Advisory Board

Barbara Gordesky

I was born in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania.  I earned a Bachelor of Science in Speech/Language pathology from Bloomsburg University (PA), a Master of Arts in Speech/Language Pathology from Bowling Green State University (OH) and a Master of Science in Healthcare Administration from St. Joseph’s University (PA).  I practiced as a clinical speech-language pathologist in Pennsylvania and New Jersey until 1987.  I then began a career in hospital administration and was Vice President for Professional Services at City Avenue Hospital/Graduate Health System in Philadelphia.  I moved to Asheville in 1993 seeking an improved quality of life.  I am currently employed at Mission Hospital as the Director of Medical Affairs and Physician Relations. 
In my leisure time, I enjoy music, singing soprano with the Asheville Choral Society, travel, reading and gardening.  My Board of Directors experience includes the Asheville Symphony Orchestra, Park Ridge Hospital Foundation and Treasurer for the Asheville Choral Society.
I have two Cairn Terriers, Lady Bug and Hoover.  My gardening hobbies also include a pond with eight fish and I enjoy feeding the birds.

Marti Rohrback

I first became involved with Paws with a Purpose after the loss of my beloved Collie-Shepherd, Sadie in 2002.  It has been a thrill and a joy to watch this program expand to the extent that it has grown and will continue to grow.  Some of my passions and interests are photography, genealogy, biking, hiking, the Civil War and the Blue Ridge Mountains.  Though a New Yorker by birth, I consider myself lucky to be living here in the midst of the beauty of these mountains of Western North Carolina.
I am a 20 year employee at Mission Hospital currently working as the Executive Assistant to the Senior Vice President/Chief Medical Officer.  I have an adorable and energetic chocolate lab, Madison, and two cats; Beau (a Himalayan) and Zack (a gray tabby).  None of them are currently therapy pets. And I also have two amazing children, Stephani and Earl; a wonderful son-in-law, Jeff; and the newest joy of my life is my one year old granddaughter, Lilliana.

Marti Touchstone will continue in an advisory capacity when her term on the Board of Directors ends in August of 2008.  She is a graduate of Vassar College and worked in corporate, public, environmental, media and financial relations for corporations, non-profits, trade associations and public relations agencies in Boston and New York, and eventually had her own firm in Florida.  She has been firmly rooted in the North Carolina mountains since 1995, and has become an avid volunteer visiting many of the Paws venues with her Airedales and at Companion Dog Training School where she teaches and trains.  When the Airedales aren't visiting, Pixi has been busy earning her excellent titles in obedience and agility competition.
Marti joined the Paws board in 2003.   Two years later she got her own dogs certified and started visiting facilities  after serious illness struck in her own dog-loving family and the visits of Paws therapy dogs were often the most life-affirming and  brightest spot in long and grueling hospital stays.  "They gave so much to us," she said, "and now my dogs would like to give back."

"Our perfect companions never have fewer than four feet."    Colette