Our Team

Clinical Social Worker

Dr. Jean Hager holds a Doctorate in Clinical Social Work (DSW) from Rutgers University, a Master of Social Work (MSW) from Rutgers University, and a Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) from Monmouth University. She has 35 years of experience as a clinical social worker across a wide range of issues, particularly alcohol and drug addiction and co-occurring mental health disorders. Dr. Hager also treats other compulsive disorders, anxiety and mood disorders, grief and loss issues, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

At her private practice in Tinton Falls, New Jersey, founded in 1989, Dr. Hager offers adult, adolescent, individual, couples, group, and family therapy, as well as assessment and interventions. For ten years before opening her practice, she held numerous positions in the field of mental health and addiction.

Among her professional accomplishments, Dr. Hager is a New Jersey Licensed Clinical Social Worker and a New Jersey Licensed Clinical Alcohol and Drug Counselor, and a member of the Academy of Certified Social Workers, the New Jersey Certified School Social Workers, the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), and the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM). Her training includes intensive courses in addiction, hypnosis, family systems therapy, and couples’ therapy.

In her philanthropic roles, Dr. Hager served as Executive Board Treasurer and on the Executive Board of Trustees for the Purr’n Pooch Foundation for Animals from 2009 to 2010, and on the Executive Board of Trustees for the Monmouth County SPCA from 2008 to 2009. She has volunteered for and chaired capital campaigns and many fundraising events for nonprofit charities since 2005.

Meditation Teacher

Angie Harris is a mother to two brilliant boys and an aunt to eight beautiful nieces and nephews. As a teenager, Angie suffered the sudden loss of her beloved mother, Rosemarie. It was then that she was introduced to contemplative practices such as yoga and meditation. She quickly realized that the more she practiced, the more comfort she felt, even while grieving such a tragic loss.

A decade later, Angie’s sister Stephy was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Stephy fought bravely but lost her battle in 2014. It was at this time that Angie’s meditation practice turned outward, toward teaching. She wanted to share meditation with her young nieces and nephews, who were grieving the loss of their mother, as she had once been taught to do. To learn how to deliver lessons to children, Angie attended the Mindful Schools K-12 curriculum training in 2012.

That experience led to her first professional writing project. Her children’s meditation teachings came to life in her first book, Mad to Glad: A Mindfulness Lesson on Emotion, available wherever books are sold. Angie has also studied in the Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction teaching program through UMass Medical School in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts. She is honored to share meditation with those who come to Stephy’s Place, both children and adults. She loves being outdoors with her husband Toby and their two boys, Kellen and Kieren, and happily spends her days playing with the kids, practicing yoga, sharing essential oils, and deepening a daily meditation practice. To learn more, visit MindfulAromatherapy.com.

Group Facilitator

I am very happy to be volunteering as a facilitator for the loss of spouse group at Stephy’s Place. I lost my dear husband, Bob Kelleher, in 2009, when he was only 47 years old and our son Patrick was 10. I so wish Stephy’s Place had existed back then. I know that grieving is hard work, and Stephy’s Place provides a safe haven that helps support this process. I have been volunteering here since 2017, and I know how important having this place to go has become for my group.

After my husband passed, I had to reinvent myself. After a career of more than 25 years in the fashion industry in New York, I decided to open my own business and become an entrepreneur. The commute to New York was difficult with a 10-year-old son at home, so in 2010 I opened Cups & Cakes Bakery, Cafe and Juice Bar in Rumson. The business and my wonderful staff have been a part of my healing process, and remain so to this day. The important thing to remember is that there is always hope, and always the ability to live a happy, fulfilling life again.

Founder & Executive Director

Sheila Martello moved to Rumson 23 years ago with her husband Jim and their two boys, James and Thomas. Less than two weeks later, Jim was killed in the tragic events of September 11th. Forced to face her “New Life,” she found comfort attending the New Life Support Group at Holy Cross in Rumson. Together with others who had suffered similarly, Sheila traveled through her grief journey for three years, attending her support group once a week.

In 2012, Sheila met Stephy, a terminally ill woman who touched her heart. After meeting Stephy, Sheila became determined to provide a place for people who are grieving. She came to realize that she, and the others in their New Life Support Group, had been given a gift: a gift of love and support that is not afforded to just anyone. That day, she vowed that someday she would open a “Place” for anyone suffering the loss of a loved one. On September 1st, 2015, that vow became a reality, and Stephy’s Place, a Support Center for Grief and Loss, officially opened.

Sheila is a Certified Grief Services Provider and a Radical Living Coach, mentored by Dr. Alan Wolfelt of the Center for Loss and Life Transition in Fort Collins, Colorado. She is also the co-owner of a Jersey Mike’s Subs. Whether she is companioning a bereaved person or making a sub, her goal is to make a difference one person at a time. Sheila is the mother of three sons, James, Thomas, and Nick, and loves to bake, read, knit, and spend time with her family.

Group Facilitator

My name is Judy Schurgin, and I have lived in Monmouth County for the last thirty-five years. Even as a child, I was the type to reach out and help others. In second grade, Felix joined our class. He could not speak English, and in some way I thought it was my job to help him through his school days. The teacher wrote a note to my parents saying she was sure I would become a teacher. Her prediction came true: I became a special education teacher for twenty years before retiring.

I had two children. My son Aaron was diagnosed with cancer in 2014. He had three chemotherapy treatments before he began feeling really unwell. He checked into Sloan Kettering Hospital in New York City, where he lived. Shortly thereafter, he fell into a coma. The doctors confirmed that he had been bitten by a West Nile mosquito that ravaged his brain. We lost him in September 2014, at 37 years old.

Many years ago, when Aaron was a teenager, I became a leader of PFLAG, an international support group for parents of the LGBTQ community, and it was my pleasure to do so. After Aaron passed, I was once again in need of a support community. Luckily for me, I found Stephy’s Place. This is where I have felt at home. It is now my privilege to co-facilitate a grief support group for parents who have lost a child. We are in a club that no one wants to belong to, but together we learn that we can survive our loss and become stronger.

I am Trish Straine MacGregor, and I moved back to Monmouth County in the summer of 2001 from Hoboken, where I had lived with my beloved husband Jimmy and our two-year-old son Finn. I gave birth to our second son, Charlie, on September 5th, and Jimmy died on September 11th. I was suddenly facing a new and empty home, a new baby, and the death of my husband, the father of my boys. On September 10th I thought I had it all, and the next day my world fell apart.

I joined the New Life Support Group at Holy Cross in Rumson, and it truly saved me and my children. Without that community grieving alongside me, I would not be where I am today, as part of Stephy’s Place. We know from experience that you can move forward in the days, months, and years after the death of a loved one, and we are here to witness your grief and help you. I am fortunate enough to stay home with my four children (I later had another boy, Declan, and a daughter, Adele), and I love to help out at their schools, as well as reading, playing tennis, exercising, and walking our Vizsla, Goose.

Group Facilitator

My name is Jeanette Sheffer, and I am co-facilitator of the divorce group. I moved to Rumson in 2016 with my husband and the love of my life, Eric, and our puppy, Charlotte. Just five months later, my husband, one of the most dedicated physicians you could ever know, was feeling run down. He died hours after his diagnosis of Acute Myeloid Leukemia.

My pastor recommended I reach out to Stephy’s Place for help. I had faced other challenges in my life, having been previously divorced and a single mother for many years, but this road was new and treacherous. I know now that there is no straight line to recovery from grief. It is full of twists and turns and unexpected obstacles around every corner. Stephy’s Place has shown me a glimmer of light through the darkest of times, and, guided by my husband’s good example, I have set the intention to help support others who are suffering from grief due to death or divorce.

I was born and raised in Newark, NJ, and attended Catholic grammar and high school there. In 1968, I graduated from the College of Saint Elizabeth in Convent Station, NJ, with a degree in Sociology. I worked as a social worker in the clinic and on the psychiatric floor at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Paterson, NJ. In 1971, I became Director of the Social Service Department at Crippled Children’s Hospital in Newark, where I met my husband, an orthopedic resident at the time.

We moved to the Jersey Shore, where he started his orthopedic practice. I had two children, Jennifer and Arun, and after they were older I returned to work, first at Westwood Hall Nursing Home in Long Branch, then at Ocean Township Human Services, and later as my husband’s office manager. My husband, Anand, died in January 2019 of end-stage kidney disease. He had received a kidney from another doctor at Jersey Shore Medical Center.

In March 2019, I attended a group at Stephy’s Place. The group became a lifeline for me, and I learned how to cope with my grief. I realized that the support, love, and encouragement our group gave one another was life changing. I wanted to give back what I learned and experienced at Stephy’s Place, and to be a companion to others on their own unique grief journey.

Volunteer

Let me introduce myself: I am Tara Butler, a loving wife to my husband Matt for 25 years and a proud mother to Brian (20) and Sean (18). My family is my greatest joy, and I am grateful for their love and support. Stephy’s Place came into my life last February when I started to volunteer my time, and I have enjoyed it immensely. It is humbling, and an honor, to support the beneficiaries of Stephy’s Place, who are all suffering from great loss.

I hold a BA in Psychology and Finance from the College of New Jersey, and had a career as a financial analyst for a Fortune 500 financial services firm before taking a break from the workplace to focus on raising my family. Volunteer work kept me busy for several years, including as PTA Treasurer, a member of the School Finance Board, and head of the Ambassador Program at Holy Cross School. I currently work as a real estate agent for Heritage House Sotheby’s, where I combine my financial expertise with my love of people and community to serve my clients’ greatest need: finding a place they can call home.

I am very fortunate to have a large extended family. In addition to spending time with family and friends, I enjoy long walks on the boardwalk, yoga, and knitting. I have been blessed in many ways, so I try to give back by being kind to everyone I meet. You can brighten someone’s day with a smile and a kind word, and it never fails to make your own day better too.