Joleen Fernald, PhD, CCC-SLP
Executive Director
Joleen was awarded Board Specialty Recognition in Child Language from the American Speech Language Hearing Association. Joleen follows Greenspan and Wieder’s model, DIRFloortime® , when working with children and families. She has a special interest in the social emotional development of young children and its impact on their speech and language skills. As a speech-language pathologist, Joleen works with children who have a variety of communication disorders. She partnered with Easter Seals NH in 2006 to begin an assessment and treatment clinic specifically for children with selective mutism and has recreated the model in the Tampa Bay area of Florida as well. Joleen enjoys public speaking and has presented nationally on the topics of childhood apraxia of speech and selective mutism.
Lilibel Bernhardt, PhDc, Cota/L
Director
Lili is a certified Occupational Therapy assistant and a PhD candidate in organizational psychology with a focus on sensory integration in the workplace. She is devoted to being a fieldwork educator and teaching pediatric therapists how to efficiently work with children that fall under the autism spectrum. Her biggest interests are sensory integration techniques and emotional regulation techniques for children within a wide range of ages and diagnosis. Due to her love for sensory integration and the similarities utilized between it and the Floortime Approach, Lili has decided to pursue certification in Dr. Greenspan’s DIR model, in order to better support emotional development levels in children. She has a special interest in teaching and training in order to support children and prepare them to go out into the workforce. She believes that the ability to communicate in all relationships that are shared among peers set the stage for a healthy foundation of lifelong learning.
Emily Moniz
Secretary
Emily Moniz has her degree in early childhood education and is currently working on her masters in special education. She has worked with children with special needs for over 15 years, and has been with REConnections since it’s inception. She has a passion for working with our young learners, recognizing their individual differences, and helping each child progress in all areas of of their development. Emily is a homeschool mom of four, and is originally from Canada.
Anna Farrell
Anna was born in New York but grew up right here in New Port Richey, Florida. She went to Ridgewood High School, received her Bachelor’s Degree from the University of South Florida, and received her law degree from Barry University School of Law in 2014. Anna is the current President of the West Pasco Bar Association and is a Past President of a local Rotary Club.
Steve Luikart
Steve is the father to REConnections student Tyler, one of our 5 founding families. He is a successful Real estate broker at SandPeak Realty and a 4th generation New Port Richey native.
Steven Hoschak
My wife Sonia and I moved to Pasco County over 8 years ago where we started our family. I have two children Kaden (6) and Ava (4). I am a Tampa native and could not imagine living anywhere else. In my spare time I love to spend time with my family, work out and play music (guitar specifically). I started my career in banking over 16 years ago as a relationship banker with Colonial Bank and have worked in several roles within my industry including teller, Relationship banker, Branch Manager & Market manager. Nine of those 16 years have been spent in Commercial banking helping small businesses accomplish their goals.
I truly enjoy being an SBA professional with American Momentum Bank as it gives me the ability to work with companies in all different stages of their business. There is nothing more professionally gratifying than seeing a business you helped finance grow and thrive! I also currently serve as Chairman of 2-1-1 Tampa Bay Cares, a committee member to the Global Competiveness committee with the Pasco Economic Development Council and the president of SBRN.
Schedule a Tour
Please reach out to schedule a tour of our state of the art facility which offers multiple classrooms, various educational tools and sensory equipment to support learning. During your visit you’ll meet staff, observe students, and discover more about our unique approach.
