April 2024 – HopeTree Family Services

Home > HopeTree Appoints Paxton to Vice President and Chief Operations Officer

SALEM, Va. (April 16, 2024) – HopeTree Family Services, a leader in mental and behavioral health services, has appointed Randi Paxton as Vice President and Chief Operations Officer. In this role, she is responsible for leading the agency’s programs and services lines that include Therapeutic Foster Care, Therapeutic Group Homes, Developmental Disabilities Ministry, HopeTree Academy, and Family Centered Treatment. Paxton will work with countless internal and external teams to improve and implement changes to increase efficiency and productivity.

Paxton has 22 years of experience working with youth, adults, and families in residential and community-based settings. Before joining HopeTree, Paxton served in a variety of leadership roles in a community-based mental health organization for the past seventeen years, most recently as Executive Director. In addition to her leadership experience, Paxton has worked as a clinician working with high-risk populations, primarily children and families.

“We conducted an exhaustive search for our VP & COO and I could not be happier with Randi’s appointment,” said Jon Morris, President and CEO of HopeTree. “We ultimately chose Randi because of her strengths in balancing the goals of developing people and strong teams while producing growth and quality outcomes that improve the lives of those we serve. Randi is not only a great fit to our current culture, but she will help us build and improve our culture moving forward.”

“Through my career I have devoted my life to helping underserved populations and improving the communities I have lived in,” said Paxton. “I believe that the core of human decency is kindness and compassion, but also serving as the foundation for strong leadership and strong organizations. That’s why my focus will be working with each of our programs to strengthen our services and their quality, ultimately supporting our goal to be the premier faith related human service provider in Virginia.”

A Roanoke native, Paxton holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Social Work from James Madison University. She previously served on the Board for the National Alliance on Mental Illness for six years, and on the Board of Directors for the Virginia Association of Community Based Providers for a total of eight years. Passionate about advocating for those who cannot advocate for themselves, Paxton believes it takes everyone’s involvement to change the landscape of human services to ensure that vulnerable populations have the resources needed to be successful in life.

Home > HopeTree Appoints Estrada to Director of Foster Care & Adoptions

SALEM, Va. (April 5, 2024) – HopeTree Family Services, a leader in mental and behavioral health services, has appointed April Estrada as Director of Foster Care & Adoptions where she will be responsible for ensuring the Foster Care program operates in accordance with all licensing and best practice regulations and must ensure that all offices have consistent practices led by leaders who embody the mission and core values of HopeTree. Estrada will work with internal and external teams to improve and implement changes for HopeTree’s Foster Care program with a focus to increase efficiency and productivity.

Estrada has nearly 30 years of experience in foster care and human services, working with youth, and families in residential and community-based settings. Prior to joining HopeTree, Estrada served as the Foster Care Director at Impact Living Services where she started the foster care program. In this role she managed all operations and admissions, wrote policies and procedures, onboarded foster parents, and implemented electronic records for all the organization’s programs.

“I am so excited for April to join our team and be the next leader of our Foster Care Program,” said Jon Morris, President and CEO of HopeTree. “She not only has tremendous passion for serving children and families, but she has a proven track record of leading and growing foster care programs and she is a trusted leader and voice in child welfare across the Commonwealth.”

Estrada admires HopeTree’s dedication to living out the mission and core values and feels that it is easily discernable to anyone in the community who interacts with the organization. “Whether it’s their services, programs, or the people, I have always had deep respect and appreciation for HopeTree,” said Estrada. She says that she is excited about being part of a culture that focuses on enhancing the lives of clients, communities and staff through servant leadership, intentional relationship building, striving for excellence, being good stewards of what we are given and being accountable to each other and others they serve. “Cultivating relationships is the most important thing any of us can do to bring health and healing to any situation. HopeTree gets that.”

Estrada holds a Master of Science degree in Clinical Psychology from Radford University. She has served as past president of the Virginia Association of Licensed Child Placing Agencies, along with serving as a member of Governor Youngkin’s Safe and Sound Task Force, the Floyd County Family Assessment Planning Team, and the Piedmont Region Child Fatality Review Team.