Ashley Miller has had a front row seat to the mission of Indian Creek Foundation since childhood. As a member of the same church as Joe Landis and Anna, Harley, and Allen Gehman, she understood from an early age that people with special needs deserve respect, support, and to be fully included in their communities. Not only did Ashley attend church with our first Executive Director and the family who influenced our founding, but her church is also the current home of Hilltop Sunday School. Hilltop Sunday School was the very first program – a Sunday school class for children with special needs – that led to the organization that we call Indian Creek Foundation today.
Ashley’s direct connection with Indian Creek came later when she entered the mental health field. A Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), Ashley has been a therapist for over 25 years. She worked as a Direct Support Professional (DSP), as a middle school counselor, and in behavioral health before launching a private practice to serve children and adults with mental health services.
Indian Creek Foundation’s behavioral health services were a lesser known program to Ashley until she discovered them in her search for high-quality resources for therapy clients. She was greatly impressed with the programs Indian Creek offers for children and adults who have behavioral health needs such as Autism and other Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities. When a friend who happened to be a Board member invited Ashley to learn more, she quickly found it to be an easy yes. Ashley joined the Board of Directors in 2019 and is currently the Board Secretary. She also participates on the Behavioral Health support team and serves as Secretary on the subsidiary board, Indian Creek Caring Foundation.
“I’m able to act as a bridge for many of our Board members who have less experience with behavioral health,” noted Ashley. “We all respect each other’s area of expertise, and my fellow Board members appreciate my ability to explain practicalities, insurance, and regulations as they relate to behavioral health. We take it seriously that the Leadership Team is relying on us to make informed decisions that support their day-to-day work.”
Ashley especially appreciates how human-focused everyone on the Board and Leadership Team is in everything they do. She is passionate about encouraging others and supporting them in ways that will help them thrive, whether they are individuals we serve or our employees. Everyone does their best work when there is a stable scaffold lifting them up, and Ashley is proud to participate in that system. She has also involved her entire family in the mission of Indian Creek. Her children have grown up volunteering at events and participating in the Roll Stroll & Run, and they also helped deliver holiday meals during COVID-19. She loves that they even started bringing their friends along to help with service activities, showing the next generation how they can be part of something positive in their community.
Just like her children, Ashley hopes to continually influence the community to learn more about Indian Creek and our mission. She feels that the strength and enduring adherence to our core values is exactly why we have succeeded for more than 50 years. She appreciates that Indian Creek prioritizes finding people who align with those values and mission. Our history of serving individuals with special needs is important because we have set the standard for compassionate care with dignity that many other organizations emulate.
From a personal perspective, Ashley feels that Indian Creek Foundation as a whole, and serving on the Board specifically, aligns very well with her value system and worldview. She seeks to recognize the humanness and uniqueness of every person she meets, and she finds a similar perspective among everyone she interacts with on staff and the Board. She is impressed with the mutual respect shown throughout the Board and to the Leadership Team. Working together is our strength and allows us to function well at all levels in the organization.
Ashley invites individuals who are looking for an opportunity to get involved in their community to explore what Indian Creek’s Board of Directors has to offer. We are growing and continuing to integrate deeper into the local region, and the Board needs more individuals who have curiosity and a desire to serve with an organization that directly impacts many people. Participating in the purposeful work that improves the lives of the people who work for Indian Creek and the people we serve is a rewarding experience for everyone on the Board.