Meet the Humans

Board President: John Santerineross

John has a way with animals- they all love him! Anytime there is an event at which there is an animal of any species, they seem drawn to him. All of his personal pets have been rescues, from dogs and cats to a senior iguana that had been abandoned. His compassion combined with his focus and experience makes him a truly invaluable member of the Vincent's Place Board of Directors. After teaching art at New Jersey City University for 25 years, his creative thinking has been an incredible resource and we are so grateful for his insight.

John has been an advocate for equal rights for humans for decades, even working with Act Up! in NYC during the AIDS crisis in the 80's. He now advocates for animal rights as well.

Board Vice President: K. Ken Johnston

Ken graduated with degrees in Theatre and English from LaGrange College where he received the Ingrid Bergman Scholarship and Irene Arnett Drama Award. He is certified in Historic Interpretation by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation.

As the Director of History Now, he does freelance work in which he interprets a variety of historic characters. At the Smithsonian he has done work with the National Archives, the National Portrait Gallery and the National Museum of American History. Additionally, he has provided Living History programming to English Heritage-United Kingdom, George Washington’s Mount Vernon, the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, the National Park Service, The National Civil War Naval Museum, and the Atlanta History Center. He has performed in Shakespearean theatre, children’s theatre, improv Comedy, TV commercials on the Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim, low budget sci-fi/horror movies and toured with a rock band in North America and Europe.

In his Living History career, Ken has had extensive experience working with and caring for animals – horses, mules, sheep, goats, cattle, chickens, and turkeys. His familiarity with, and respect for, these (and all) fellow creatures leads him to be an enthusiastic supporter of the mission of animal rescue.

He is also the Chairperson for our Fundraising Event Planning Committee

Board Treasurer and Founder: Heather Santerineross

As mentioned in our About Us page, Heather is the founder of the sanctuary. Her years of experience in bookkeeping prior to her becoming chronically ill gives her the knowledge and experience to be our treasurer (we have never met anyone else who actually enjoys spreadsheets - lol).

Heather is an advocate for the animals, but also for awareness regarding social issues such as agism and ableism. It is because of her experience as a "spoonie" that Vincent's Place will be accessible to everyone of every level of ability. We will not be offering goat yoga, we will be offering "naps with goats" because that is something that everyone can enjoy- whether you are an Olympian or require a mobility device (our raised beds will be created for ease of transfer from mobility devices). She has partnered with fellow sanctuary founder Tanya from Live Freely Sanctuary in Florida to raise awareness for invisible illnesses.

5 years vegan and never looking back, she is a gentle guide to anyone open to trying to eliminate animal products from their lives. She has also volunteered at several sanctuaries and been part of many farm animal rescues over the past 5 years- from goats to rabbits, horses to pigs. She cares for the wildlife that calls Vincent's Place home.

Board Secretary: Jimmy Hixenbaugh

A veteran and the inspiration for our desire to create a free animal therapy program for local veterans and first responders, Jimmy served in the Army from 1999-2009, including multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. He is a warrior and we are so fortunate to have such a brave, dedicated and compassionate person on our Board!

Jimmy works in construction and his knowledge in this has already proven to be so incredibly helpful as we build our sanctuary literally from the ground up!

Over the past 5 years, he has been a foster dad to a dozen dogs that would have not had a very good chance at being adopted from Animal Control. Especially good with "reactive" dogs, he works to help these high risk shelter dogs become the sweet, loving dogs that they truly are and they can then be adopted out to loving homes. He also has 3 rescue dogs of his own and is very active with the local dog rescue in Athens, GA.

Megan Corinda Gibison, Assistant Secretary

The youngest member of our Board, Corinda is an animal lover who brings her energy and enthusiasm to the table along with a fresh sense of advocacy. We first met her when she offered to help table at our first event and she has been involved in the creation of Vincent's Place ever since!

Her latest rescue adventure included running through the woods in her pajamas and slippers to help a puppy in need! That puppy now lives at Vincent's Place as a spoiled member of the family; her name is Obake.

She is a vocalist, and we cannot wait for our rescues to be serenaded by her beautiful singing voice.