WellSurgent

Executive Director | Patty Schaeffer

Patty has a natural ability to connect with people and extensive awareness of resources. Her dedication to serving people sets her apart. As a NC Certified Peer Support Specialist, Patty has been able to listen, encourage and lift others when they fall. She is fearless as she works toward her goal “to love all…serve all” and “empowering people with personal responsibility for wellness and a quality of life full of hope that define a person’s best self”. As a person with long term recovery in both substance use disorder and mental health challenges, Patty has experienced the struggles and rewards on the journey to becoming a productive and balanced individual.

Patty spends most of her time in the community building relationships with stakeholders and connecting individuals in need with appropriate services. She has a never give up attitude that is infectious and she is a strong advocate for those she supports which is demonstrated by her recent appointments to the NC State Consumer and Family Advisory Committee and Leadership Fellows Academy.

In addition to Peer Support training, Patty teaches and facilitates Wellness Recovery Action Plan® workshops where she uses her real-life experience and unique skills, talents, and abilities to help people of all walks of life in North Carolina. She also teaches the suicide prevention course, Question-Persuade-Refer, for organizations and communities that need it most. She puts a piece of herself into her work and takes great pleasure in the success of others, and often spends extra time outside of class to help participants who need a little more help.

Whether she’s at a conference or interacting in the community, Patty listens and talks to people at their wellness level and in their phase of recovery. She dedicates many hours of her personal time to help those who need a strong, knowledgeable voice on their behalf. Throughout her work, she has displayed an ability to find the strengths in people presented to her, change problems into needs, and then to create goals and objectives to meet these needs.

Patty lives in western North Carolina with her husband of 30 years, and is a proud mother of 3 adult children. She loves relaxing and recharging at mountain retreats sitting around a fire with her closest friends.