We are in Charleston!!
Did you know that we are providing services in the Charleston area now? On September 6, 2016, Bright Start began offering Early Intervention services in Berkeley, Charleston, & Dorchester counties. This expansion is very exciting for the agency and for the new families alike! This also means that Bright Start is now providing services to 18 South Carolina counties! We are so excited to welcome new families into our awesome Bright Start Family!
The Charleston EIs are supervised by Kerri Wikel. Kerri has been with Bright Start since 2013 and also supervises some of the Midlands EIs. She had this to say about the Charleston-area expansion: “Bright Start is incredibly excited to be able to bring our quality services to parts of the Lowcountry! There are a lot of families that need our help and we are honored to be able to serve them. Our EIs serve families from Edisto Island to Goose Creek. We have a great team of Bright Start Speech Therapists, too. Our team is extremely strong and we are excited to watch this program grow and to spread our services to families in need”.
I would love to introduce our Charleston EI Team to you:
Lindsay Betterton
Lindsay graduated from Wheelock College in Boston. She has a BS in Child Life & Human Development and a Master of Science in Child Life & Family Centered Care. She told me that she was drawn to the field of Early Intervention because “I love working with children and families by assisting them with achieving goals and finding community resources to meet their needs”. She is very excited that “Bright Start strives for the family-centered approach when working with the child and family”. Lindsay has found that she enjoys “being a tourist in my own town while photographing the beautiful sights of the Lowcountry, eating at some of the best restaurants in the country, and walking on the beach with my husband and dog”.
Jillian Franklin
Jillian grew up in Ithaca, NY and went to Northeastern University in Boston. She majored in Human Services with concentrations in Family & Child Studies and Deaf Studies. She also has a minor in sociology. Jillian told me that she has “always gravitated toward helping those with special needs” and that, as she got older, found that she loved working with children. Her career began as a Case Manager, but found the Early Intervention field after realizing that she wanted to have a more hands-on role in her clients’ lives. Now that Jillian has been with us for a few months, I asked her what she loves about Bright Start. Here’s what she had to say: “I love that everyone is always so willing to help each other and that they really try to create a positive environment for their employees”. When she’s not busy being an awesome EI, Jillian enjoys spending time around the water and exploring all of the restaurants that the Charleston area has to offer.
Christine Larson
Christine is a proud Gamecock! She graduated from USC with a BA in Public Health with a focus on Communication Sciences & Disorders. Prior to becoming an EI, she worked for Bright Start’s sister company, Palmetto Autism Interventions (PAI) as an ABA therapist. She loved working with children with autism and soon realized her passion for working with children and families in their natural environment. She said that she decided to become an EI “to continue providing natural environment services to families and kiddos with a wider variety of needs and/or diagnoses. It’s the best feeling, being able to share in successes with families, no matter how big or small the milestone”. She added that “Bright Start has been the most amazing company to work for! Everyone always has a smile and is willing to lend a helping hand, whether to a co-worker or to our families or community. Bright Start truly invests in each and every employee and each family that we serve”. Christine served as an EI in Columbia prior to her December move to Charleston. She is enjoying everything about Charleston, especially “walking on Folly Beach and exploring all of the shops and restaurants on King Street. There’s always something going on here!”
Tina McClary
Tina is originally from Syracuse, so she’s naturally an Orange fan! She is a 2015 graduate of State University of New York at Postdam with a degree in Public Health and a minor in Children’s Nutrition. After SUNY Postdam, Tina moved to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba where she worked as an educational specialist for children ages 6 weeks-5 years. She told me that she has worked with children with special needs for 8 years and is “so thankful to have found my passion so early in life. I love working in a field that allows me to, not only help the children thrive, but the families as well. I am so excited that I found Bright Start and became a part of this family. My Charleston team is amazing and I can’t thank them enough for all the support they have given me with my transition to the area and into my new career as an EI”. Tina, in her spare time, enjoys going to Folly, fishing, and exploring all of the antique stores, thrift shops, and restaurants that Charleston has to offer.
If you have any questions about Early Intervention services in the Charleston area, please contact Kerri Wikel at 803.261.6381 or [email protected]. And don’t forget to join us on Facebook, Instagram, & Twitter!