hold over individuals. Since her own individual recovery, she has been interested in treatment mechanisms and interventions for various mental health issues. She graduated from the University of Utah in the Spring of 2020 with a Bachelor of Arts in English and in Spring 2021 with a Bachelor of Sciences in Psychology. She held a position as a Senior Research Assistant with the Treatment Mechanisms, Community Empowerment, Technology Innovations Lab (T.C.T Lab) at the Department of Psychology at the University of Utah for two years. In this position, Ally  gained crucial experience engaging in important research surrounding fear based disorders, specifically focusing on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in diverse populations.

Ally’s background and experience has solidified her passion for serving individuals dealing with various mental health issues. She hopes to continue her education and experience in the realm of trauma and addiction and hopes to one day have her own clinical practice.

Ally strives to listen, understand, and serve the women of House of Hope dealing with substance use and mental health struggles & is always getting her dose of outdoor therapy. One of her life goals is to consistently give back to recovery communities around the nation, as she very well believes: “You can’t keep it unless you give it away.”

Sacha has a passion for sharing her love of cooking real, healthy, and delicious food with family, friends, students, and now the clients at House of Hope. Sacha has a B.A. in History from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a Culinary Certificate from the Cascade Culinary Institute in Central Oregon. She has many years of experience in public education, namely as a high school history and culinary arts teacher. Her roles in cooking and foodservice management have largely been in nonprofit settings, such as at a therapeutic youth facility in Oregon and a senior Meals on Wheels in Colorado. In all culinary positions, she has particularly enjoyed sharing knowledge and practice regarding the roles that good daily nutrition and fitness can play in sustaining health and wellness. A lifelong fascination with scratch cooking has also naturally led to much seasonal gardening and farm to table meals in recent years.

When not cooking and baking, she most often is out hiking with her dog and husband in the beautiful outdoors! Her other interests include reading and listening to audiobooks, gathering with her neighborhood book club, puzzling, dancing, sewing, watching classic movies or The Great British Baking Show, and road tripping to visit family and friends. She is pleased to be serving the clients at House of Hope in Provo by contributing toward their nutritional health in recovery.

Kirt Bateman began his career in 1998 at The Clements Group, L.C., a consulting firm where he learned virtually everything he knows about the non-profit sector. Ready to put theory into practice, he accepted the Executive Directorship of Davis Arts Council in Layton, Utah in 2008. During his tenure there, Davis Arts grew from a budget of $300,000 yearly to over $2.5 million—becoming the largest inter-disciplinary arts nonprofit between the Salt Lake City and Idaho borders.

It is Kirt’s personal mission to foster connection that facilitates understanding and empathy which ultimately led him to House of Hope. Kirt knows that to move oneself out of addiction and into authenticity can be the most difficult, yet rewarding, desperate, but powerful thing a person will experience. He stands firm in his belief that the work the people that facilitate this life transition do is ICU-critical. “I hope to be able to use my role as Human Resources Manager to ease some of the stresses and bring a bit of light to this incredible House of House staff. Essentially, I want to offer hope to the House of Hope family.”

Kirt’s own family consists of his husband, Jerry, and his son, Oscar. There are also two mischievous Chihuahua siblings, Gus and Lulu who run amok at his house. Kirt grew up on a dairy farm in West Jordan and he feels fortunate to come from a big, ol’ farmin’ dynasty. In his free time, he enjoys performing on the stage and has been seen in over 30 plays and musicals along the Wasatch Front as well as a commercial or two and a feature film. He also enjoys reading, gaming, documentary films, and making others smile whenever he can.