Who We Are

FAITH in Action

What Is Faith In Action?

Williamsburg Area Faith In Action (WFIA) is a non-profit that fosters caring relationships between volunteers and seniors age 60 and older.

Our Mission

Faith In Action’s mission is to help senior adults age safely in their homes by providing transportation and other volunteer support services. These include transportation to medical appointments, shopping, caregiver support, assistance with household chores, one-on-one visits, daily well-check calls, friendly phone visits, and light yard work. We serve residents of Williamsburg, James City County and the Bruton District of York County.

Assessment of Need

  • Must be enrolled in our program (intake process may take up to two weeks).
  • Telephone intakes or in home assessments are necessary to determine eligibility.
  • We cannot provide same day or emergency services. We require a minimum of 48 business hours to schedule transportation.
Meet Our Staff

Wendy Satchell

Executive Director

If you have lived in our area for a while, you might just know Wendy or perhaps one of her family members as they all live in the Hampton Roads area. She is a Virginia native and resides in Newport News with her husband Scott and three dogs. A Health Care Administration graduate of Mary Baldwin College, Wendy always knew she wanted to work with seniors.

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Her grandfather, whom she cherished, had Alzheimer’s Disease. The impact of his illness on her family helped define her career path dedicating herself to improving the lives of seniors. She spent the first 18 years of her career in long term care serving as a Vice President in a chain of convalescent and rehab centers. Later, her mom was also diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. While she still wanted to work, caring for her mom and dad was a priority. She found a way to do both and in 2010 she started a consulting company that guided seniors and their families helping them to navigate around the complex health care system and choices surrounding seniors. In November of 2022, as an empty nester, it seemed like a natural fit for Wendy to join the Faith In Action team as Executive Director and continue to serve seniors. Wendy loves spending time with her family which includes her three adult children and daughter in law. In her spare time, you can find Wendy at sporting events (Go JMU Dukes!), outdoor activities, gardening, boating, painting, or taking her dogs for a nice long walk. Wendy has a true passion to serve and has found that combining her faith with non profit work is exactly what she was born to do.

Caitlynn Butcher

Caitlynn Butcher

Program Services Administrator

Caitlynn has always worked in eldercare settings like elder consulting, long term care, and most recently as a hospice chaplain. She holds degrees in Communication, Gerontology and Theology. WFIA has a purpose that spoke to her; serving seniors through amazing volunteers.

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She joined the team in April 2023 as Program Services Administrator to bring her expertise in senior care, outreach, and relational support. Caitlynn is especially proud to work for a faith-based non-profit organization that gives seniors and their loved ones peace of mind and empowers volunteers to meet a great need in the local community. Caitlynn serves as a deaconess at King of Glory Lutheran Church. Caitlynn is a proud Midwesterner but has lived in Williamsburg since 2019 and considers Virginia her second home. She enjoys spending time with her husband Nick, her friends, and her dogs Milo and Gertie. She is an enthusiastic animal lover, singer, and foodie.

Lauren Mingee

Lauren Mingee

Senior Services Coordinator
lmingee@wfia.org

Lauren Mingee is Williamsburg Faith In Action’s Senior Services Coordinator. She is a proud graduate of Christopher Newport University, where she earned a degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Management. Prior to joining our team, she spent the last several years in education, most recently as a first grade teacher at a small private school, which she helped launch.

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Lauren and her husband Jeff are very involved in ministry work through their church. Lauren has a 102 year old grandfather and finds working with seniors rewarding because so many life lessons can be learned from their generation. In her free time, Lauren enjoys spending time with her family, cheering on her boys at their sports events, and taking walks outside.

Patti Watts

Transportation Coordinator

Patti has served Faith in Action for over 14 years and brings a wealth of knowledge and a historical point of view to our team. She grew up on Long Island, NY, where she also married and raised her children until moving to Williamsburg. After college, Patti worked as a registered nurse in a nursing home environment.

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Later, she spent many years as a stay-at-home mom in NY and VA until working at Faith In Action. Patti says that she has thoroughly enjoyed getting to know our many volunteers and care receivers over the years. It gives her great satisfaction knowing that at the end of the day she can go home with a sense that she has made a difference in someone's life. One of the greatest joys in her life now is being a grandparent....nothing compares!

Marni Longacre

Volunteer and Support Services Coordinator

Marni joined the team at Williamsburg Faith In Action in early 2023 as the Volunteer and Support Service Coordinator. She is no stranger to the non-profit world, since graduating from James Madison University in 1992, she has worked in various capacities including grant writing, underwriting, marketing, and development, fund raising and endowment; all giving her the opportunity to work closely with volunteers and donors.

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Marni has always been involved in her church, as well as worked with various faith-based organizations; so, when this opportunity was presented, it was a perfect fit while allowing her to work with the amazing volunteers at WFIA. Marni and her husband Chuck currently live in Yorktown where they have raised three beautiful children. In her spare time, she and Chuck and their two fur babies, Scout and Blu, love retreating to the mountains when they have some free time.

Board of Directors

Board Officers

Richard Jackson, Chairman

Director, Riverside Center for Excellence in Aging and Lifelong Health (Retired)


David Dafashy, MD, Vice Chairman

Physician, College of William & Mary


Alethea Dillow, Secretary

Director of Sales and Marketing Commonwealth Senior Living


Krista Gillespie, Treasurer

Junior Accountant, Williamsburg Landing

Board Members

Bob Byrne, PhD

Clinical Psychologist (Retired)

 

Susan Carron

Registered Nurse (Retired)

 

Louise Cole

Business owner, (Retired)

 

Diane Hartley

Peninsula Agency on Aging, Vice President of Care Coordination

 

Ted Maslin

Project Manager, Construction Management, Riverside Health System

 

Hunter Old

Attorney, Heath Overbey, Verser & Old, P.L.C.

 

Denise Peterson

Auditor, Virginia Department of Transportation

 

Donna Wilson

Attorney, Wilson Law P.L.C.