
Founder: Andy Rumford

President: Luis Tovar
Abstracted from comments written by Ms. Joan Holiday in the Daily Local News
Community advocates have an inborn sense of idealism and morality, but what sets them apart is that they are not idle dreamers; they are activists in supporting and making visible the needs within a community. Luis Tovar is one of these advocates. Luis stands out as personifying and living the qualities of a true advocate. Luis has two arenas that he engages the advocate role—one with the Latino community and the other with those impacted by drug addiction. Having been affected by heroin drug addiction in his own family, Luis deeply understood the need for parents, families and friends to have support and reassurance as they navigate through this nightmare of addiction. He joined Kacie’s Cause, an organization started by Andy Rumford after Andy suffered the death of his daughter, Kacie to a heroin overdose. Since 2013, Luis and Andy together have built an organization that serves as a leading outreach and advocacy group for issues related to drug addiction. Luis Tovar is passionate about his advocacy role, which helps inspire others to face the reality of the needs of the community’s vulnerable.
Luis knows that he must walk the talk and demonstrate his own commitment in whatever he engages. And, compassion is at the top of the list. Luis understands the pain of the disenfranchised community members, whether they be forgotten in the community mainstream or are affected by an addiction. Luis listens, counsels and promotes, which is the true balm for healing wounds. Southern Chester County is fortunate to have a person like Luis Tovar, who has essentially devoted his life to being a community advocate.
Board Members

Dr. Barry Tomasetti

Kristen Audette
Kristen is a Penn State University Graduate with a Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice. Kristen formerly worked as a parole officer for the Chester County Adult Probation and Parole Department for 10 years. She did specialized work with chronic substance users and is currently employed with Ameriprise Financial. She is committed to working within our communities and schools to promote awareness of the heroin epidemic, substance abuse, and addiction of our youth. Since 2014, Kristen has been an active member of the Kacie’s Cause Parkesburg Chapter. She is also a member of the American Legion Ladies Auxiliary. She loves spending time with her 6-year-old daughter, riding horses, and enjoying quality time with family.

Francis C. Miller, Esq.

Adam Sledd

Rob Strauber
Rob began his career in the addictions field managing the operations of a 19-bed recovery house outside of Reading, PA. Rob developed the Recovery Oriented Community at Malvern Institute before coming to Recovery Centers of America. Having performed over 700 interventions and as an Certified Intervention Professional (CIP), an Advance Certified ARISE Interventionist (CAI-II) and a Certified Recovery Specialist (CRS), Rob works with the entire family unit to help create plans to seek, support and sustain recovery. A person in long-time recovery himself since 2007, Rob is an active member of the recovery community, Chester County Drug and Alcohol Advisory Board Member and his church. Rob can be reached at 484.716.1435 or rstrauber@recoverycoa.com

Pastor Daniel Nicewonger
Originally from upstate NY, Daniel has spent time in Harrisburg, PA, Malden, MA, Cortland, NY, Springfield, MA, and Locust, NC before moving to Kennett Square in 2014. Daniel previously served as pastor of First Baptist Church of Kennett Square. His passion is to help people encounter God in the midst of their everyday lives. Daniel has worked to support the efforts of Kacie’s cause over the past four years. First Baptist Church has hosted events such as the Annual International Overdose Awareness Day. A Kacie’s Cause parent support group formerly met at Daniel’s church. Daniel has a B.A. in Christian Education for Messiah College and a Masters of Divinity from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Daniel has experience working to start and sustain non-profit organizations. While in North Carolina he helped start Live Again Ministries. Together, Daniel and Nancy (Dan’s wife) started and sustain A Place in the Conversation. Daniel and Nancy have two adult children, Joseph and Rayann. Joseph recently graduated from UNC Charlotte and lives in Atlanta, Georgia. Rayann is a student at West Chester University. To learn more about Daniel visit danielnicewonger.com.