Our Team
Michelle Nye, Chair
Michelle is a teacher, musician, mother of three children and founding member of Oasis. After receiving tremendous support following the death of her second daughter, Angelica, Michelle has been blessed to accompany others along their journeys down similar paths as a bereavement support group facilitator and birth and bereavement doula. She lives in Newmarket with her husband Jeff and her children Holly, Thijs and of course Angelica in her heart.
Tony Van Bynen, Honourary Chair
Tony Van Bynen is currently the Member of Parliament for Newmarket-Aurora. He served three consecutive terms as Mayor of the Town of Newmarket and has served as an elected representative for the Town for 18 years. Prior to his work in public service, Mr. Van Bynen worked in the banking industry at RBC for more than thirty years. In addition to his involvement on the Southlake Regional Health Centre Board, Community Awareness Committee as well as a member of the Hospice Cabinet fundraising Committee, Mr. Van Bynen was a founding director of the Newmarket Chamber of Commerce and Smart Commute Central York, as well as a founding member of the Belinda’s Place Women’s Shelter.
Juliet Irish, Director
Juliet is a retired nurse and the former Executive Director of Doane House Hospice. She has been fortunate to have lived and worked in many countries around the world, including: UK, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Indonesia and of course Canada. These lived experiences have taught Juliet to be inclusive, non-judgemental and humble. Through her 17 years with DHH, her leadership role involved; program development, staff – volunteer recruitment and education, community engagement, group facilitation, participating in working groups to better serve our communities, as well as fundraising, mentoring and advocacy. The most rewarding part of her job was the client interaction and being privy to individuals and families innermost fears and hopes on a journey they didn’t chose to take, but be able to offer a safe space for them to be. Her personal identity is as: a mother, a wife, a caregiver, a community member and a friend, and she hopes to be able to use these roles in supporting Oasis Centre for Bereavement and Healing be the hub for resource sharing for those who are bereaved.
Jo McRogers, Director
Jo McRogers MSW has spent years working in community services designed to reach those overlooked by society. Emergency departments, mental health clinics, addictions, and crisis services. For the past 20+ years, she has served Grief through her private therapy practice. She recognizes that Grievers are a forgotten community. She has personally experienced both traumatic grief and anticipated grief. She has trained, learned, and refined her wisdom to support Grief. Jo has trained as a Stillbirth Doula and acknowledges the specialized needs of Pregnancy and Birth Loss and Trauma. She believes that education and advocacy are key to supporting grief.
Christine Glenn, Treasurer
Christine is a previous 20 year employee with RBC and a founding member of Oasis. Currently she is self employed, a board member with the East Gwillimbury Friends of the Library, Vice-Chair of the North Union Community Group, a former member of the East Gwillimbury Environmental Advisory Committee and a volunteer for the food pantries in EG. She was educated at Western University and is a long-time resident of York Region. Having experienced loss herself and having helped families work through the estate settlement process in her time with the bank, she is excited to help establish a digital space that helps make everyone’s grief journey easier and personal to their needs.
Helen Vlachoyannacos, Director
Helen currently teaches in the Toronto District School Board. With classroom experience as a Junior/Intermediate teacher in Toronto, she has also been an Equity, Anti-Racism, Anti-Oppression Coach, a Literacy Coach, and Teacher-Librarian, K-8, always centring the voices and identities of students at the core of her teaching. Her passion in equity education has led her to become involved with OASIS, thinking about how to include perspectives from diverse communities to respectfully and responsibly address issues of grief to honour and find ways to support people as they need.
Kathleen Proudfoot, Director
I am an adopted person. I did not get a family until I was 5 years old. Due to my colour and my ‘mixed race’ I was returned from placements numerous times and spent a good portion of my young life in orphanages. I was fortunate to get ‘my forever’ family as I turned 5 and I credit them for the values that were instilled in me.
Bereavement is no stranger to me, my brother Paul, passed suddenly when I was 15 from flesh eating disease and my father shortly afterward with cancer. We lost a daughter, Natalie when she was 33 and we raised her son as our own.
I am someone who connects with others easily and people are confident in sharing their “life stories” with me. Empathy, excellent listening skills and a real belief in people drive me to live a life as a caring and charitable individual. I have extensive experience working with those in need including volunteering at Southlake Cancer Clinic and Hospice. I am a cancer survivor and despite the challenges cancer posed I have followed a path of not allowing cancer to define me.
I have served as a Board member on Southlake Regional Health Centre Board of Directors; was the community chair for the Southlake’s Cancer Clinic Campaign; volunteered extensively at Pickering College and continue to offer my support to Margaret Bahen Hospice.
Married for forty years, my husband and I have raised 5 children and our grandson. Today I get great enjoyment from our grandchildren. A resident of East Gwillimbury I continue to work my career as a real estate agent. I find enjoyment in gardening, travelling, reading and time spent with great friends and family.