Richard Plante, Vice Chair of the Board

Richard (Rick) Plante is a Retired Supervisory Contract Specialist (Military Technician) and a US Army Command Chief Warrant Officer (CW5). His career experiences include; Government Logistics Supply Systems, Government Purchasing and Contracting Systems and also served as a Senior Level Executive Advisor to the Adjutant General of the New Hampshire National Guard. In his career, CW5 Plante received numerous Civilian and Military Awards to include the Legion of Merit. Rick also held a Level II Certification in the Contracting Career Field. In June 2011 he retired having served 41 plus years in the US Army/Army National Guard Military. Rick is presently serving in his third term as a member of the Board of Directors of Harbor Care and its Affiliates. He currently serves as Vice-Chairman to the Board of Directors, Chairman of the Executive Committee, Chairman of the Facilities Sub-Committee and member of the Finance Sub-Committee. Rick is also an active member of the Employer Support for the Guard and Reserve (ESGR), the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) and volunteers for several other Organizations.

Joel Jaffe, Chair of the Board

Joel Jaffe has been on the PSL board since 1992. He joined as a way of continuing the work of his late wife June Jaffe – a development specialist for the NH Department of Behavioral Health -- who strongly believed in the value of the PSL mission. Having grown up with a parent who suffered from bipolar disorder, Joe immediately understood the Harbor Care’s mission to house and treat those with mental health issues, and shared June’s passion for helping it succeed. Joel takes pride in helping drive the direction of PSL and providing guidance to its leadership.  

Joel currently resides in Litchfield NH with his wife Hyla. The two have three grown children, and six grandchildren. He grew up in Elizabeth NJ, and graduated Newark College of Engineering in 1971 with a BS in BioMedical Engineering, and a Masters in Management Science.  

Joel worked for many medical device manufacturers in the New York City area, and moved to New Hampshire in 1986 at the request of his employer, Digital Equipment Corporation where he worked as a marketing manager and then as a program manager, specializing in high performance computer systems. Joel Retired from DEC/Compaq and finally Hewlett Packard in 2012.  

Joel was has served with many non-profit organizations including CASA and Big Brothers/Big Sisters, and was awarded the Max I. Silber Award from the United Way of Greater Nashua. Joel has been a board member of Harbor Care since 1992 and is currently the board secretary. 

In his spare time, Joel donates his services as a portrait photographer, so that households that might be struggling financially can have professional-quality family photos. 

Laurie Goguen, Assistant Secretary

Laurie is driven by her passion to bring hope to community members who are struggling with addiction, health issues and homelessness. She received treatment through Harbor Homes for substance use over 10 years ago, and the experience of support and direction she received changed her life. Afterwards, she wanted to give back to the organization, as well as the community at large, so she joined Harbor Care’s Board of Directors. Laurie approaches programmatic issues from a client’s viewpoint. Her experience as a client gives a valuable depth of perspective to board discussions.  

When she is not working on the PSL Board, Laurie is volunteering in other capacities. She has spent many years networking with women in recovery around the community. She received a Spirit of New Hampshire Award for Volunteerism from the New Hampshire Center for Nonprofits, and an award from the Myra Kraft MBP for New England Patriots Charitable Foundation. This latter award brought with it a $10,000 donation for Harbor Homes. Laurie has a photo of herself receiving the award, flanked by Tom Brady, Andre Tippett, and Vince Wilfork.   

In her off hours, Laurie enjoys spending time with her family. She loves taking her three young grandchildren to the library every Friday, as well as “Italian Night” every Sunday, when Laurie makes meatballs, or sausage and sauce over pasta for the family. 

Jared Freilich, Treasurer

Jared Freilich has been on the board of Harbor Homes since 2017, and has served as Treasurer since 2018. Jared wholeheartedly believes in the mission and donates his time to furthering the cause. He is the chair of the finance committee and a member of the executive committee.  

Jared is a Senior Vice President in the Global Banking division of Bank of America. Jared has the privilege of working with a large number of diversified companies that make up the foundation of New Hampshire’s economy. Jared and his team of local expert’s work with CEOs, executives, and entrepreneurs to help them meet all their corporate goals. As a former local business owner, Jared has a unique understanding of what it takes to overcome the challenges of running a successful business in New Hampshire. Jared has over 15 years’ experience in finance, the last 12 with Bank of America.   

Jared went to college in New Hampshire and he and his wife are currently raising their family here as well. Other than Harbor Homes, Jared donates his time by coaching baseball and volunteering in his community. When not working, he enjoys golfing, cooking, and spending time with his wife and two young boys.  

Jared holds a BA in business communications from Southern New Hampshire University and has completed various credit and finance training courses.  

Ed McDonough, Board Member

Ed is the Regional Chief Executive officer of ICBD Holdings which portfolio includes GateHouse Treatment, GH Recovery Solutions and Integrative Healthcare Center. Ed assisted in developing the structure and philosophy that still holds true for GateHouse today. Ed started his journey in 2009 as one of the first clients at Gatehouse Sober Community. After successful completion of the program, Ed assisted in developing the structure and philosophy that GateHouse holds true to today. 

While in college Ed held a paid internship in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for the Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office under DA William Keating. Following college, Ed had several jobs that served to fine tune his exemplary management style. He was the Director of Personnel for four years at Northeast Elite Hockey and Rink. He managed 62 employees with a yearly operating budget of $3,000,000. Ed then worked as a Lead Case Manager at Tewksbury State Hospital where he learned the operational intricacies of substance abuse treatment.  

Ed’s journey as member of the board for Harbor Care started when a close friend and former Board Member asked him to volunteer events at Keystone Hall and the HIV/AIDS Task force. After representing one of the companies sponsoring the Ending Homelessness Gala, Ed had the chance talk to clients of Keystone Hall. Ed was really impressed with the way each of them said that Keystone “saved their life." This testimony impacted him deeply. 

Ed attended Curry College and was member of the Varsity Hockey Team and left with BA in Philosophy. Ed also serves on the Mayor’s Opiate Taskforce in Nashua, NH. Ed is active in the Nashua Substance Misuse Prevention Coalition and the Regional Substance Misuse Prevention Coalition. In 2019 he was named one of the 40 under 40 in the community by the Nashua Telegraph in 2019. 

Thomas I. Arnold, III, Board Member

Tom first became involved with a client of Harbor Homes in 1985 while representing that person in matters pending before the New Hampshire court system. Having observed firsthand the value of and the great need for the services that Harbor Homes provided, Tom joined the Board of Directors in 1987. Since then he has served on the Board continuously, aside from a five-year absence due to required term limits in the organization’s by-laws. 

During this time Tom has served in various officer positions on the Board of Directors, including twelve years as President (now Chairman) of the Board of Directors. He has participated in the growth of Harbor Homes, and now Harbor Care, from its earliest iteration. The corporation that began as two group homes with a handful of people apiece now provides veterans’ services, health care, behavioral health care, dental care, substance use recovery treatment, various types of housing, and a host of other services to a diverse population of individuals and families in need across the state of New Hampshire. 

In addition to working with the various organizations within Harbor Homes, Tom has volunteered as an Emergency Medical Technician for forty years starting in Brookline, New Hampshire where he assisted in forming and operating the Brookline Ambulance Service. He also served in Merrimack, New Hampshire as an Emergency Medical Technician-Intermediate and received various citations including being recognized as EMT of the year in 2004 and 2016. 

Tom has been an attorney in the State of New Hampshire since 1981 spending most of his career as the Deputy City Solicitor for the City of Manchester, New Hampshire. 

Tom Holds a Bachelor of Arts, Cum Laude from the University of New Hampshire (1976) and a Juris Doctor from the University of New Hampshire School of Law (1981). 

Jack Balcom, Board Member

Vijay Bhatt, Board Member

Vijay Bhatt is the Deputy Chief Technology Officer of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care (HPHC) and possesses an in-depth understanding of its IT and business landscape. In this role, he has been responsible for key technology and business processes of the HPHC's modernization work including Enterprise Architecture, SOA Services and Governance, Enrollment, Provider, Care Management, Finance, Claims Routing, Adjudication and Pricing, Enablement of Agile Methodology and Virtualization solution.  

His recent focus has been more on innovation initiatives and moving systems to cloud. Part of the innovation initiatives, he had implemented a Member Service chatbot that serves members 7/24/365. He is also involved in a number NLP/AI related initiatives for reducing medical cost and improving risk management.  

Before joining HPHC, He was Vice President of Architecture at Fidelity Investments where he was involved in filing 6 patterns for Real-time fraud prevention for online transactions. Prior to joining Fidelity, he was Chief Architect for the New Medicaid Management Information System (NewMMIS) for the state of Massachusetts where he architected a scalable, secure architecture using open source frameworks.  

Vijay in the past worked at deNovis Inc., (now HealthEdge), as the Principal Deployment Architect working closely with Tufts Health Plan, Empire Blue Cross and CMS on their integration needs. Vijay has cultivated, guided and led significant inclusion-related change at Harvard Pilgrim Health Care for the past 10 years. Vijay was also the past winner of the Individual Change Agent award from the color magazine.  

Vijay holds a Master’s in Computational Geometry from Cranfield University, United Kingdom. 

In his spare time, Vijay volunteers at the American Red Cross, and also at Hire Heros (www.hireheroesusa.org). Before joining the Harbor Care board, he served as a volunteer, helping with their technology and application infrastructure. Vijay also mentors startup organizations. He enjoys sports such as badminton, tennis, racket ball, ping pong, and volleyball. He has lived on four different continents, and speaks five different languages. In his off-hours he is working on subtitling foreign language discourses into English.  

You can find more details about him at https://www.linkedin.com/in/vbhat 

Vincent Chamberlain, Assistant Treasurer

Vince Chamberlain, a retired FAA employee with 30 years of experience in all aspects of Air Traffic Control, is a dedicated advocate for community welfare and social impact. As a valued member of the Board of Directors, Vince leverages his expertise to drive positive change within Harbor Care, focusing on various aspects of assistance and support.

With his extensive leadership background, including roles such as President of the Hollis Brookline Rotary Club and Chair of the Board of Harbor Homes, Vince brings a wealth of strategic thinking and collaborative skills to the table.

Vince's commitment to making a difference in the lives of others is evident in his unwavering dedication to community service. He actively engages with local organizations and advocates for causes that promote social well-being and uplift vulnerable populations.

Through his years of service in the FAA, Vince has honed his abilities in program support management and demonstrated a passion for excellence. This expertise translates seamlessly into his role as a Board of Directors member, where he applies his knowledge to guide Harbor Care's strategic direction and enhance its ability to deliver crucial assistance.

Vince Chamberlain's leadership, passion for community welfare, and commitment to driving positive change make him an invaluable asset to Harbor Care's Board of Directors. His strategic vision and collaborative approach continue to shape the organization's endeavors and create lasting impact in the community.

Beyond his professional achievements Vince loves the outdoors and has a passion for Automobiles.

Lanna Martin, Board Member

Lanna Martin is a Finance Director at BAE Systems in New Hampshire, a defense, aerospace and security company.  In wanting to extend her support to our nations Veterans beyond her career she was introduced to the Harbor Care organization.  Truly inspired by the work that the organization does and a proponent of its holistic approach to community care she joined the Board of Directors in early 2020.     

In her time at BAE Systems, Lanna has held various financial positions with her most recent being the Finance Director for the C4ISR Systems business.  In this role she is responsible for the leadership of a team supporting a >$1b business.  She and her team deliver a broad range of finance and business services in support of business capture, program execution, financial reporting and analysis and compliance and controls.   

Lanna graduated from Saint Anselm College in 2006 with a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration where she was also a four-year member of the women’s basketball team. Lanna graduated from Bentley University, Waltham, MA in 2010 with her Master’s in Business Administration. 

In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with family and friends. Her hobbies include gardening, playing endless fetch with her dog Aspen and most recently learning how to golf.