Volunteers Serve. Seniors Thrive.
Who We Are
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, light assistance with minor 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.
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.
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
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.
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 and their son, her friends, and her dogs Milo and Gertie. She is an enthusiastic animal lover, singer, and foodie.
Lauren Satchell
Senior Services Coordinator
lsatchell@wfia.org
Lauren Satchell has recently joined the team at Faith In Action Williamsburg serving as the Senior Service Coordinator. She recently graduated from James Madison University, where she played Division 1 field hockey for four years, and earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Communication Studies and minored in Nonprofit Studies.
While attending JMU, Lauren served as Community Relations
Chair for Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). Lauren has always been involved in community service through school and athletic teams. She is passionate about service work and is proud to have raised awareness and fundraising efforts for other organizations such as Alzheimer's Association, Special Olympics and Canine Assistants.
Lauren is a familiar face around the office as she completed her
internship at FIA last summer. We welcome her back to the team!
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.
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
Donor Relations 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.
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 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
Diane Hartley, Treasurer
Vice President of Care Coordination, Peninsula Agency on Aging
Board Members
Bob Byrne, PhD
Clinical Psychologist (Retired)
Louise Cole
Business owner, (Retired)
Ted Maslin
Project Manager, Construction Management, Riverside Health System
Hunter Old
Attorney, Hunter Old Law, PLLC
Denise Peterson
Senior Auditor, Dept. of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services
Donna Wilson
Attorney, Wilson Law P.L.C.
Debbie Whybra
Director of Adult Day Services, Williamsburg Landing