Meet Our Team
Erin Lynch, Gerontologist, CMC, LNHA, MS
Co-Founder & Director
Erin Lynch is passionate about helping people live their best lives as they age. Embracing a career calling that began with her close relationship with her grandmother, she co-founded TUCKed In Eldercare, an aging life care management business, in 2018.
Erin is a gerontologist with an MS in gerontology and management of aging service from UMass Boston and a BA in gerontology from St. Bonaventure University. She is a member of the Aging Life Care Association. She is a certified geriatric care manager by the National Acadademy of Certified Care Managers, a licensed nursing home administrator and an Alzheimer's Association family support ambassador.
Erin has built a team of aging life care management professionals throughout New England who work together to develop, implement and manage plans of care for TUCKed In Eldercare clients and their families. In partnership with a trusted network of home care, financial, legal and home modification experts, Erin’s holistic approach helps clients and their families experience their highest possible degree of independence, health and safety.
Kevin Smith- President & CEO
Best of Care
Kevin Smith is the President and Chief Operating Officer of Best of Care, Inc. – a non-medical home care agency which serves Greater Boston, the South Shore, South Coast and Cape and Islands communities with offices in Quincy, Milton, Taunton, New Bedford and South Dennis, Massachusetts. Best of Care’s concierge-level services include personal care services, homemakers and companions, hospice care, care management and specialty services as they relate to Alzheimer’s, dementia and acquired brain injury care. Under Kevin's direction, Best of Care has acquired two private pay agencies, expanded to Cape Cod and the Islands and obtained contacts with 8 of the state’s 26 Aging Services Access Points (ASAP) partners. A respected member of the home care industry, Smith is a past President and member of the Board of Directors for the Home Care Aide Council of Massachusetts. He graduated from Providence College with a BA in History in 2007.
TUCKed In Eldercare is affiliated with Best of Care. Erin and Kevin avidly share the vision and understand the importance of providing the highest quality of care to their clients. Together they hope to make a difference in the lives of those residing and summering to and from Nantucket.
To learn more about Best of Care, please click on the image to the left.
Jessica Trimble, CMC, RN
Manager of Care Services & Development
Nurse Care Manager
Serving Nantucket, Cape Cod, South Shore
Jessica grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts and has lived in Los Angeles, Chicago and most recently New York city where she worked as an Emergency Room Nurse for 6 years. Jessica moved to Nantucket in 2016. She has welcomed the change from the big city and feels honored to call this little island her home. Jessica worked for 3 years in the Emergency Department at Nantucket Cottage Hospital and is also a freelance medical and forensics writer.
Jessica feels passionate about providing skilled and compassionate care. She earned her nursing degree at Columbia University School of Nursing in 2009. Since that time she has worked at the bedside and in nursing leadership. She was the co-director of a nursing education exchange program at Durgapur Hospital in India and has presented research at national and international conferences related to patient safety and improving patient outcomes. She is particularly proud of her work on a palliative and hospice care team which improved patient, family, and provider education and reduced obstacles to meeting the directives of the patient at end of life. Jessica is thrilled to be working with the aging island community to provide nursing and care management services. She fully intends to grow old here herself and is deeply invested in fostering supportive programs and services for the aging on Nantucket.
Annie Stackpole Menz, RN, PhD
Nurse Care Manager
Serving Nantucket
An experienced nurse, administrator and educator, Annie has in the past provided clinical care, nursing and community health education, accreditation consultation and developed behavioral health services in hospitals and communities.
As a native Nantucketer, Annie received a scholarship from the Nantucket Cottage Hospital to attend Boston University School of Nursing where she earned her BS in Nursing, She earned her Masters in Nursing from the University of Illinois, A Masters in Counseling from Illinois State University and her PhD in Community Health Education from Southern Illinois University.
Her recent experience includes supervising home health aides and providing respite for an Alzheimer family. Past experience includes nursing in a state psychiatric hospital and nursing administrative experience as Director of Nursing. She has held interim chief nurse positions in a state psychiatric hospital and geriatric psychiatric unit in a general hospital, She has mentored chief nurse executives and nurse managers preparing them for positions, worked with performance improvement staff to develop quality plans for infection control, pharmacy , medical staff and program development personnel. She has also had experience teaching in University programs related to community and public health education programs.
Prior positions held include VHA hospital consultant, community mental health executive director, nursing administrator in a state psychiatric facility, director of psychiatric services in a general hospital and faculty in Diploma School of Nursing and University settings,
Annie joins TUCKed In Eldercare to be able to assists the organization’s capability to train home health staff to enhance joy In the aging Nantucket community and to pay forward what Nantucket has given her.
Annie-Kay Rose, RN
Wellness Nurse- Residences at Sherburne Commons
Serving Nantucket
Katie Krupka, Gerontologist, CSA, MS
Care Coordinator
Serving Western Massachusetts
Annie-Kay has been a nurse for over 12 years working with the senior population. She has a BS in Nursing and teaches the skills portion of the Certified Nurses Aide program. She has lived on Nantucket with her family for over three years. Prior to joining our team she worked at a local nursing home as the charge nurse. Annie-Kay runs our wellness program at The Residence at Sherburne Commons, an independent senior community with support services to age in place.
Katie Krupka grew up in the Berkshires and has always been passionate about helping older adults in her local community. She started her career over a decade ago working at an assisted living community in Boston and now lives in Western MA with her husband, Eric and two young sons, Nolan and Liam.
Katie has a MS in Gerontology from the UMass Boston and a BS in Hospitality Management from Champlain College in Burlington, VT. In 2020, she founded her own business, Home Sweet Home Senior Living Advisor, in which she helps older adults and their families find the right fit in independent living, assisted living and memory care communities. She is also a Certified Senior Advisor (CSA)® and a Certified Dementia Practitioner.
Through an empathetic and consultative approach, she advocates for older adults to ensure they have the support and guidance needed to be able to access the right resources and highest quality of care available.
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Charlene Neu, Gerontologist, CMC, MS
Care Manager
Serving South Shore
Charlene is a Gerontologist, Public Health Communicator and Dementia Education Trainer, focused on helping people age well with joy, possibilities, wellness and care. As a Geriatric Care Manager, she has significant experience creating Emergency Preparedness, Case Management, Scam Prevention and Long-Term Care Plans for Seniors to ensure their safety, security and well-being. Charlene is a passionate healthcare communicator, educating seniors about evidence-based, result oriented fall prevention and chronic disease self-management programs and is adept at forging relationships with consumers, caregivers and health care providers. Charlene brings to the field of Gerontology the advocacy, communication and strategic skills developed during a twenty-year career as a congressional staffer, campaign manager and national legislative grassroots director.
In addition to her work as a Geriatric Care Manager, Charlene works with the Covid-19 Task Force, Partners in Health, as a Community Resource Connection Manager.
Active in the community, she is a member of the Boston Medical Reserve Corps, Disability Commissioner for the Town of Milton, Co-Chair of the PFAC Committee at Beth Israel Lahey Health, serving as a Long-Term Care Ombudsman and a Support Group Leader for the Alzheimer’s Association, Archdiocese of Boston & the US Pain Foundation.
Charlene holds a Master of Science Gerontology and Aging Services, from The University of Massachusetts; a Master of Arts and Communication from American University; a Bachelor of Arts and Communication from Trinity College and Graduate Certificates in Pain Policy, Management, Education and Research from Tufts Medical School and an Alzheimer’s Disease Public Policy Overview, from the McCormick School of Public Policy.
Laurel McLaughlin, Gerontologist, MS, CDP
Care Coordinator
Serving South Shore
Laurel is a South Shore, MA native. She started her career age at a Plymouth nursing home, and from there on she wanted to be working with older adults. She has worked in various sectors of the elder care field including assisted living, home care and roles from providing hands on care and enrichment to administrative and consulting. She also was involved on her hometown’s Dementia Friendly team.
Laurel is a graduate of UMASS Boston where she earned a BA in psychology and an MS in gerontology. She is a certified dementia practitioner, and uses her knowledge to write for dementia non-profits to educate families and people living with dementia diagnoses. Part of her effort is to promote mindful caregiving and dementia using the arts. Her experience and diverse background and knowledge has helped many families identify their goals to implement creative solutions to challenging obstacles.
National council of certified dementia practitioner www.nccdp.org/cdp.htm
Emily Sokol, MPH
Care Coordinator
Serving North Shore & Greater Boston
Emily graduated from Brown University with a master's degree in public health and Boston College with a bachelor's degree in English. Emily has worked across the public health field in patient education, journalism and event organizing, government contracting, and care management.
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Derona Beckford-Clarke, BS
Office Manager
Derona was born in Jamaica and moved to the United States in 2014 to further her education. She attended Anna Maria College and graduated with a BS in Health and Community Services, with a minor in Psychology. Her Passion is helping others, so while going to College she worked as a home health aide taking care of the senior community for four years. During the peak of Covid-19, she worked at Nantucket Cottage Hospital. She then moved to Springfield Ma to start her family, with her husband, in 2022. She is a mom to an amazing and beautiful baby girl, Thierry. Derona is happy to be living back on Nantucket with her family and joining the TUCKed In Eldercare and Best of Care team as the Office Manager.
Gwyneth Blackwell, MS
Care Coordinator
Serving Cape Cod & South Shore
Gwyneth Blackwell moved from New York to Cape Cod during Covid. Having earned a BS in Finance, and a Masters in Gerontology, with a minor in Healthcare Administration and Bereavement counseling, Gwyn has worked in a variety of long term care settings. From skilled nursing, assisted living, home care, starting her own GCM practice, Gwyn brings over 20 years of experience. Gwyn is the proud mother of 20 year old twins, married, and enjoys reading, yoga, hiking, cycling and enjoying life on Cape Cod.