Support Coordination

Avenues to Independent Living is a released agency

Meet Our Coordinators:

Ryann Mikstas

Ryann is a former teacher with a specialty Special Education. She wanted to learn more about the world of Adult Services and Next Steps for kids with disabilities as they age out of the School Systems, she became a Support Coordinator in 2016. She enjoys helping families learn more about the resources available to them in their own communities as well as navigating the overall system of choosing from services in the adult world.

Ryann is married and a mother to four children. She also likes spending time volunteering as a Room Mom at her children’s’ school and serving on various Parent Committees there.

Tina Rachubinski

Working at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Children’s Seashore for most of Tina’s professional accounting career made it an easy transition for her when she came aboard as a Support Coordinator for Avenues to Independent Living in July of 2017.

Having an older sibling diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy and her youngest son Bryce with various health concerns drove Tina to find her passion with helping others navigate thru the medical and financial aspects that at times can be so challenging. Tina and her husband Daryl also have their oldest son Chase who is currently attending University of Delaware. Tina’s close relationships with her clients and their families is extremely important to her-and she will aid them in ALL endeavor’s they would like to pursue. Finding her client’s support services and seeing there reaction when that service they have desperately needed is now there reality gives Tina motivation to be the best support coordinator she can be. 

Meghan Dobins

Meghan worked as an accountant for 10 years before taking some time off to stay home with her children.  As her kids became older she wanted to pursue other opportunities and became interested in social work.  Meghan started working at Avenues to Independent Living as a Support Coordinator in the summer of 2019. One of Meghan’s favorite parts of her job is interacting with her clients and their families. She finds it rewarding to help clients find services that support their needs and interests and watch them thrive. Meghan is married with two school age children. In her free time she enjoys reading, spending time with her family, and volunteering in her local school district. She loves to travel and loves Disney World. 

Jennifer Szymanik

Jennifer has always had a passion for helping others, which led her interest in social work. She went on to graduate from Rutgers University with a degree in Social Work. She enjoys interacting with clients and their families, in order to connect them with services that support their needs and interests. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with family, being outdoors, and training jiu jitsu. She loves to travel and loves all things Disney.

Joe Pegues

After teaching Secondary English for 29 years in the Woodbury City Public Schools, Joe Pegues retired from teaching and joined Avenues to Independent Living as a Support Coordinator in July 2018. He had worked as a DSP for Avenues since 2006. He is married to Nancy Curtis, and has three adult children: Amanda, Annie and CJ. Joe sees support coordination as another way to serve his community and a logical next step in his lifelong commitment to community engagement and service. He was appointed to the Woodbury BOE in December 2018, and was elected to a three year term in 2019. He is a past president of Woodbury Main Street, Inc., serves as a Troop Committee Member for BSA Troop 7007 in Woodbury, and is still active as a coach and official for US Swimming year round.  

Andre Johnson

Andre started out as a DSP when he joined avenues in 2013. He started working as support coordinator in 2015 and has remained with the department ever since. Working in support coordination has allowed Andre to use all of the skills he has acquired along the way.  During his time as either a DSP, job coach, or now as a support coordinator his ability and his dedication to helping people with disabilities always has and always will be a strong focus for Andre.

Tiara Francis

Hi my name is Tiara. I joined Avenues as a support coordinator in 2018. My love for my clients is indescribable. Gaining experience from being a DSP for a couple of years. It’s always been my goal to support those with develop mental disabilities and making their lives monumental.

Desiree Laspata

“I cannot do all the good that the world needs. But the world needs all the good that I can do.”

– Jana Stanfield

Desiree began her service at Avenues in January of 2021. Before becoming a support coordinator, she spent some time working in a nursing home as a CNA. Most recently, she provided support for children in a self-contained special education class at an elementary school in her area. While working with children who had various levels and types of disabilities, Desiree discovered a love for the field of human services and decided to further her education. After being a stay-at-home mom for over 10 years, she pursued her Bachelor’s degree from Wilmington University in Behavioral Science in August of 2020. She is an active member of the community, and she regularly assists at her children's schools and other charitable events.

Desiree has three young children; her greatest joy is spending time and making memories with her family. Additionally, she has a passion for photography and traveling. She spends much of her free time watching her boys play ice hockey and watching her daughter play softball.  

Desiree is a person of strong conviction and dedication to others that is demonstrated not only through her service to her family and community, but also through her hard work and commitment to the clients she serves every day.  

Christopher Reduker

Christopher is former IT professional with a Bachelor’s Degree in Cyber Security, joining Avenues to Independent Living as a Support Coordinator in 2021. Having worked in the IT field for the past 7 years, Christopher understands that helping clients learn to use new technology is a very rewarding experience, for both the client and himself. He strongly believes that technology can open new avenues to learning and opportunities in life that had not existed before. This passion for technology led him to work for multiple IT companies and pursue higher education. Christopher’s professional journey led to working for Avenues to Independent Living as a contractor, which allowed him to see how Avenues to Independent Living is helping to enrich the lives of their clients, and the members of the communities that they service. Over the period of his contract work with Avenues to Independent Living, Christopher began to realize that while technology is one of his passions, helping others is just as important to him.

The mission of Avenues to Independent Living “Assist and support people with varied abilities to live a more independent life, increase socialization and actively participate in their community” aligned with the work he did volunteering as a youth through the Boy Scouts and his church. Having family members with developmental disabilities made this even more clear to Christopher how important the mission of Avenues to Independent Living is on a personal level. Christopher joins the Support Coordinator team with the goal of making the individuals’ lives better through the work he will be doing through his role at Avenues to Independent Living