EPOCA

Joe Yandle, President

Joe became active with EPOCA one year ago, and has volunteered roughly 30 hours a week from the day he entered our office at Stone Soup. Joe has spent most of his life in prison because of his role driving a getaway car 42 years ago. He is a warm, generous man with a strong grasp of policy and legislative strategy. This is Joe’s second term on the Board of Directors.

Benito Vega, Vice President

Benito has been with EPOCA since 2007.

Andrew Huasermann, Secretary
Andrew is in a graduate program at Clark University. He has been with EPOCA since 2005.

Hannah Caruso, Treasurer

Hannah is only the second person ever elected to EPOCA’s Board of Directors who does not have a criminal record. A recent graduate of Clark University, she has been a dedicated member for over two years, and she won our other members’ trust and respect a long time ago. Last summer, she raised money to work for EPOCA, and helped coordinate our members’ work at the State House. She is most passionate about one-to-one relationship-building as the foundation of community organizing, and she recently produced a video on 1:1’s, which is available elsewhere on the EPOCA site - here: The Power of One-on-Ones. Hannah is 22 years old and white. She is a 2nd term Treasurer.

Ecclesiastes Hall, Advisor
Ecclesiastes has been with EPOCA since 2009.

Steve Denson, Coordinator
We are fortunate to have Steve Denson as our Coordinator. He brings years of experience and perspective from addiction-recovery work, and is a highly respected member of the community. He works for the Everyday Miracles Peer Recovery Center, where he energizes and engages new people in EPOCA’s work on a daily basis. He also volunteered to come in on weekends to open the center so EPOCA would have a place to meet after a fire destroyed our home office and meeting space. Since then, he has become a public leader in our City ordinance campaign, addressing the City Council and participating in radio and cable talk shows. Steve is 48 years old and African American, and this is his first time on the Board of Directors.

Cassandra Bensahih, Communicator
Cassandra has been with EPOCA since 2009.