Born in Woonsocket, RI; adolescent years: disillusionment with rigidity of Catholic Church, alienation at school, advanced class, National Merit Scholarship, discovering emotions, becoming a hippie, living in the woods, running away from home, guidance from social worker, survival school in Maine and Hurricane Island Outward Bound School; spirituality and Catholicism; education; Stonehill College, Massachusetts, B.A. and M.A. in social work, Fordham University, New York; turning to social work: closing the Mission of the Immaculate Virgin for the Protection of Homeless and Destitute Children on Staten Island and reopening as public school, senior center and community center; career: hotel and restaurant business in Boston, Nantucket, Cape Cod, Providence, Newport--bartending, waiter, maitre d', chef, substance abuse therapist, discharge planning social worker, and outpatient program manager at various hospitals in New Jersey, field instructor for Master of Social Work; September 11th: driving on New Jersey Turnpike, pulling onto outer bridge and witnessing one of the towers building, watching television coverage, emotional reponses; post-9/11: wanting to help, formulating plan for a children's group, working with Catholic Charities--funding, connecting individuals with resources, forming World Trade Center Outreach Committee at St. Clare's Parish in Staten Island, working with informal group of kids who lost a parent--self-expression through art, physical exercise, interacting with families, maintaining professional distance, long hours and emotionally draining work.