Originally from Indianapolis, Indiana, Janice Walker attended Purdue University and became a registered nurse. She has been an RN for 25 years, focusing on mental health, and becoming a “Traveler”, going from hospital to hospital, state to state providing her unique services. Recently, Janice formed a company called Emotions to very deliberately enhance the physical, mental and spiritual health of seniors in the face of life’s challenges. Her company provides seminars, programs, workshops and motivational speaking events as a resource for the education and development of seniors and their families. Janice tells us that her work is also her passion and her ministry. Janice can be reached at emotionsjw@yahoo.com.
Like so many of our guests, Christiana Sonuga became interested in working with senior adults as a volunteer. In her case, she started volunteering at a hospice in Southeast Georgia when she was 15 years old. Christiana went on to get both undergraduate and graduate degrees in social work from the University of Georgia. Immediately after graduating, she took a job at an Athens-area homeless shelter. In Christiana’s words, “it was one the of best jobs I’ve ever had!” After a two year stint as a social worker at Lifecare of Lawrenceville, she now works as a medical social worker in the Leukemia and Lymphoma Center at Emory University Hospital. Christiana can be reached at 404-712-4367, or visit Emory’s website at www.emoryhealthcare.org.
Rounding out today’s line-up, Jerry Gentry is Chaplain for Crossroads Hospice. Early in his tenure at Crossroads, Jerry volunteered to be on the Ethics Committee. He was quickly assigned the position of Chairman of that committee (careful what you ask for!) Jerry was raised in Clinton, Mississippi, attending school there all the way through college. He then went on to seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, ultimately receiving both a Master of Divinity and a PhD in Ethics. Jerry moved to Atlanta after seminary. He worked as a freelance writer for 11 years, publishing a book about Grady Hospital called “Grady Baby – A Year in the Life of Atlanta’s Grady Hospital.” Having worked part-time as a hospital chaplain in seminary, Jerry took a year at Atlanta Medical Center to learn the role more thoroughly, then took a position at Crossroads Hospice. Jerry can be reached at (770) 270-9898, or visit their website at www.crossroadshospice.com.
