September 8, 2025 Community Gathering

Guest Speaker Natasha Blakely-Berteloot Training and Engagement Specialist Project Avary This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Natasha Blakely-Bertaloot obtained a degree in Education with a minor in Counseling. She served as an Executive Director for art education programming throughout the Central Valley for over 15 years. She is currently a Certified Professional Coach who has developed and facilitated sessions to help clients improve their patience, attention to detail, boost confidence and increase self-esteem.

Mental health and wellness has been a passion for Natasha since she grew up in a single-parent home and experienced firsthand the effects of having an incarcerated parent. As a child, she was strongly impacted by community and enrichment programs for underserved youth, and from a young age made it a goal to give back to young ones in her community.

Today, Natasha is grateful to have the privilege of being a part of the Project Avary Community as a Training and Engagement Specialist. She is a trusted Public Speaker who has traveled across states to offer training and seminars on the impact of parental incarceration, and shares applicable resources to impacted communities.

Theresa Kitto is a retired Speech-Language Pathologist with over 40 years of experience serving individuals with complex communication and cognitive needs. She spent 17 years in hospital settings specializing in rehabilitation for stroke and traumatic brain injury patients, including 11 years as Manager of Speech-Language Pathology services for a major hospital system in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She later transitioned to school-based practice, working with students with developmental disabilities.

Her perspective on the justice system changed dramatically when her son Michael was incarcerated in Michigan for 3.5 years, providing her firsthand insight into the challenges faced by incarcerated individuals and their families from arrest to reentry. That experience became even more profound when Michael was wrongfully charged and convicted of murder following a tragic accident in 2022. Despite no crime being committed, Michael is currently serving a life without parole sentence in a private prison in Ohio.

In this deeply personal presentation, Theresa will share her family's story of navigating the justice system twice. She will discuss incarceration, wrongful convictions, and the urgent need for justice reform. Join our community gathering now to share resources for supporting wrongfully convicted individuals and their families, while fostering dialogue on solutions to transform our justice system.

The Return of the Hero.

Michael Todd is the Founder and Executive Director of New Start Enterprises. His story is one of tragedy, redemption and triumph. He had a highly traumatic childhood which led to him spending most of his life in prison. Yet, he always believed that he had a purpose and was destined to accomplish something monumental in his lifetime.

When Michael began learning about the links between childhood trauma and criminality, delving into the effects of trauma on the brain and body and how it affects the development of personality and belief systems, it became clear. Being traumatized was equivalent to being stuck in hell, and only by addressing that trauma could we free ourselves.

Michael believes that we are all the heroes of our own stories and the journey through hell is a part of the heroic narrative. Only after descending into the depths can we emerge as the hero we were meant to be. Michael has journeyed through hell where he faced his trauma, his biggest fears and himself. He then returned from the depths with a new code for living, which he calls the RAIDD Code.

Michael founded New Start Enterprises with a single purpose in mind: To help everyone remember that they are the hero of their own story.

A Mom in Distress

Deborah Ptasnik DeVere is currently a Tucson, Arizona resident. She is a recently retired elementary school teacher for English language learners. Deborah worked for 24 years at a Title I school on the south side of Tucson. Serving students from the lowest socioeconomic levels, all of whom qualified for free breakfast and lunch, her commitment was to ensure that all students achieved robust literacy. Deborah is also a devoted mother to three grown sons. All live in the Austin, TX vicinity. At the end of March, her oldest son, Michael, was arrested and jailed. Now, Deborah finds herself on an unexpected journey. Still devoted and committed to the well-being of all her boys, she is taking this opportunity to be of service in a new and challenging arena.