Leadership

Our leadership team bring years of painful experience, a heart to serve and an abiding faith to bear in the fight for lasting recovery.

Board of Directors & Staff

Wayne Phelps - Board Chair

Wayne is heavily involved in starting and leading many recovery groups, including local Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, Celebrate Recoveries in the Cleveland Area and other countries. He also facilitates the Stepping Out Recovery meetings at Willoughby Hills Friends Church. Wayne serves on the Board of Directors and as Director of Recovery Ministries for World Renewal International. In addition, Wayne is CEO and Co-Founder of Bula Forge and Machine, Inc., in Cleveland. He has 4 adult children and 5 grandchildren.

Jay Sopenski - Vice Chair

Jay served as the very first House Manager for Friends of Recovery NEO at Tikvah Home for Men. This followed a late-in-life descent into addiction; family estrangement; jail time; years of rehab and, finally, down-on-his-knees-back-to-God surrender. His adoption into the ministry family was soon followed by the reconciliation with his wife of 40 years as well as restored relationships with his 8 children and 18 grand-children. Jay has been hired back by the family business he started 40 years ago. God is so very good!

Jay is honored to serve as a member of the board and hopes that the hell and heaven he experienced will be beneficial to the ministry’s future direction.

Scott Hanna - Board Secretary

“…for I know the plans I have for you.”, declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you HOPE and a future…” (Jer. 29:11)

Between 2006-2008, Scott experienced a series of personal and professional setbacks. During this time of deep reflection, he realized that CHANGE was inevitable. Through a life-changing alignment with Jesus Christ and armed with a few biblical passages, he set out on the JOURNEY that has allowed him to reclaim his life.

That journey and reclamation has led Scott to Friends of Recovery NEO, where his passion lies in helping others to enlist in Jesus, HAVE HOPE and subsequently SHARE HOPE…

Leila Vidmar - Board Member

Leila was a child of an alcoholic mother who was adopted by a Pastor and his wife along with 2 other siblings as a child. She knows firsthand the devastation of the disease of addiction. Her first career was a Director of Marketing at Avery Dennison but felt the Lord’s calling (and nudging by a couple pastors at Willoughby Friends Church) to pursue a career in counseling. Through the process of getting her Master’s Degree in Clinical Pastoral Counseling at Ashland Theological Seminary, God worked on a much needed healing of losses (that she had no awareness).

She has served on the Geauga Mental Health Board and most recently served as the Interim Executive Director at the Geauga Mental Health Board. She works at Cleveland Clinic in the Emergency Room as a Clinical Psychiatric Specialist performing evaluations and has her own Private Practice Counseling business.

Leila is married to Jim (who loves helping at the recovery homes), four grown children and six grandchildren that she loves dearly.

Her passion is to help others find Christ, who is the ultimate healer!

Todd Bolton - Board Member, Men’s Spiritual Advisor

Todd grew up right here in Lake County before moving to Virginia during high school. He and his wife, Jennifer, were married in 1993 and have been blessed with two children and five grandchildren. The Bolton family lived in the Middle East, loving people in Christ’s name before returning to Virginia to serve as associate pastor at Bacon’s Castle Baptist Church, where Pastor Todd was ordained into the ministry.  He is a graduate of Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary and officially began serving at Willoughby Bible Church on July 1, 2015.  Pastor Todd was instrumental in the development of Tikvah Home for Men in 2016. 

Today, along with his WBC responsibilities, Pastor Todd also serves on the board of directors with Friends of Recovery NE Ohio and serves as the Spiritual Advisor for the men’s ministry.  His favorite verse:   “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…” (1 Peter 1:3)

Lorrie Guenther - Assistant to the Director

Lorrie serves as the Assistant to the Executive Director. She is actively involved in Celebrate Recovery (CR) at Willoughby Hills Friends Church. She grew up in an alcoholic home and was abandoned by her mother at age 5. Through her own addiction issues she has found healing and restoration in CR and has a passion for those who struggle alongside her. She is enthusiastic about helping others and meeting them where they are. She is excited about working with Friends of Recovery and to see what God brings her way.

“Rejoice in confident hope, be patient in trouble and keep on praying!” ~Romans 12:12

Jon Ziegler - Men’s Housing Coordinator

Jon was introduced to the “rooms” of recovery in 2015.  Early on, he admits that he ignored the people God was putting in his life but now acknowledges that He was trying to get him on the right path.  Jon is very thankful that he finally listened and took a first step of faith.  Since then, with God leading, he has celebrated many victories.  Midway through his recovery, he encountered Friends of Recovery NE Ohio at a Journeymen Life Recovery Support Group meeting.  It quickly became his favorite meeting and now considers it his home group.  In August 2023, Jon started working for FORNEO as the Men’s Housing Coordinator.  He enjoys seeing God move in the lives of the men and looks forward to seeing what He does next in and around the Friends of Recovery ministry. 

Dennis Anthony - Executive Director

Dennis currently serves as Executive Director of Friends of Recovery NE Ohio.  Previously, he served 23 years as a Lieutenant/Paramedic/Chaplain in the South Euclid, Ohio fire department before his career was cut short due to illness.  He then obtained a dual master’s degree in Education & Clinical Counseling.  He was hired as an intern at a counseling agency where he specialized in helping adolescents and families struggling with addictions.  This agency is where Dennis began to wrestle with God regarding his plans verses HIS plans.  Dennis finally surrendered and jumped out of his comfortable boat and onto the scary water.  He immediately resigned from the agency and accepted God’s call to establish Friends of Recovery NE Ohio.  Dennis’ favorite verse is Psalm 37:5 “Commit everything you do to the Lord.  Trust Him and He will help you.”  Dennis tries to live this verse out everyday sharing the Hope that can only be found in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  Have Hope and Share Hope! 

Trenton Tipton-Fletcher - Treasurer

Trenton is an adult child of an alcoholic and can fully relate to the challenge of facing guilt, pain and shame without Christ. He has found healing while serving in prison ministry as well as in the recovery community. He has served small businesses and non-profits as a strategic adviser, financial adviser and board member. Trenton is deeply grateful for the opportunity to serve Friends of Recovery NEO.

Susan Anthony - Office Manager

As the Office Manager, Sue serves as a key support member of the Friends of Recovery NE Ohio ministry team. She also fulfills various other roles, stepping in to lead or help whenever or wherever it is needed, and leads our women’s SisterHood support group.

Helene Beilstein - Women’s Housing Coordinator

Helene is the House Manager of Arukah Home for Women.  Through her own recovery from alcoholism, she is excited to share “one day at a time” with women struggling to live life without drugs or alcohol.  She has many years of experience working in the mental health system, criminal/juvenile justice system, and residential treatment facilities. She has a humble heart for God’s plan for her and is excited to use her past experiences to benefit other women.  Helene believes that when she released her grip on people, places, and things she could not control, it allowed God to work in her life and remove the desire to drink. She firmly believes no one can be on this recovery journey without support from others and God’s amazing grace.

 “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”  ~Matthew 6:33-34

“To me, Tikvah Home for Men meant a pause or respite per say from the chaos and confusion that chemical dependency causes. It was a time to refocus on what’s really important.”

— Jay