The Rev. James L. Risk, MDiv, BCC. / Executive Director
Phone: 312-563-4824 / e-mail: james_l_risk@rush.edu

Fr. Risk came to Bishop Anderson House in 2003 from an active career in parish ministry. He has held various positions in the Diocese of Chicago, including Co-Chair of the Strategic Planning Committee, Standing Committee, and Chair of the Hunger Commission. He currently serves as Vice Chair of the Diocesan Commission on Ministry. As Executive Director he is involved in personnel and administration, Board development, fund raising and program development. He is the editor of Chaplair, the newsletter of the Association of Episcopal Health Care Chaplains and takes an active leadership role in national chaplaincy affairs. He also serves as a Board Certified Chaplain at Rush University Medical Center visiting Episcopalian patients throughout the hospital and as a Unit Chaplain in Johnson R. Bowman Center for Geriatric Medicine.

Jay has four adult children and enjoys backpacking, bird watching, and biking with them in their backyards- California, New York and Vermont!

Cherryl Holt, MSW / Associate for Chaplaincy and Development
Phone: 312-563-4825 / email: poverino@aol.com

Cherryl joined the staff on a full time basis in January 2004 as Associate for Chaplaincy and Development. Cherryl has over 25 years experience in not-for-profits, including five years as Director of Supportive Housing at Cathedral Shelter of Chicago. At Cathedral Shelter, she was instrumental in developing its' supportive housing program for persons formerly homeless and in recovery from addiction. Cherryl is a graduate of the Parish Lay Chaplains' Training Program at Bishop Anderson House. She is the point person for development in addition to her chaplaincy work at Stroger where she visits women in trauma in gynecology and obstetrics, children and orthopedics. Cherryl utilizes the Teddy Bear Ministry in her work with children and grieving mothers as well as supervises volunteer Chaplains at Stroger. She is a member of the Stroger Hospital Ethics Committee.

Cherryl lives in Oak Park and is an active member of Grace Episcopal Church. She enjoys knitting (and is quoted in Bernadette Murphy's Zen and the Art of Knitting: Exploring the Link between Knitting, Spirituality and Creativity), reading, spending time with her godchildren and has recently discovered jewelry making.

The Rev. Jacqueline Cameron, MDiv, M.D. / Associate for Education and Outreach
Phone: 312-563-4823 / e-mail: jrcameron@earthlink.net

Jackie joined the staff of Bishop Anderson House in 2005. She has a strong interest in the relationship between spirituality and medicine and brings it to her practice in Palliative Care as well as her work at Bishop Anderson House. She is the facilitator for a Physician group in the Chicago area, Meaning in Medicine, which explores the practice of medicine and spiritual values. She has convened lectures for medical students and introduced them to medical practitioners from Africa who integrate their faith and their call to medicine. She has presented Geriatric Grand Rounds on the topic of Spirituality and Medicine at Rush University Medical Center where she is a lecturer in the Department of Religion, Health and Human Values. Her background in medical ethics and her interest in at risk populations as well as her research in palliative care, religious struggle, and spiritual care of the dying lead her to explore the interface of religion and medicine. She has worked closely with Christina Puchalski, MD, Director of the George Washington Institute for Spirituality and Health on publications to advance the medical profession's understanding of the spiritual care of the dying.

Jackie is the Associate Rector of Church of the Atonement in Chicago. She enjoys her two dogs, travel in England, and exploring the world of medicine in central Africa. She has life long friends serving as medical volunteers in the Congo and has joined them in serving the victims on both sides of the civil war.

The Rev. Deb Seles, MDiv, MSW / Chaplain
Phone: 312-563-4822 / e-mail: d.seles@sbcglobal.net

Deb joined Bishop Anderson House in 2006 following three years' service as Executive Director of the Chicago L'Arche community. She serves as Chaplain at University of Illinois Hospital and Stroger Hospital of Cook County where the patient populations are disproportionately poor and underserved. She has an extensive background in vocational rehabilitation and with people with disabilities. A special interest of Deb's is the connection between body/mind and spirit, and she is an InterPlay (r) practioner.She's been published in The Living Pulpit and two of her entries are included in Louie Crew's 101 Reasons to be Episcopalian.

Deb serves St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in Palatine as part-time interim pastor and also has a spiritual direction ministry. She also provides pastoral care for residents of Alexian Village, an assisted living facility. A widow, Deb lives in Elk Grove Village with Dave, her Norwegian Elkhound. She enjoys performing improvisational comedy and doing watercolor and swing dancing. Her favorite vacation is hiking through national parks and discovering new trails.

The Rev. William K. Gros / Chaplain
Phone: 312-563-4825 / e-mail: Edgewaterbill@aol.com

Fr. Gros was born in Lafayette, Indiana, in 1936, the son of the late Hubert Gros MD and Jean Kramer Gros. He received a B.A. from DePauw University in 1959 and a S.T.B. from the General Theological Seminary in New York in 1964. Between college and seminary he worked as an advertising copywriter in Chicago and was a member of the Cathedral of St. James. Ordained in 1964 he began his ministry as a curate at the Church of the Holy Spirit, Lake Forest. Other posts in the Diocese of Chicago included Rectorships at St. Alban's, Chicago; St. Peter's, Sycamore; Church of the Epiphany, Chicago; and St. Helena's, Burr Ridge from which he retired after thirty five years of parochial service. Upon retirement Fr. Gros was invited to serve as a part-time hospital visitor and Chaplain, which he has done for the past seven years under the direction of Bishop Anderson House. He currently serves as a Chaplain at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago although other hospitals have been visited upon request. Fr. Gros has served the Diocese on the Education Commission, the Youth Comission, Diocesan Council, Bishop search committees, three terms as Dean of the Chicago/West and Rockford Deaneries and the Council of Deans. He also served for thirteen years as a member of the Board of Bishop Anderson House, the last two years as President of the Board. He looks forward to continuing ministry through Bishop Anderson House.

The Rev. Trenton Pitcher, MDiv / Chaplain
e-mail: Deapit@aol.com

Trenton is past Executive Director of Bishop Anderson House, and he continues to serve as Chaplain to the All Angels Guild for the Deaf. Trenton is one of a handful of Episcopal priests nationwide who are skilled in American Sign Language, and he uses this skill in providing pastoral care and leadership to a community which has been marginalized throughout history. All Angels Guild is the oldest ministry with the deaf community in the state of Illinois. It offers monthly educational opportunities to help access medical care for the deaf, social programs for Seniors, an AA Group for deaf adults, and pastoral care with individuals throughout the Chicago metropolitan region.

Trenton enjoys theatre and the arts as well as spending time at his home in Delavan, Wisconsin.