Sandra Lytikainen has worked for Pettibone in Baraga, Michigan, for the last 20 years in various sales and marketing positions. She is currently their Dealer Development Manager. Sandra met her husband, Mike, in her hometown of Arlington, Texas, and they have been married for 35 years. They moved to the U.P.—where Mike is originally from—to raise their three sons in a smaller community. Sandra was drawn to lead the new Baraga County FAN chapter because she lost her middle son, Benjamin, to an accidental drug overdose in 2016. He will be forever 25. “Bringing FAN to Baraga County is a way to honor Ben,” Sandra says. “It’s also a way to help guide those families that are living with active/recovering addiction issues, because we all know it’s a family disease.”

Rebecca Dove is currently the Community Outreach Coordinator for the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (KBIC) Office of Child Support, a position she has worked in for the past six months. She previously worked at the Baraga County Shelter Home for nine years as an Outreach Advocate. Rebecca helped bring FAN to Baraga County because she has personal experiences with addiction and what it does to families and loved ones. She also wants to better her community for her children as they grow up. Rebecca believes we need to do better, not only for the people of our community but for our children as well.

Kimberlee DeRosier-Gaunt (BS, LADC/ADCII) is an addictions counselor licensed in the states of Minnesota and Michigan. She holds an addiction counseling degree from MCTC in Minneapolis and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Currently working on her master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling at the University of Phoenix, Kimberlee will also specialize in grief work by attending Grief Support Specialist training at Northern Michigan University in the fall of 2022. Kimberlee is a recovering alcoholic/addict who received treatment at New Day Treatment Center in October of 2012 and has remained alcohol and drug-free ever since. She took her recovery and ran with it, in hopes of giving back to the community that helped her to get healthy and sober. Kimberlee returned to the Copper Country in 2021 after receiving her addiction counseling degree and substance use experience/recovery for four years in the Twin Cities of Minnesota. She has come full circle and is now a Substance Abuse Counselor at New Day Treatment Center in L’Anse, Michigan. Kimberlee’s motto is: “I not only want to be a part of the healing/recovery process of individuals, but want to be a part of getting the community I am sending them back to healthy and sober.”

Gail Ploe is a certified alcohol and drug counselor and certified prevention specialist with more than 20 years of experience in substance abuse prevention and treatment. She has worked at the Western U.P. Health Department for most of that time. She also worked as a women’s addiction specialist with Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (KBIC) and is the Project Director of the Facing Addiction through Community Engagement (FACE) Project. Passionate about helping people with substance use disorder (SUD), Gail has walked alongside friends and family struggling with addiction and is very excited to be a part of the Baraga County FAN Chapter.