Our Team
Meet the team
Branches of Life team members have proudly served our surrounding intellectual disability and autism communities since 2013.
Shirley Hedeen
Co-owner, Director of Operations, WISA Practitioner
Responsible for keeping us all on track, Shirley constantly guides Branches in response to a rapidly changing environment while considering the best interest for all parties involved.
Jessee Helbert
Co-owner, Positive Behavior Support Facilitator
A licensed Virginia Special Educator with a Master’s in Adapted Curriculum, endorsed as a Positive Behavior Support Facilitator (PBSF), Jessee got her start teaching three years at Grafton and five years at Matoaca High School, where she developed and advised the inclusive Best Buds club that brought together people with and without disabilities. She has worked with individuals contending with autism, intellectual disabilities, physical impairments and communication challenges.
Her specialties are firmly rooted in the acquisition of independence, the development of age-appropriate and meaningful leisure activities as well as community inclusion opportunities. In addition to the incredible work she does here at Branches, Jessee also volunteered and coached for the Special Olympics in roller-skating, basketball, and softball – because team-building skills built on the field can always translate to the workplace.
Traci Brown
Co-owner, Positive Behavior Support Facilitator
Traci is a licensed Virginia Special Educator with over ten years of teaching individuals who experience significant intellectual and physical disabilities and autism. In 2011, she was awarded Teacher of the Year at Matoaca High School in Chesterfield County, Virginia. Drawing on her extensive training, including a Master’s in Special Education and Post-Baccalaureate Certificates in Autism and Applied Behavioral Analysis, endorsed as a Positive Behavior Support Facilitator (PBSF), she specializes in using high- and low-tech strategies to adapt tasks, materials and programs to accommodate full participation for all individuals; promoting independence and lifelong learning opportunities for a diverse range of abilities.
Traci’s influence extends beyond our clients as well. Whether she’s collaborating with the TTAC Center at VCU to develop and use high- and low-tech assistive technology solutions for individuals who experience physical or communication challenges, or developing and instructing others on the basics of the American Sign Language, she’s constantly looking to raise awareness, skills and competence of people who provide supports to individuals who experience disabilities.
Wendi Strickland
Co-owner, Board Certified Behavior Analyst, Director of Consultation Services
Passionate about true equality and its possibilities, Wendi works to provide services that help build self-esteem, strengthen methods of communication and provide respectful conflict resolution tools – as well as designing supports to increase social understanding and quality of life.
Wendi’s experience as a Special Education teacher and on-going interactions with our clients has given her valuable insights needed to provide targeted strategies to increase quality of life and decrease behavior problems. Relying on her degree in Psychology, a Master’s in Significant Disabilities and background experience, holding the Board Certified Behavior Analyst credential, along with her certification as a Positive Behavior Support Facilitator, Wendi’s favorite part is working hard from inside the system to create a higher standard through training and education.
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