about us
who we are
An unplanned pregnancy can be a fearful and lonely thing. Some difficult choices become serious considerations. We believe women have a right to know the truth regarding their options.
We provide a caring and confidential atmosphere. Clients meet with well-trained, dedicated, and understanding client advocates, equipped to help meet various needs.
We are also committed to creating awareness within the community of the pressures facing teens, women, and families with unplanned pregnancies. We develop co-laboring relationships with churches and emphasize reconciliation within the family and the church.
CARING, COMPASSIONATE, CONFIDENTIAL
Bonnie Martinelli
Bonnie began volunteering for Care Net initially as a board member in 2001-2003. During that time, she also became a Client Advocate so she could understand the ministry better. Throughout the years she volunteered on the banquet committees. In 2017 she returned as a board member and in January of 2019 she also was volunteering as the interim Executive Director until one was hired. Little did she know that God was calling her to this position and she officially started April 1, 2019.
Bonnie has been married to Bil for 33 years and has 3 terrific grown children and one wonderful son-in-law. Bonnie has lived in Vero Beach over 30 years.
Vicki Fannin
Vicki Fannin is the Office Manager at Care Net Pregnancy Center. She performs administrative duties directly related to the operations of the center. This includes reports, accounts receivable and payable, maintaining the database and correspondence with our donors. She also takes pleasure in assisting with the annual fundraising events and occasionally gets to use her creative skills. She first volunteered with Care Net and then joined the staff in January 2000. She has a strong commitment to the pro-life position and finds it an honor to serve as an ambassador of Jesus Christ along with the other staff, volunteers and Champions of the Care Net ministry.
Vicki has three children, six grandchildren and has lived in Vero Beach for 30 years. She is originally from Dayton, Ohio and graduated from East Carolina University in Greenville, NC.
Teri Myers
Teri is the Director of Client Services at Care Net IRC. She started volunteering for the Walk for Life in 2022 and then became the Director of Client Services the same year. Twelve years prior, she started a business from scratch – a senior assisted living home. Teri created all policies and procedures to meet state requirements with employees and clients. Her experience there – consistently looking for ways to improve efficiency and provide excellent care – has equipped her in her current role as Director of Client Services. Her mom volunteered for many years at a pregnancy center like Care Net, so Teri considers her involvement with Care Net as part of honoring her mom’s legacy.
Teri lived in Grand Ledge, Michigan, and moved to Sebastian in 2017. She has been married to her husband Phillip for 36 years, and they have 2 children, 4 grandchildren, and a one-year-old puppy.
Lynn Ullestad, RN, MHA
Lynn is Care Net IRC’s first Medical Services Manager. God led Lynn to Care Net when a friend invited her to our 2023 Walk for Life, and she joined our staff in May 2023, just three months before we moved into our new facility on Medical Mile.
Lynn spent almost all of her 30+ year career at Carle Hospital in east central Illinois, including as an Emergency Room Nurse, Director of critical care transport, director of the heart and vascular institute and, most recently, regional executive system strategist. Working as an air ambulatory nurse allowed Lynn to work directly with high risk OB patients, NICU babies, and high risk pediatric patients. Lynn holds a Bachelor’s degree in Nursing from Olivet Nazarene College and a Master’s in Healthcare Administration from the University of Phoenix.
After living most of her life in her hometown of Champaign, Illinois, Lynn and her husband Kevin moved to Vero in 2020 to “retire early and move where it’s warm” – and while they love the weather, they both have enjoyed taking on new jobs. They have two children and five grandchildren.
Kerry Johnson, RDMS
Kerry is the Lead Sonographer at Care Net IRC. She has been with our this Center since 2019 when she first assisted expanding the Center’s Medical Services by launching an on-site ultrasound program. Prior to that, Kerry was the sole ultrasound tech at two crisis pregnancy centers in Connecticut, and she helped launch & manage an ultrasound mobile unit. She moved to Vero Beach in 2017. Kerry earned her RDMS, a Registered Diagnostic Medical Sonographer in Boston, MA, and is able to perform 1st, 2nd, and 3rd-trimester obstetric ultrasounds. She also has a BA from the University of Chicago in Behavioral Science.
What makes Care Net IRC different from other centers is Kerry schedules the ultrasound appointment around the father of the baby’s schedule so he can be present for the exam. That means she often works after hours and on Saturdays so the dad-to-be can be there. Also, other centers only offer first-trimester ultrasound exams, versus because of Kerry’s medical credentials, Care Net IRC can perform 2nd and 3rd trimester limited OB exams.
Gladys Kramer
Gladys is the Baby Boutique Manager at Care Net IRC, who oversees, trains, schedules, and coordinates volunteers in the Baby Boutique. She started volunteering at Care Net in 2012 as a client advocate for Spanish and English clients, and has wanted to work full time at Care Net ever since 2012. In 2022, she became part-time Manager of the Baby Boutique, and still hopes to work full time here one day. Gladys considers her role not as a job, but as a pleasure!
Gladys went to high school and college in Argentina and moved to the US in 1999. She has 10 years of office management experience in Real Estate, and 12 years of experience in rental properties management experience. She has been married to her husband Kenny for 19 years and has 4 children and 12 grandchildren.
Angela Simmers
Denise Courtemanche
Denise has been Center Assistant at Care Net IRC since Spring 2022. She learned about Care Net after helping with a baby shower at Vero Christian Church, and soon afterward, she began volunteering as a receptionist. A few months later, she joined the staff part-time! Denise enjoys helping around the Center by doing a little bit of everything, from pulling statistic reports, typing notes, to depositing coins from the Baby Bottle Campaign. Her administrative skills developed through working for an engineering firm and homeschooling her only child.
Denise and her husband of 30+ years, John, moved from Tulsa, Oklahoma, to Vero in 2017 to be near family. They have one son, Chris, and a granddog named Bella.
