Team

Justin Leigh

House Director

Justin Leigh is an experienced addiction and mental health professional. After getting sober back in 2013, he has dedicated his life to helping others obtain physical and emotional sobriety. He understands that addiction goes beyond just drugs and alcohol, and in order to achieve long term sobriety it first starts with building a solid foundation supported by a positive community who can relate to the emotional struggles of addiction. Through his own experiences, Justin knows in order to achieve long term success it takes dedication, building life skills, ability to take a look at yourself internally, and knowing one can have fun in sobriety.

Justin grew up in San Diego and moved Los Angeles in 2013 to get sober. Justin currently attends Santa Monica College. On his free time, Justin enjoys hiking, golfing, playing video games, and learning computer programming, He is active member in his community and help spread awareness on addiction and mental health in hopes to end stigmas surrounding these issues.

Jonas Rogers

House Manager

Jonas Rogers is no stranger to alcoholism and drug addiction, after going through his own trials and tribulations in life he moved to LA in June last year and went through the Miracle House Foundation to begin his sober journey. After going through and graduating from the Miracle House Foundation he decided he wanted to dedicate his life to helping others get sober and give back to the house that gave him his life back. Jonas is very familiar with the struggles of growing up in an alcoholic household, the tramas that come with growing up in that type of environment and the struggles from battling his own addictions. Through these experiences Jonas knows how important it is to relate these things to new people beginning their sober journey and help guide them on a path to a better future.

Jonas grew up in Placerville, Ca and moved to Los Angeles June 2021. Jonas currently spends his days working for the Miracle House Foundation and in his free time he dedicates it to pursuing Skateboarding, music and art work.

William Joseph “Joe” Goodman

President

Senior Vice President, Chicago Title Company Commercial NCS; Executive Director B.O.D. Wonderseed Foundation

A true, personable leader, Joe is the recipient of the FNF Top Performer Award for 10 years running. He takes pride in offering unparalleled customer service and support while helping clients facilitate their complex real estate transactions. Joe and his team consistently deliver quality and resourcefulness to their customers while maintaining the utmost professionalism.

An avid outdoorsman, Joe enjoys spending his time golfing, fishing, and snowboarding. He resides in San Diego with Diane, his wife of 25 years, and son Brad.

Kendra Brunson

Secretary

Chair Support Sisterz

Before moving to Southern California in 2002, Kendra lived in Seattle where she enjoyed supporting her community. She is happily married with a son and recently became a grandmother. As a breast cancer survivor, Kendra is passionate about giving back to her community. Her journey in the recovery community began when someone very special to her was struggling with addiction. In an effort to best support them she sought out assistance and found New Life. She was so impressed by the level of care and treatment that was provided that she has remained involved in the recovery community through various capacities, including serving on the Miracle House Foundation’s Board.

In Kendra’s free time she enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, and working in fashion. Kendra loves to visit her mother, father, and siblings in the Pacific Northwest whenever she can.

Sara Ghassemy, M.A., LAADC, ICAADC

Member

Sara is a board member currently serving as the Community Relations Manager at Clear Behavioral Health and has over 10 years of experience working with individuals struggling with substance use and mental health disorders. Sara is a graduate from Pepperdine University with her Masters in Clinical Psychology and Licensed as an Advanced Alcohol and Drug Counselor.  Sara has extensive work experience in all levels of behavioral healthcare including psychiatric hospitals, inpatient residential, and outpatient treatment programs for adults and teens. Her clinical knowledge and work experience has allowed her to be key in building in provider relations and navigating clients into clinically appropriate treatment.

Sara is from the South Bay and she’s extremely passionate about helping the people in the community she was born and raised in. In her time-off, Sara enjoys outdoor activities such as hiking, backpacking, surfing, rock-climbing, running, and hanging out with friends and family.

Howard Barker

Member

Director of Communication Neuro Wellness Spa; Community Liaison Clear Recovery Center

Howard works to engage, educate, and support the South Bay community of those in recovery. He is focused on spreading education and awareness on issues surrounding mental health recovery and has spent the past 8 years working in the mental and behavioral health field. He is passionate about helping individuals in need find their way to healing. Howard’s experience in administrative and interpersonal aspects of behavioral health called him to assist Miracle House Foundation. Howard’s leadership and knowledge in the field are invaluable and he has assisted countless people within the recovery community.

In Howard’s free time he enjoys traveling and golfing with his wife, and two dogs. His mission is to live a healthy life style.

Robert Ulibarri

Member

From Albuquerque, New Mexico, Robert came to California in 2019 to seek treatment and himself and has been committed to recovery since. Robert has had experience fostering recovery within sober living environments in many different capacities and strives to utilize this experience to create an environment conducive to long term success and recovery for those at Miracle House Foundation. Concurrently Robert is a group facilitator, life coach, and sponsor for many within the recovery community at large, whilst also pursuing his degree in International Studies and Japanese Language at CSU Long Beach.

Denise Geltz

Member

Born and raised in Mississippi, Denise moved in 1986 to California—the state she now officially calls home. With her degree in Education, she started out as a teacher in Mississippi, followed by 10 years at St. Monica Catholic High School. After that, Denise married the love of her life, Ron, later becoming a stay-at-home mom for their 2 children. With both children now living on their own, Denise and Ron have only recently experienced being “empty nesters”. Denise enjoys volunteering and supporting her church community and has since gone back to working part-time for a friend’s business.  Growing up, Denise saw the unfortunate power of addiction through relatives that were never officially diagnosed. However, during the last few years, a very close family member was struggling with addiction, and with the help of professionals, was able to find New Life House. Denise was amazed by the treatment that was provided and the community that was built for both house members and their parents. Denise always wanted to give back to New Life community in any way and feels privileged to be part of the Miracle House Foundation Board. Denise enjoys cooking, hiking, traveling, and spending time with her family and friends. When time allows, she loves taking girlfriend get-away trips as well. Denise is also a grateful member of AL-ANON. She gets back to MS when she can to visit her Mom and extended family on occasion.