Nurse Supervisors
Amiee Lam, RN, IBCLC
Family Connects Nurse Supervisor
Amiee is a registered nurse and IBCLC Lactation Consultant specializing in maternal-child nursing. She completed her BSN from Hunter College School of Nursing, New York in 2009. She started her career in inpatient High Risk Antepartum, Postpartum, Pediatrics and NICU before joining an OB-GYN outpatient clinic supporting obstetrics and women’s health. She was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York City. She relocated to Austin, Texas to join Family Connects. She is passionate and excited to be serving families at a community level to improve maternal/child outcomes. She believes in the importance of capturing and nourishing the postpartum transitional period for all families. On spare time, she spends it with her two younger children exploring all that Austin has to offer. She also enjoys trying different foods, cooking and DIY projects.
Kathryn Treviño, RN, BSN
Family Connects Nurse Supervisor
Kathryn is a native Austinite and has been a nurse for over 20 years. She obtained a BSN from the School of Nursing, at the University of Texas in Austin. Working with the maternal-child population is her passion and being able to support a family as they welcome a new baby into their household, continues to be an awesome experience. She enjoys helping mothers identify their strengths and use these skills towards self-confidence and empowerment. Her nursing background includes employment in the NICU, OB/GYN clinic, staff development, and as a school nurse. In addition, she has previous experience as a Nurse Home Visitor and Nurse Supervisor, with the Nurse-Family Partnership (Any Baby Can). Kathryn is a mother/wife and has 5 children that continue to teach her that you are always learning, growing and adjusting. She enjoys spending time with her family, organizing and photography.
Nurse Home Visitors
Ann Ingram, RN, BSN
Nurse Home Visitor
Ann grew up in San Antonio, Texas but married a military man and did some traveling. She earned her associate degree in nursing in 1998 and worked primarily in critical care. She realized she wanted a career in public health nursing, so she went on to earn her BSN from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and graduated in 2004. Ann worked as a public health nurse with Mother’s First, Strong and Healthy Families, Nurse Family Partnership, and HCP. She moved back to her home state of Texas from Colorado after many years of being away. She enjoys taking care of her four cats and eight chickens, gardening, hiking, and camping. She also has two grown children who are her pride and joy.
Bessy Matute, RN, IBCLC
Nurse Home Visitor
Bessy is a bilingual nurse, fluent both in Spanish and English. Bessy was born in Honduras but raised in Austin since the age of seven. She has devoted most of her professional career helping mothers have a successful breastfeeding experience and navigate through the challenges new mothers face. She started as a peer counselor with the WIC program and Mom’s Place Lactation Center, before becoming an IBCLC and registered nurse. Public health has always been a life passion for Bessy. She is excited to be part of a program that through evidence-based care, will strengthened and empower families. Bessy enjoys spending time with her daughter, enjoys hiking, dancing and swimming
Kelly Chandler, RN
Nurse Home Visitor
Kelly is an Austin native and has been a nurse for over 6 years. She started her nursing career with caring for Newborns in Nursery/NICU and has been working as a mother/baby nurse in couplet care for the past 4 years. She has over 15 years of experience in Women’s Health. She is passionate about helping women and families navigate through the joys and challenges of the postpartum period. She enjoys providing parents with tools and education that help support and empower them. She is a wife/mother and loves spending time with her family, cooking and traveling.
Lanna Barbaroux, RN, BSN, IBCLC
Nurse Home Visitor
Lanna has more than 20 years of experience in maternal-child nursing and loves helping new moms and families nourish and nurture their babies. She worked as a labor and postpartum doula in the Pacific Northwest before becoming a labor & delivery and mother-baby nurse once she earned her RN-BSN, magna cum laude, in 2000. After living in Ireland and France, Lanna moved to Austin in 2007 and has enjoyed working as a maternity nurse and IBCLC Lactation Consultant with St David’s and Ascension Seton. She loves babies, especially her new grandson, Lucas, but also believes, as the sociologist Barbara Katz Rothman said, that “Birth is not only about making babies. Birth is about making mothers – strong, competent, capable mothers (and fathers) who trust themselves and know their inner strength.” She hopes her work with Family Connects will go a little way toward doing just that.
Letty Freeman, RN
Nurse Home Visitor
Letty has lived in the Austin area for most of her adult life. She has a diverse nursing background including home health, geriatrics, and acute care. Although, after working in the hospital as a mother/baby, postpartum nurse, she found her passion. Being able to walk side by side with individuals as they welcome a newborn into their family, is very rewarding and she feels honored to be a part of Family Connects. Letty considers herself a foodie, trying new restaurants whenever she gets the chance. Some of her favorite things to do include going to the movies, amusement parks, or on walks with her husband and three children. She also enjoys spending quality time with her family, traveling, and listening to podcasts.
Marla Andrade, RN, BSN
Nurse Home Visitor
Marla is a registered nurse fluent in Spanish and English. She was born and raised in Michigan and has lived in the Austin area since 2009. She received her first degree in Social Anthropology with a focus in Public Health from the University of Michigan and obtained her Nursing degree from Texas State University. Throughout her career she has always focused on supporting families in different capacities. Her nursing experience includes working at a children’s hospital and with Nurse-Family Partnership. Before becoming a nurse, she was a pre-kindergarten teacher, a family advocate at a local Head Start, and taught nutrition classes to families with children who were overweight or obese. Marla is passionate about improving the health of her community and is excited about improving maternal/infant outcomes through Family Connects. Outside of work, Marla enjoys being outdoors on a hike or run, exploring restaurants and cooking, traveling, and spending time with her family and friends.
Sandy Thomas, RN
Nurse Home Visitor
Sandy has lived in Austin since 1991 and has over 20 years of experience as a Registered Nurse, with over 15 of those in Labor and Delivery. During that time, she assisted in the delivery of over 3,500 babies. “It was truly a privilege to be with families during such an unforgettable time in their lives and every delivery was a unique experience.” She is passionate about helping families navigate through this transition and enjoys helping moms during the postpartum period. Learning about each baby’s individual needs and personality is something that she really enjoys, and a favorite memory that she has is giving babies their very first bath. Sandy has one adult son and remembers her own experiences as a new mom. She enjoys kickboxing, traveling and scuba diving in her free time.
Stephanie Hernandez, RN, BSN
Nurse Home Visitor
Stephanie is a registered nurse and native Austinite. She is a Texas State graduate who is fluent in English and Spanish. Her nursing background includes trauma and pediatric hematology/oncology. Teaching and empowering parents to care for and learn about their children is one of her favorite things about working with families. Prior to nursing she worked in pharmacy, which solidified her passion to advocate for families to obtain access and navigate the complexities of healthcare. Being a mother herself, she knows the challenges of being a first-time parent and importance of validating each individual parental experience. During her free time, she enjoys hiking, tending to her plants and visiting the local swimming holes with her family.
Patient & Program Support Specialists
Alejandra Torres
Program Support Specialist
Alejandra is a Mexican native but lived in the Rio Grande Valley most of her life. In early 2021 she moved to the Austin area and instantly fell in love with the city! She is fluent in both English and Spanish. Alejandra has over 10 years of experience in dental health where she participated in many community healthcare fairs that provided free services for families. Her love for public health emerged when she realized the impact she could make in her community by helping provide these basic needs programs. Over the past 5 years, she has had the privilege to work closely with Casa Mami, a nonprofit in Reynosa, Mexico that provides housing and basic needs to single mothers and their children. Alejandra believes all moms, regardless of their background, deserve health equity and truly believes Family Connects is the perfect way to achieve that. On her free time, she loves crafting, gardening, dancing, and nature walks. She also enjoys exploring the city with her husband, daughter, son, and two dogs.
Paris Acosta
Program Support Specialist
Paris has lived in the Austin area the majority of her life, but currently calls Kyle home. While breastfeeding her three children, Paris had the privilege to serve with WIC as a Breastfeeding Peer Counselor. The close connection to the mothers of the Austin community awakened a passion. Paris began searching to work towards ensuring health equity for all moms. As a member of the BIPOC community, she strives to work towards ensuring health equity for all marginalized communities. Paris is currently trained as a Maternal Support Practitioner (doula) and Childbirth Educator. It was this work that led her to Family Connects in January 2020. Amidst this global pandemic, it is imperative to achieve health equity for all. She believes until that’s accomplished her work will never be done.
Sara Acevedo, MSSW
Program Support Specialist
Sara has called Austin home for the last four years. She thrives working in diverse settings which has led her to live and work in seven different countries. However Austin has a special spot in her heart, as it is her son’s hometown. Over the course of her career, she has pursued experience in community outreach, youth development, education, and social work. She has learned the importance and power of engaging the community to generate social change. The relationships she has developed with the community are a key source of motivation and personal growth. For that reason, she looks forward to connecting with families going through the transformative experience that is welcoming a newborn. Academically, she has also learned a lot as an undergrad in sociology at the University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras and graduate student in social work at the University of Texas-Austin. During her free time, she enjoys exploring restaurants, art events, and walking around her neighborhood with her family.
Contact the Austin/Travis County Team
Family Connects Austin/Travis County is available to all eligible babies born to Austin/Travis County residents.
Family Connects Information: 512-972-5096
Family Connects Austin/Travis county partners:
