About the Facilitators
Gerald Farinas
Born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, as the grandson and great grandson of sugarcane plantation laborers, Gerald Farinas attended Loyola University Chicago and Harper College. He is a Resident Services Director for Covenant Ministries of Benevolence and a dementia and Alzheimer’s educator. He is passionate about issues relating to hunger and civil liberties and he serves as a ruling elder at Edgewater Presbyterian Church in Chicago.
Vicky Curtiss
Vicky Curtiss is the Program Director for Siena Retreat Center, which includes her leading retreats and offering spiritual guidance. She has an M. Div. from McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago and served the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) for forty years as an ordained clergy in the roles of pastor, spiritual director, and presbytery executive. She has also been the director of three faith-based non-profit organizations. Vicky has been trained as a spiritual director, SoulCollage® facilitator, labyrinth facilitator, and grief support companion, and grief coach. Vicky also been a consultant to many organizations for envisioning and discernment which she included in a booklet she authored called "Guidelines for Communal Discernment." Vicky loves reading, theater, quilting, being in nature, and engaging in anti-racism work.