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Five Join Youth Services System Board
Posted 02/07/19Contact: Betsy Bethel-McFarland: 304-218-2870
WHEELING, W.Va. -- Nov. 23, 2018 – Youth Services System Inc. welcomes five new members to its volunteer board of directors.
Meredith Dailer is a 2001 graduate of Fairmont State University and associate principal at Wheeling Park High School. She was a social studies teacher and varsity girls’ basketball coach at Wheeling Park High School and an assistant principal with Ohio County Schools. She is a past president of the Junior League of Wheeling and is a member of its board of directors. She and her husband Jacob live in Wheeling with their two children, Tessa and Cal.
Robert Dobkin, J.D., is a trust officer with WesBanco Trust and Investment Services in Wheeling. He previously served on the board of Big Brothers Big Sisters, which is now the Youth Mentoring Network at Youth Services System. The Wheeling native is a graduate of John Marshall High School and West Virginia Northern Community College. He received a Bachelor of Organizational Leadership degree from Wheeling Jesuit University and a Juris Doctor from Duquesne University School of Law. Prior to WesBanco, he worked as a senior field representative at Chesapeake Energy and practiced law at Dickie, McCamey and Chilcote in Pittsburgh. He lives in Wheeling with his wife Amy and their son Ben.
Emily Freeman is a certified financial planner for Raymond James Financial Services in Wheeling. She was born and raised in Wheeling and is a 2007 graduate of Wheeling Park High School. She earned a bachelor's degree from Seton Hill University while playing for the women’s soccer team. Although she spent time in Florida, she is excited to be back in her hometown and enjoys being involved in the community. Currently, she is a youth mentor through Youth Services’ Youth Mentoring Program and the soccer coach for the Wheeling Area Soccer Association U-12 Girls’ team.
William C. Mercer, M.D., has been a board certified family and geriatric medicine physician practicing in Wheeling for 36 years. He has been the Ohio County Health Department medical officer for 20 years and has overseen Project Hope, Wheeling’s homeless medical outreach program, for 12 years. He is the medical director of Peterson Rehabilitation Hospital, founded and runs the Joe Too Cool to Smoke campaign and sits on the steering committee for the Community Impact Coalition. He serves on the boards of the Tuberculosis Association, the Greater Coalition for the Homeless and Wheeling Health Right. He was the West Virginia Family Physician of the Year in 2008 and the Youth Services System Good Samaritan Award honoree in 2016. He and his wife Gigi live in Wheeling and have four grown children.
Susan Mortakis retired last year after serving for more than 30 years as an Ohio County juvenile probation officer. Over the past year, she worked in the office of Ohio County Circuit Court Senior Status Judge Arthur Recht. The Wheeling native graduated from Marshall University and received a master’s degree in counseling from West Virginia University. She has worked closely with Youth Services System over the years and been a member of the Community Impact Coalition. She and her husband Jim live in Wheeling and have two grown daughters.
The YSS board officers for 2018-19 are Emily S. Fisher, chair; Dion Scripture, vice chair; Zak Zatezalo, secretary; and Justin Pastorius, financial committee chair.
Also serving on the board are E. Marc Abraham, Art Bertol, Darryl E. Clausell, Edward J. Corbitt, Ralph Edwards, Robert J. Gaudio, Rod Lee and Wayne Smith.
About Youth Services System, Inc.
Youth Services System, Inc. is committed to responding to the complex needs of youth at serious risk. For over 44 years, Youth Services System, Inc. has reached thousands of youth and their families with our shelter, residential, community-based and professional services. Together with youth and their families, we work to improve their physical and emotional well-being, to address the debilitating effects of abuse, addiction, and trauma, and to build the skills and connections they need to be successful. Supported by our volunteer Board of Directors, dedicated staff, and faithful community support, Youth Services System, Inc. makes an impact in the lives of youth. For more information, visit www.youthservicessystem.org.