St. Petersburg, FL (April 19, 2019) Voices of Hope for Aphasia, a 501(c)3 non-profit, named Debbie Yones as Executive Director of the organization devoted to helping those, who through stroke or traumatic brain injury, have lost much of their ability to communicate.
Yones holds a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Wellesley University and a master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology from the University of South Florida. She is the owner of a private practice that focuses on aphasia therapy. Yones opened her practice in 2012 and developed an individualized approach to intensive aphasia therapy. Prior to becoming a speech/language pathologist, she spent 15 years in technology consulting working with non-profit and Fortune 500 companies to configure and implement enterprise systems that supported their financial and fulfillment operations.
Yones met the organization’s founder, Mike Caputo, in 2011 when she was his speech pathologist and has been with Voices of Hope for Aphasia from the beginning. Yones was an original Executive Board Member and has been working alongside the board of directors and Dr. Jackie Hinckley, the Executive Director until 2018, for many years. When Dr. Hinckley stepped down, Yones took over many of the responsibilities of running the daily operations and overseeing the programs.
“Debbie has repeatedly displayed leadership and commitment to our mission and our members from the beginning.” said Ken Bado, Board Chair. “As a board member, volunteer, and Director of Programs, she continued her dedication to our members by delivering excellent programming. We are thrilled to have Debbie’s leadership as we grow our organization and our programs and strive to empower stroke survivors.”
“I am honored and humbled to be serving Voices of Hope for Aphasia in this capacity at this time. I met Mike and Kathy Caputo when they had a dream of providing support and services to people with aphasia in our area and I shared their passion. Serving on the Board of Directors as Dr. Jackie Hinkley refined an innovative and impactful vision for the organization was inspiring. I am grateful to have collaborated with her in the development of our programs. I look forward to taking the helm and continuing our mission to expand our reach and serve more people with aphasia and their families and empowering them to participate in life’s many activities.” Yones said.
About the organization: Voices of Hope for Aphasia is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting communication skills and developing community among individuals who have lost their ability to speak, understand, write, or read. The organization was formed in 2011 by founders Mike and Kathy Caputo after Mike’s stroke at the age of 51. Aphasia is a language disorder widely caused by stroke. In fact, Aphasia is more common than Multiple Sclerosis, Muscular Dystrophy or Parkinson’s. One in three people who suffer a stroke will have some form of Aphasia. For more information on our programs – please visit https://www.vohaphasia.org
