MEET OUR BOARD
Our Story & Inspiration
Haven for Special People is a like-minded group of parents, friends, and educators uniting around a common goal of providing a life-long residential community for people with disabilities living side by side with people who are not disabled. Our board member parents of children with special needs know first-hand the challenges and concerns for their children as they grow older and want them to live independent, purpose-filled lives. Since our first meeting in 2022, we remain focused on the vision that the challenges of a disability should not prevent individuals from living in their own home in a community of their choosing.
Jim Cappuccio
Founding Board Member
Jim Cappucio is a retired special education teacher who spent over 30 years working for the School District of Onalaska, Wisconsin. During his tenure, he worked with students of varying abilities and got to know many families on a personal level. Jim always empathized with these families over the uncertainty they faced concerning adulthood and independent living for their children. As an active and dedicated community member, Jim has always made giving back a priority, representing La Crosse in the national award ceremony for the Jefferson Awards and receiving awards from the YWCA Circle of Friends and the ARC Community Service Award.
Jim has served on the board of STAR (Sports Therapeutic Adaptive Recreation) Association since its inception in 2017, planning and implementing adaptive recreation and sport activities. For the past five years, he has worked for the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse supervising student teachers in the areas of Physical Education and Health.
Jim has a keen interest in creating recreation and sport opportunities for specialized groups to improve their health and socialization. Haven for Special People is a project that Jim is very passionate about as it will further his work in improving the lives of others.
Terry Cowgill
Board Member
Dr. Terry Cowgill has been a Dentist with his wife Shelly in the La Crosse area for over 30 years having owned and operated a couple of area dental offices. He has two daughters, Grace and Sophie, and an adult son, Jonah, who has Autism. Jonah will need lifelong care and realizing that his needs extend beyond what Terry and Shelly can provide is what began his involvement in Haven for Special People project just a few years ago.
Community involvement has been a theme throughout Terry’s life including everything from Dancing with the La Crosse Stars to helping create the Miracle Field. Terry has served on several boards including a past position with the YMCA and currently with Aptiv, an organization providing innovative supports to people with disabilities and helping them live more independent lives. Terry’s latest and, he might say, “greatest” involvement is having been named La Crosse Oktoberfest’s Festmaster in 2019. This honor helps spread joy and Gemütlichkeit throughout our area.
Having a shared vision with the rest of the Haven for Special People board is what fuels him now. The goal to create a housing environment for adults with disabilities and to enable and foster an enduring quality of life is what brings him joy.
Julie Diermeier
Secretary and Founding Board Member
Since moving to Onalaska, Wisconsin, in 2004, Julie Diermeier has been dedicated to the community. Passionate about service and volunteerism, she has served at church, in scouting, at schools, and in youth sports. Her work experience spans various positions within the local school district and acting as a volunteer coordinator for a local non-profit benefiting senior citizens.
Her passion for Haven for Special People’s mission began with close friends' young children being diagnosed with Autism and watching these children develop into happy, fulfilled adults leading largely independent lives. Today, they are proud to be working at their own level of ability, living separately from their families, and developing their own adult relationships.
Julie understands the need for a living opportunity in which differently abled adults can flourish and lead a high quality life where they are safe and supported by a community. Her goal is to make this need a reality in the Coulee Region.
Rick Diermeier
President and Founding Board Member
Rick Diermeier has been involved in the Onalaska community since making it home in 2004. He served as CEO at L. B. White Company for seven years and on the boards of: Mayo Clinic La Crosse Foundation, Outdoor Recreation Alliance and La Crosse County Sustainability Commission. Since retiring from his corporate career, Rick is proud to serve as the Vice President of the Flyway Trail Board of Directors and the La Crosse County Committee on Transit and Active Transportation.
In 2021, Rick attended the grand opening of Home of Our Own in New Glarus where the daughter of close family friends had recently relocated. Despite being largely non-communicative and requiring 24 hour care, she was thriving, living independently in her new home. After touring her apartment and community spaces and meeting her neighbors, Rick left confident that this building was really a supportive and vibrant village that would drive positive change in many families’ lives.
Returning home from that grand opening night, the idea for Haven for Special People sparked for Rick and Julie. They are determined to create a safe haven in the Coulee Region that will empower young people to live their lives to the fullest, no matter their level of abilities.
Roger Lowrey
Vice President and Founding Board Member
For 38 years, Roger has worked as an electrician and has been the service manager at Kish and Sons Electric since 2002. He has been professionally and personally involved in the development and construction of many multi-family housing projects.
Roger’s passion for Haven for Special People stems from Nicholas and Samuel, his two young adult sons with special needs. Accompanying his sons on their successful journey to become capable young adults, Roger has developed a deep appreciation for the wonderful programs which benefit individuals of all ability levels. He has seen firsthand the benefits to people with disabilities by participating in programs such as the La Crosse area Down Syndrome Awareness Walk, UWL Motor Development and YMCA's Miracle League. He believes that the sense of community, enriching experiences, and supportive environment fostered by such programs are invaluable. Roger hopes that Nick, Sam, and many others like them find an inclusive, safe, and healthy community in Haven on Main, providing their families peace of mind.
Jody Lyon
Treasurer and Founding Board Member
Jody Lyon has been active serving the La Crosse and surrounding community since high school. Since retiring in 2015, Jody has been able to dedicate even more time to actively volunteering. Having served as an officer for many non-profit groups, she currently volunteers for many organizations, including Abilities in Harmony adaptive show choir camps, Safe Families, Mobile Meals, nasa (North American Squirrel Association), River City Water Ski Show Team, Bethany Water Ski Team, and First Free Church.
Jody started working with young people with special needs in 2015 helping organize adaptive water ski clinics. She continued working with many of the same families she met while water skiing when she supported her daughter in founding an organization called “Abilities in Harmony.” The adaptive water skiing and adaptive show choir events are some of her favorite days of the year. Getting to know the families in these and other organizations, she was awed by the parents and the work they do every day to provide a life for their children full of activities and purpose.
Jody is looking forward to working alongside these families through Haven for Special People to create solutions for amazing young people to live their lives to the fullest in a safe and inclusive environment.
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Curtis Malone
Vice President of Resident Development
& Founding Board Member
Curtis Malone is a retired Navy Air Traffic Control Chief, loving husband, and proud father of an autistic young adult. After adopting his son, Curtis made it his life's purpose to ensure his son has the tools to not only embrace his special abilities but to flourish as an adult. By providing daily living skills that are essential to his independence at home, at school, and in the community, Curtis is dedicated to setting his son up for success.
His passion for helping others started during his Naval career, working feverishly with the Boys and Girls Club in Virginia Beach, VA, and Habitat for Humanity in Jacksonville, FL. He is committed to improving the local special needs community’s personal, social, and economic livelihood.
He believes Haven for Special People’s mission is similar to the sacred commitment of the Military, “Leave No Man Behind,” and a quote from his own mother, "It Takes a Village.”
Marlis O'Brien
Founding Board Member
Over the past 34 years, Marlis O’Brien has lived in the La Crosse area working as a Registered Respiratory Therapist and Training Center Coordinator at Mayo Clinic Health System – La Crosse. She serves on the board of STAR (Sports Therapeutic Adaptive Recreation) Association and served six years on the board of HorseSense, a therapeutic horseback riding program. She is blessed to be the mother of an amazing son, Erik “Tornado” O’Brien. Erik was diagnosed with 1p36 Deletion Syndrome, affecting his fine and gross motor skills and speech.
Marlis’s goal is to ensure Erik has every opportunity to live his life to the fullest. He participates in several adaptive sports, therapeutic horseback riding, and music therapy, and together they enjoy camping, boating, fishing and hunting. She is always seeking opportunities for him to participate and be successful in activities alongside his peers.
As Erik gets older, the need for safe and affordable housing for him is becoming a pressing concern. Because of this, she is proud to work alongside a group of dedicated individuals who share her goal of creating a safe haven and supportive environment for loved ones in the La Crosse area.
