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Hannah Schwartz / Founder and PresidentHannah Schwartz and her husband Jonathan formed and founded Heartbeet Lifesharing in 2000. She serves as the community’s executive director, drawing on her lifelong experience with social therapy and her commitment to bringing the lifesharing philosophy to community-based care for adults with developmental disabilities in Vermont. Hannah was born and raised in Camphill Village/Kimberton Hills in Pennsylvania, a community dedicated to lifesharing with adults with disabilities. She pursued her college education in the field of health and care-giving, taking time off to participate in a Camphill community-based training course in care for adults with disabilities in Copake, New York and to work for eight months in a residential program for severely disabled adults, L’Amitié, with her new husband, Jonathan, in Canada. Once back in the U.S., she balanced her studies with the needs of her own growing family, receiving her Bachelors Degree in Women’s Studies and Health Education from Goddard College in 1999. As executive director, Hannah wears many hats. She oversees the admission process for prospective residents and does most of the co-worker training. She weaves together the unique and often incomplete histories of each of the adults under her care, whose lives are often not well documented, so that a care plan can be tailored to their specific biographies. She also works to create advocacy circles for each of Heartbeet’s adults with disabilities, including friends, family and members of the community who have found a connection to Heartbeet. Finally, she and Jonathan work closely to define a shared vision of Heartbeet’s future as it grows and changes.
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