MEET THE BOARD
AMY SHAHEEN MSN, RN, CNL, CCRN-POD
Board Chair
Amy has lived in Jacksonville for 45 years. Married to her high school sweetheart, she and her husband have 2 wonderful boys, Nick and Christopher. She has been a nurse for 24 years and has spent the last 15 years employed at Baptist Health & Wolfson Children's Hospital. Her youngest son, Christopher has a brittle
bone disease and has undergone 20 surgeries at Wolfson Children's Hospital. As a nurse and mother of a special needs child, she has a thorough understanding and passion that allows her to form special bonds with the patients and parents.
STACEY MERRITT
Board Secretary
Stacey is a wife and mother to four beautiful children. She and her husband run a homeschool on top of being small business owners. Originally from Wisconsin, she moved to Florida in order to attend Florida Southern College which is where she met her husband on the waterski team. She finished her degree in Education in her husband's hometown of Jacksonville at the University of North Florida. Both her degree and passion are focused on special education and teaching her children. She is also a “heart mom" and is extremely honored to serve the families of Jacksonville through The Healing Hearts Project.
JOY PARMAN
Executive Director
Joy is a co-founder and has officially served as the Executive Director for THHP since 2020. Originally from TN, but has had the pleasure of calling Jacksonville home for over 30 years, along with her husband Reed and their three daughters. Through her own experience as a mom to a child with CHD and other medical complexities, Joy has a passion for ensuring no one faces a diagnosis alone. When she's not advocating and educating our community on the needs and services we provide, she and her family love to travel.
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DONYA MARSHALL RN, BSN
Vice Chair
Donya is a nurse and mother to a tween with a congenital heart defect. Her personal understanding of both the daily and long-term physical, mental, emotional, and financial struggles of those dealing with medically complex issues is what drew her to serving local families through her role as Board Treasurer. Her goal as a board member for The Project is to remove some of the burdens for families diagnosed with CHDs. Since THHP was founded in 2016, the support and services have been beneficial in her own life, and she is constantly looking for ways to pay this forward. She believes we cannot expect to grow as an individual if we remain stagnant. She looks forward to connecting with and serving those affected by CHD in the northeast Florida region and beyond.
DANA NOLAN OD
Dana M. Nolan, OD, is a family optometrist who practices in the heart of Avondale. A Jacksonville native, Dana received her undergraduate degree in Biology from the University of South Florida, and her Doctorate in Optometry degree from Southern College of Optometry in Memphis, TN. She then returned home to practice optometry in 1998. After practicing in Orange Park for nine years, Dr. Nolan opened Vue Optical in October 2008. She is passionate about her family, including three uniquely wonderful girls.
TASHINA YOUNG
Support Facilitator
Tashina has been a teacher’s assistant at a local Montessori school in Jacksonville, FL, since 2019. She entered the position, new to the education field, and discovered a joy and a passion for working with students. Prior to then, she received her bachelor’s degree in business management in 2008, along with her master’s degree in human resources management, in 2012. Her career began in Human Resources, and she held various office positions throughout her career. She is a wife and a mom who is passionate about her family. She has two daughters, Alexis, who is a fun-loving and sweet little girl, and Zoe, her other baby girl, who is now a heart angel. Zoe was born rocking an extra twenty first chromosome. Prenatally, she was also diagnosed with a CHD. In celebration and in honor of her CHD Warrior Zoe, Tashina quickly determined that she wanted to bring awareness to other heart families, through encouragement, and supporting them through the various challenges that they are facing. She has been very helpful in continuing to support the Healing Hearts Support group, along with supporting the Bereaved Moms group.
NICOLE GARRETT
Treasurer
Nicole and her husband are blessed with four beautiful daughters, one of which is a heart warrior who also rocks an extra-twenty-first-chromosome. Nicole worked for eight years as an office manager for a counseling agency where she began recognizing the difficulties of all individuals no matter their background and observing how a smile and kind words do in fact change a person’s day. As her family grew she was called to stay at home and homeschool full time. Each new experience and opportunity she had raising and homeschooling her daughters strengthened her desire to give back to the community. She is an advocate for life long learning and is looking forward to learning and serving families.
LEAH MILLER
Leah was born and raised in Georgia and graduated from the University of Georgia, but Jacksonville is now home after almost 20 years. She is a wife and mother to 2 amazing boys. and the CEO of J. Riley Williams, PLC where she loves helping people navigate the home buying and selling process. Her passion to help others and her extended family's struggle with heart disease is one of the many reasons she wanted to give back to THHP. She hopes to learn more about the families and care needed in order to help out as much as possible.
